My Wife and I are embarking on a long truck & trailer Road Trip from Canada, for about 2 months. The joy's of Retirement Guys !!!
Crossing at Detroit, going through Cincinnati, and Nashville, then to Mobile, Alabama which is really our starting point. Will be going West through Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and then finally to Texas.
Does anyone here know of any good automobile museums, car shows, or perhaps any interesting Pontiac stops that one might enjoy along that route ?
Just wondering about this.........and all replies and / or suggestions are most welcomed !!!
The first one that comes to mind is the Ford museum in Dearborn but Im guessing you may well have taken that in since it isnt far from Ontario. To me its a must see. The Corvette museum in Kentucky is supposed to be very good if you pass that way. Just a couple that pop to mind.
The Corvette museum is awesome in Bowling Green K.Y.-Was there in 2003 for the vettes 50th show and again last year-they may have a tour going on in the Corvette plant-that was great too!Check to see if anything is going on at Beech Bend Raceway -that dragstrip is like going back in time-also in Bowling Green.Enjoy!!!
Keep on Cruising!
Dave
I do plan on visiting for a spell in Bowling Green, home of the Corvette. I worked for way too many years as a Licenced Class "A" mechanic at a local G.M. Chev, Oldsmobile, Cadillac and Corvette Dealership. I had the mis-fortune of working on the very first Bowling Green Corvette that was shipped to Ontario. It was silver in colour, and had the flip ahead fibreglass hood, so that would have been in '84 or '85 era I believe. It definitely should have been painted Corvette Yellow. It was loaded right over the cab of the delivery transport truck, and the driver was royally pissed off because he had to off-load all the other cars off the top tier in order to unload the 'Vette. Next, the Vette would not start, and the battery was dead flat. Nice !
Yours truly had to climb up on the railing of the transport, with booster battery and cable, and then try to get the flip ahead hood open, in a screaming wind storm no less. Would not start. Had to get a local tow truck Guy to pull it off the transport truck. My Service Manager decided that it would be best if it was placed in my work bay, "because you have already worked on it Jim",.....yeah, right. Looks like I got "Voluntold" that I was going to own this car. Pulled the dipstick out and measured about 3 1/2" inches of raw gas in the crankcase. Drained that mess out and added fresh oil and filter. Engine was locked up solid. What an absolute nightmare to get the spark plugs out ! Had to get at them from underneath the body, and when I took each plug out there was gas running out on the floor, absolutely a bad case of hydraulic lock-up. Another interesting fact here, when you lifted the 'Vette on a single post hoist, you could not open the doors, and conversely if the doors were opened when you lifted it up, then you could not shut the doors while it was elevated. A bit of body flex there !
A local Plastic Surgeon had bought this car, and he filmed it being towed off the transport, and everything that was done to it afterwards. In the first 6 months that he owned to car, it spent more days at the Dealership that it did in his driveway. It had more water leaks, wind noises, vibrations, poor starting, crappy acceleration, horrible gas mileage, etc., etc., etc., than any single car that I worked on there. Personally, I wanted to drive it up the belt feeding the car crusher, and then just savouring the moment that the pieces came out the other end. It was definitely a Monday morning build, for sure. I don't miss those days one bit !
Also don't think that particular 'Vette is parked on any rotating mirror in a car museum anywhere... I think my name was on the ownership somewhere.....just a nightmare !!!
If I had to type out everything that was wrong with this car, I would have Carpel Tunnel Syndrome in my wrists. Always loved 'Vettes, until that one came off the line.
