LAS VEGAS DAVE Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 (edited) I'm wondering if anyone has taken a pre war BUICK on a long trip. If so how did it work out and how long was it? In the old days these cars made some cross country trips but at todays speeds and on todays highways I don't know if that could be done anymore. Out here in the west the old highways that went cross country such as route 66 are no longer in existence except for short sections of them here and there. In the northern part of the western states it still has some old two lane highways that go for many miles. In any case there must be some old Buick owners that have done this in the last ten years or so. Edited July 20, 2015 by LAS VEGAS DAVE (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian_Heil Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Define long (ha). As recently as June, I drove my '23 on a 600 mile VMCCA week long hub tour, and then due to an illness of a closs friend, my wife and trailer had to head home in a huury and I drove the 293 miles home two days later, in pouring rain all the way. Lots of other trips at 250-300/day. Side roads at 40 MPH. Great fun. (Friend doing fine now BTW). For those not to sure about their car. Do 'circle tours' around home such that you are never too far from home as you shake down any issues. I was out for 60 miles just yesterday. Walk in the park. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAS VEGAS DAVE Posted July 20, 2015 Author Share Posted July 20, 2015 Thats great and 600 miles is a long trip in my book. Glad you are doing this, it inspires me to plan one in the near future. Thanks for the reply, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Shaw Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Last month we toured with the HCCA in our 1913 Buick Model 31 Touring car and racked up about 300 miles in four days. My magneto went out on the third day, but we got it fixed after lunch and I finished the tour. I also followed a 41 Buick Century from Seattle to the BCA National in Minnesota a few years back. And, I know that Gene and Rosalee Lander drove their 1931 Model 67 from Seattle to Flint for the Centennial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave_B Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Dave,I drove my '28 standard 1,240 miles round trip to the BCA National meet in South Bend. I drove it to Charlotte NC the year before. Both were great adventures. Met some great folks. I did 75 mile round trip to our local BCA chapter cook out on Saturday. Once you have all the little issues worked out these are reliable cars. After you have had it awhile you will become more confident in it. Anyway as Brian said if you have a problem you can rent a truck and trailer to get home. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAS VEGAS DAVE Posted July 21, 2015 Author Share Posted July 21, 2015 I am going to drive the car to a National too. Its on my bucket list, maybe in 2016. If you guys can do it in even older Bucks than mine then I will do it also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill - 29 Buick Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Dave: in 2012, Drove my fairly original 1929 McLaughlin Buick 1,632 miles from Toronto to meets in Columbus, OH, then Flint, MI, then the BCA National in South Bend, IN + the Pre-War tour after driving 1,613 the year before to Charlotte, NC and the Buick Driving Enthusiasts tour into TN. Unfortunately, this trip ended with a carb fire in southern OH, on the way to a meet in Columbus, so the last 600 miles home was on the back of a truck. Bill McLaughlin1929 McLaughlin Buick RoadsterSupporter of 'All Together Parking by Era' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomcarnut Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Hey Guys I think we are a bunch of wimps compared to fellow Snapper's friends in their EMF. http://bswann1912.blogspot.com/2015/06/i-have-been-reminded-by-jim-walker-that.htmlThey have traveled over 4000 miles in 12 EMF and up in Washington State heading south right now. Mark Shaw should watch out. I hope to have my 1912 McLaughlin-Buick on it's first tour(80 miles) this weekend in Dayton , Ohio. Tom Muth Cincinnati, Ohio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Shaw Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 I will be watching for them..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAS VEGAS DAVE Posted July 21, 2015 Author Share Posted July 21, 2015 (edited) I really am AMAZED by the distance that some of you have driven these old cars. These are major road trips even in a regular modern car. My 38 seems like a new car compared with the the cars from the twenties, early thirties and even some from the teens. I am not only amazed but inspired. I want to be one of the group that have done this. Next week I'm riding my motorcycle from Vegas to Oregon and then Montana and Wyoming, Colorado, South Dakota, Utah, with three old friends, we have been riding together for over 53 years. When I get back from that trip I'm going to the Philippines for a couple of weeks. In a few months the overdrive unit will be in the 38 Buick and it will be in good mechanical condition and ready for a long road trip. My wife and I will take it to a National or something fun in 2016. Edited July 21, 2015 by LAS VEGAS DAVE (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian_Heil Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 (edited) Everyone should have the pleasure of touring, as I have, with Bill McLaughlin. Stop at a reasonable time to check in, shower and change after a hot day on the road. Cocktails promptly at 5:00 with good conversation of the day's travels, Proper Dinner at 6:00 with more good conversation. A few still foresake the throng. (William Cowper) Edited July 21, 2015 by Brian_Heil (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregleck Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 I am trying to get my '37 Coupe on the road. (Fuel tank sending unit now on it's third stay at the repair shop - has been back and forth since March). I am hoping to drive 200 miles to Saratoga for a show in late September. Then, in early October, another 200 miles to Wildwood, NJ, to see the Race of Gentlemen there. That will be over 800 miles in a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAS VEGAS DAVE Posted July 22, 2015 Author Share Posted July 22, 2015 I just recently bought my car. When I got it she ran hot but did not boil over here in Las Vegas. I worked on cleaning out the rust from radiator and block until it ran at 180 or even less in the mornings. During that time I put a little over 600 miles on the car so it runs very nice. I decided it would be even better if it had an "overdrive" so am in the process of that right now. It also will have new brakes soon and then I'll drive some more 100 mile jaunts around here to see how everything is working. I'm hoping in a few months to have everything dialed in to where it will be ready for a long trip. We have a national park near my house where its easy to do a 100 mile loop and there isn't much traffic, after all its pretty much just desert and not that many people use this particular park. The roads are smooth as glass and its got hills and twists so its actually a nice drive, especially at 5 in the morning. At that time its cool out and the desert is pretty in the early morning light, sometimes there are big horn sheep on the cliffs and even bald eagles in the sky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Which National Park? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAS VEGAS DAVE Posted July 22, 2015 Author Share Posted July 22, 2015 I think its called LAKE MEAD NATIONAL PARK but I don't remember what it says at the gate. When I first moved to Vegas in 1995 I don't think it was a national park because you didn't have to pay money to go in it. Somewhere along the line the government set up gates and rangers to make you pay to get in and write tickets for various infractions. The roads go to Lake Mead and to a place called VALLEY OF FIRE which is many cliffs that have some natural red designs on the cliff walls. Its pretty but I prefer national parks with big trees and green grass. Our park is free if you're a senior so for me and a passenger its good. The park exit on the south is only a few miles from Hoover Dam which is another tourist site and amazing for anyone seeing it. This is a great park to drive old cars or motorcycles in as its rarely got any traffic, sometimes I only see two or three cars on my whole loop. Some national parks are so crowded that you are just in a tight line of traffic and for me its no fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Two days ago a friend from San Diego, CA stopped by our shop here in Cleveland in his 1932 Pierce-Arrow coupe. He's been on the road since June and is on his way to the Pierce-Arrow meet in Buffalo, New York this weekend. A real adventure and he's had no problem using a car with a max speed of 55 MPH. He had a bad battery and a buggered fuel pump along the way, but otherwise the Pierce has soldiered along. Too cool to see it covered in bugs and road grime from 2000 miles of cruising. I don't know that I'd ever undertake something like that, but with good planning you can avoid interstates and have a wonderful journey that you'll remember forever. A 1941 Cadillac isn't quite a 1937 Buick, but I drove my 60 Special to Toronto a few years ago and then to Hershey a few weeks later, both trips of more than 1000 miles round-trip. Flawless performance. Do it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzBob Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Although a lot older vehicle than your '38 Buick, here is an interesting road trip going on right now to re-enact Edsel Ford's 1915 trip from Detroit to San Francisco. Here is the link. http://drivehistory.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScarredKnightfan Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Out here in the west the old highways that went cross country such as route 66 are no longer in existence except for short sections of them here and there. Actually ... quite a bit of Route 66 from IL to CA ... IS ... still available to drive. Cort www.oldcarsstronghearts.com1979 & 1989 Caprice Classics | pigValve, paceMaker, cowValve"With every state line, somehow I find another part of me" __ Love & Theft __ 'Runaway' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAS VEGAS DAVE Posted July 22, 2015 Author Share Posted July 22, 2015 As a youngster I left Los Angeles in a 1949 Ford with another friend and our girlfriends heading to Chicago. We traveled route 66 which was the main way across country back in 1961. The car was powered by the famous Ford Flathead V8 which was prone to overheat. At one point somewhere in the desert coming back to LA the u joint let go and we were out of commission. The girls stayed in the car and my buddy and I hitched a ride back to some little town that had a junk yard. There we got a u joint from another 49 or 50 Ford and hitch hiked back to our car. When we got back to the car the girls were gone.We fixed the car and drove to the next town. We contacted the police and told them the girls were missing and we still had all their clothes etc in the car, we did not know where they were. They kept us there for a few more hours when finally a call came from another highway cop that he had the girls and was on his way to town. It seems the girls got to hot sitting in the car out there in the desert without water. They saw a stock tank in the distance that is to water cattle or something and they decided to go to it and hopefully drink water. It was much farther away then it looked and took a long time to walk there. The girls were about eighteen years old at the time and I was nineteen. When they got finally got to the tank they were getting sunburned, there was some shade on one side of the tank and they tried to stay in it for as long as possible. Finally they walked back to the highway but we were gone, they were really sunburned bad as I remember. The police picked them up walking down the highway and bought them back to us. We then continued our trip back home. There were many stories on that trip but they are to long to tell here. My wife and I will make some sort of long distance trip in the 38 Buick, maybe for a few weeks or a month but we are for sure going to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAS VEGAS DAVE Posted July 22, 2015 Author Share Posted July 22, 2015 Actually ... quite a bit of Route 66 from IL to CA ... IS ... still available to drive. Cort www.oldcarsstronghearts.com1979 & 1989 Caprice Classics | pigValve, paceMaker, cowValve"With every state line, somehow I find another part of me" __ Love & Theft __ 'Runaway' Not to much of it out west is left but there is some short stretches. The best way to head East on roads that are not freeways is to go North first and go across on the Northern route. There are many secondary roads if I go that way to choose from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzBob Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 (edited) Out here in the west the old highways that went cross country such as route 66 are no longer in existence except for short sections of them here and there. Approx. 89 miles of Route 66 from Seligman to Kingman Arizona is unbroken and in good shape with another 18 miles extending east to Ash Fork. Edited July 22, 2015 by AzBob (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAS VEGAS DAVE Posted July 23, 2015 Author Share Posted July 23, 2015 Approx. 89 miles of Route 66 from Seligman to Kingman Arizona is unbroken and in good shape with another 18 miles extending east to Ash Fork.You are right but that is less than one hundred miles, the longest continuos stretch of a highway that was once over 2500 miles long. I drove it from Los Angeles to Chicago in a 49 or 50 Ford and rode it on the same trip once again on a 1947 74 cu inch Harley knucklehead, also that happens to be one of the most desolate sections of the old route 66. I see that you live in Prescott which has some nice scenery around it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScarredKnightfan Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 Not to much of it out west is left but there is some short stretches. Must be a recent development, then, b/c quite a bit of it was still available when I drove it in 2009: DeKalb IL (LH) to Pontiac IL (Rt 66) to Springfield IL:http://picasaweb.google.com/knightfan26917/RT66TRIPDAY1#slideshow/5427141662526110530 Springfield IL to St Louis MO:http://picasaweb.google.com/knightfan26917/RT66TRIPDAY2#slideshow/5427153871443919250 Stanton MO to Joplin MO:http://picasaweb.google.com/knightfan26917/RT66TRIPDAY3#slideshow/5427439268824317586 Joplin MO to Tulsa OK:http://picasaweb.google.com/knightfan26917/RT66TRIPDAY4#slideshow/5427862154662426722 Tulsa OK to Clinton OK:http://picasaweb.google.com/knightfan26917/RT66TRIPDAY5#slideshow/5428251162202783314 Clinton OK to Amarillo TX:http://picasaweb.google.com/knightfan26917/RT66TRIPDAY6#slideshow/5428260359643080226 Amarillo TX to Moriarty NM:http://picasaweb.google.com/knightfan26917/RT66TRIPDAY7#slideshow/5428654625398731538 Moriarty NM to Holbrook AZ:http://picasaweb.google.com/knightfan26917/RT66TRIPDAY8#slideshow/5428980552494890642 Holbrook AZ to Williams AZ:http://picasaweb.google.com/knightfan26917/RT66TRIPDAY9#slideshow/5429002721353620370 Williams AZ to Kingman AZ:http://picasaweb.google.com/knightfan26917/RT66TRIPDAY10#slideshow/5429395440355434498 Kingman AZ to Barstow CA:http://picasaweb.google.com/knightfan26917/RT66TRIPDAY11#slideshow/5430380559414678786 Barstow CA to Rialto/San Bernardino CA:http://picasaweb.google.com/knightfan26917/RT66TRIPDAY12#slideshow/5431220758934833330 Rialto/San Bernardino CA to Albuquerque NM:http://picasaweb.google.com/knightfan26917/RT66TRIPDAY13#slideshow/5431255586450476482 Albuquerque NM (Rt 66) to Kearney NE (LH)...:http://picasaweb.google.com/knightfan26917/RT66TRIPDAY14#slideshow/5431261135177047330 Cort www.oldcarsstronghearts.com1979 & 1989 Caprice Classics | pigValve, paceMaker, cowValve"I've traveled so far to change this lonely life" __ Foreigner __ 'I Want To Know What Love Is' 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill - 29 Buick Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 Actually ... quite a bit of Route 66 from IL to CA ... IS ... still available to drive. Lots of it's still there - I drove it from Chicago to Santa Monica this Spring. But, get a book with directions or you'll miss things. I used EZ66 Guide by Jerry McClanahan. It was great. Bill McLaughlin1929 McLaughlin Buick RoadsterSupporter of "All Together Parking by Era" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Straight eight Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 It might be a good idea to fill a container with spare parts. Such things as spark plugs, points, condenser, coil, thermostat, gallon jug of coolant, windshield cleaner for bugs, an inner tube, radiator cap, for the Buick, and one for the humans, flash light, cell phone, moisture, and snacks. The Buick directory to locate members if you break down and need assistance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAS VEGAS DAVE Posted July 24, 2015 Author Share Posted July 24, 2015 ROUTE 66 has more left than I thought. Do you get on the interstate between the stretches of 66? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScarredKnightfan Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 Lots of it's still there - I drove it from Chicago to Santa Monica this Spring. But, get a book with directions or you'll miss things. I used EZ66 Guide by Jerry McClanahan. It was great. That is the book I used, too! Perfect descriptions, good maps (tho, I sometimes wish they were a bit bigger &/or detailed) & just the right size for carrying in hand to navigate while driving. Even met Jerry during my 2011 Coast-to-Coast road trip, when I traveled parts of Route 66 again. ROUTE 66 has more left than I thought. Do you get on the interstate between the stretches of 66? Not every time, no. Sometimes, you are directed to frontage or back roads. However, some stretches do force you to be on the interstate. Cort www.oldcarsstronghearts.com1979 & 1989 Caprice Classics | pigValve, paceMaker, cowValve"Let me get behind the wheel before I lose control" __ Barbara Mandrell __ 'Fast Lanes & Country Roads' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hidden_hunter Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 I'm impressed by the amount of distance some of you guys have been able to put on your cars, guess it's all about taking your time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 Cort, those are marvelous picture of Rt 66!!! WOW!!! Thank you for posting !!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScarredKnightfan Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Cort, those are marvelous picture of Rt 66!!! WOW!!! Thank you for posting !!!! You are welcome ... & thank you! Glad you enjoyed 'em. I think I had included them in a post early on, but I may not have. Anyway, that is 1 road trip I'll never forget. Not only was I just thrilled to be actually doing something I had dreamt about, it was awesome seeing the people along the way. Talk about instant friends! A downside is that many of the places have been photographed & photographed & photographed, so I tried my best to do some different things & angles. 1 of my favorite pics from that trip (Day 7) is cued for this week's "Tuesday Trip" (7a US central) on my website. Cort www.oldcarsstronghearts.com1979 & 1989 Caprice Classics | pigValve, paceMaker, cowValve"I want to see the world before I die" __ Dan Seals __ 'Big Wheels In The Moonlight' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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