Roughing It On An Epic Road Trip

[CC Rider]

While I was in Maryland in May, I happened upon this '66 Impala. It's a basic car, but it's in great shape and mechanically well sorted out. Drove it around for a day and fell in love with it. Just had to figure out a way to get it to AZ. Bruce had a great idea; ROAD TRIP. Sounded much more fun than arranging a trip in a box.

That idea snowballed since May, and on August 1, my son and I are flying out to Maryland to drive this Impala back to AZ. As we speak, it is in my buddy's shop for an inspection and some shake down miles. The 30 year old Goodyear Arrivas have been replaced and a noisy alternator has been replaced. The previous owners had some major mechanical repairs performed over the years.

Once we reach MS and OK, we'll try a detour onto Rt 66 as long as we can. Once we are west of OKC, there isn't much of anything until Amarillo. I have 5 days to travel almost 2400 miles. This will be a nice lead in before my son has his wisdom teeth removed that Friday.

























The AM radio still works, once it is warmed up. Everything works except the dash back lights, which will probably be addressed before I pick it up. I'll replace the heater core later in the year. Some additional extra parts will be put in the trunk in case I have issues. There appears to be 1 repaint and, except for the package tray, the original interior is in great shape!

I'm sure this trip will cure me of any future thoughts of driving cross country in a 49 year old car with no AC during the summer. I'll post up pic when/where I can.