The road from Georgia to Ames in a '59 Buick

[Centurion]

I'm sharing below the trip report to Ames filed by the BCA's 1959 Division director, Jeff McConnaughey, at buick-59.com. The Ames meet will be the "coming out" party for his newly restored '59 LeSabre, finished in seldom-seen "Sierra Spruce" -- an original 1959 Buick color. Jeff and his wife, Kate, are making the trek to Ames from Marietta, Georgia:

The journey to Ames, Iowa for the 2010 BCA National Meet began early on Saturday morning, 7/24. Here is Miss Lucretia at 7:15 a.m., loaded to the gunwales with luggage, camera gear and spare parts, ready for my wife Kate and I to leave our driveway:

Our route took us up I-75 to Chattanooga, TN and towards Knoxville, TN. In between the two, we stopped at the Sweetwater Farms store to pick up some of their spectacular cheddar cheese and home-made jams:

After leaving Sweetwater, things started to get interesting in not particularly pleasant ways. The outside temperature was in the high nineties, and the heat radiating off the pavement was intense. Miss Lucretia began to have problems getting fuel, as if a vapor lock were keeping gasoline from reaching the carb. We limped the 20 or so miles to Knoxville and paused for cooling off, consultative phone calls and head scratching:

W visit to a NAPA parts store steered us to an open mechanic shop that would help with isolating and insulating the fuel line:

Back on the road, things seemed fine for about another 70 miles or so, until the same symptoms re-appeared. While initially not as severe as at first, the problem worsened and stopping to cool things off did not help. Barely making it to another NAPA store in rural Tennessee, where I acquired a new fuel filter and installed it in the parking lot, picking up a spare for "just in case." This did the trick, and we were on the road again at full throttle headed for our destination in Kentucky, the Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill:

We had dinner reservations there with our daughter and one of her professors (from nearby Centre College in Danville, Kentucky) at 7:00 p.m. We rolled into the parking lot at 6:40, hot and tired from the eleven hours on the road. A splash of water on the face to create an illusion of freshness and on to dinner!

The Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill is a beautiful spot, with excellent facilities for overnight stays and dining. It is also a splendid spot for photographing 1959 Buicks:

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Edited July 27, 2010 by Centurion (see edit history)

[Centurion]

On Sunday, after breakfast with our daughter, we hit the road (to Louisville, KY and Indianapolis, IN) for our next stop, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, where we would visit friends and spend the night. Monday morning, Miss Lucretia was packed and ready to leave the Urbana Hampton Inn:

and we headed up I-74 towards Peoria, IL. However, Kate and I were not all that interested in exclusively Interstate Highway cruising, so on the western edge of Peoria, we got off onto Illinois 116, which tracked through farm country all the way to the river crossing into Iowa at Burlington. On the way, we stopped for lunch in Farmington, IL:

Neither of us were up for "All-U-Can-Eat" walleye, but I suppose it is comforting to know that, somewhere, it is available. Kersh Cafe had good food, homemade pies and very friendly ladies.

[Centurion]

The river bridge over the Iowa River at Burlington is a beautiful structure:

and Burlington is an interesting older river town, with some pretty spectacular houses built high up on the bluff above the river. From here, it was on to Iowa City, our stop for the night. Dinner reservations were at the Iowa Power Station Restaurant, a new use for an old structure located directly on the Iowa River where a dam was first built in the late 19th century. A bridge permits a walk over the dam and river to a set of park trails on the other side. The sunset was pretty and the light on the river reflected beautifully:

Tuesday we head up to Cedar Rapids, IA for a cross-country drive to Ames on non-interstate roads avoiding Des Moines.

[JohnD1956]

Thank you Jeff, for documenting that trip. Glad you were able to fix the car. And Thank you Brian, for posting the story. Sure glad we did not miss this one.

[Pete Phillips]

They are here at Ames. I have seen that car in the hotel parking lot this afternoon--hooray! One or two other 1959s in the hotel parking lot as well.

Pete Phillips, BCA #7338

[Thriller]

Mmm...all you can eat walleye....

Great story...the kids were fawning over the photos of the car.

[Guest Hector]

Thank you Jeff for taking the time to document and describe the trip for us,the pictures are great as well as the narrations.I hope that eventually we get the to see more of Miss Lucretia around Iowa.I also hope that she behaves so you can have more time to take pictures and not spend it working on her.

Thanks Ceturion for hosting the thread,this will be a good one to follow.

[Guest JMcConnaughey]

Derek, my car was manufactured in Canada and first sold as new in Winnipeg.

Jeff McConnaughey

[Mark Shaw]

Great post! Oh how I miss driving cross country this year.....

[Thriller]

Derek, my car was manufactured in Canada and first sold as new in Winnipeg.

Cool. Have you had GM of Canada Archives provide you with what information they have? I'll definitely have to track down your car this week and take a look.

[Guest JMcConnaughey]

The exhibition field at Iowa State is huge and it is not yet filled with Buicks:

While there is not much room for Division tables, we have a small presence there and a remembrance of Tom Liddy:

Buick Driving Enthusiasts has a big presence:

Ames has an attractive downtown business district, evoking its 1864 founding date:

I hope to gather the '59 Faithful at the Old Main Brewing Company tomorrow evening:

We had a very pleasant dinner at Aunt Maude's, a little further down Main Street from the brew pub:

But, of course, it's the cars that are the reason for the gathering, and there are some very beautiful cars here:

[Guest JMcConnaughey]

[Guest JMcConnaughey]

[Guest JMcConnaughey]

Weather has improved markedly here, going from humid and hotter than hell to mid-80's, dry and a nice breeze. Temperatures are supposed to drop into the high 60's overnight and be pretty moderate for the rest of the week. We'll see how accurate the predictions are!

I'm looking forward to the arrival of a few more '59 Division people tomorrow. I've seen two other '59's here so far, one pictured earlier in this post.

[Charles D. Barnette]

Jeff, you say your beautiful 59 LeSabre 4 door hardtop was sold new in Winnipeg having been made in Canada. As you should know my Canadian 59 Buick Invicta "Copper Top" 4 door hardtop was sold new in Winnipeg as well at Dickson Motors. What dealership was your car sold from first in Winnipeg? From your photos I can read Winnipeg on the back of your car, but I can't read a dealer name. It does not look like a Dickson logo, but I cannot tell for sure. Could we have a picture of the dealer tag on the back closeup? I too eagerly suggest that you write GM of Canada, and they can tell you among other things how many 1959 Canadian 4 door LeSabre Buick hardtops were manufactured by GM of Canada. The unique color combination of your car is stunning! Is this part of the "Spring Accent" colors that Al writes about on the 59 Buick forum? Charles D. Barnette-at some point in life our two 59 Buick Winnipeg 4 door flat tops need to be displayed together!

Edited July 30, 2010 by Charles_Barnette (see edit history)

[Guest JMcConnaughey]

Charles,

My LeSabre was sold by Winnipeg Motor Products Ltd., 1290 Main Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba. The original purchasers were Albert and Ann Benner. It was sold on June 3, 1959. It was originally all white with blue interior. When I purchased it, it had been repainted an incorrect dark blue metallic color. The black top on Sierra Spruce body was a color combination available on Canadian cars but not available in the US. This was not a "Spring Accent" combinatino, however, as these colors were available from the beginning of the model year. Hope all continues well with Copper Top! Several nice '59's here in Ames.

Jeff McConnaughey

[NTX5467]

A beautiful car and a very GREAT story, with pictures!

NTX5467