Route 66

Synchro909

Synchro909

Well-known member
I was talking with a fellow Model A owner at a car club (all makes, not only Model As) on Friday night and he said he had heard that a Model A club over there was planning a run along Route 66. My wife and I have done it in a modern car but would love to do it in a Model A or at least follow the progress.
Is there any truth in what he said? If so, which club?
 
I know you're from Aust. (Oz), but I wouldn't like the heat in any time but winter. I have a couple of pics I took of rt. 66 in San Bernardino Co. where it runs alongside of I 40 and it was in bad shape about eight years ago. Some of it's being maintained and some of its not. Historically, it's only superseded by the old Lincoln highway, which was the first coast to coast highway. It formed the R.O.W. for the modern rt 27 and later morphed into rt 1 in New Jersey right after it crosses the Delaware River on the Calhoun St bridge in Trenton.
Terry
 
We live by and cruise 66 all the time, but I am unaware of any clubs planning a run...I'll keep my ears open.
 
I-40 bypassed most of US 66 but a lot of the 2-lane parts still exist where the went through the business sections of towns & cities on the route. Old sections of route 66 follow I-40 through New Mexico in places but a lot of it has gone back to nature. I-44 & I-55 make up a good bit of the eastern section on up to Chicago.

They changed the number on route 666 devil's highway in the four corners right after I moved to Texas. I don't know where they came up with 491 but it will always be the devil's highway to me. It passes through the heart of the old Anasazi empire and right between the sleeping Ute mountain & Mesa Verde.
 
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I just drove Highway 40 from North Carolina to Flagstaff, Arizona where I turned south to go to Phoenix. A lot of 66 is still there but you cannot drive the whole way on 66. Some of the old highway just dead ends or was erased by the building of Highway 40. You get off 40 to eat or sleep and the places to do that are on the old 66. Sometime 66 only goes for 100 yards and sometimes through whole towns.

Highway 40 is the modern 66. Most of it has a speed limit of 75 mph. I drove 70 with my truck and camping trailer. The semi-trucks drive 65 to 75 and it is a semi-truck raceway. There are more semi-trucks than cars. I saw the results of two bad accidents. One a pickup rolled over and the other a semi-truck rolled over both cabs were flattened and it did not look good for the occupants. A medivac helicopter was at the accident with the semi.

What interested me were the abandoned dilapidated buildings, ruins really, along the abandoned sections of the old 66. These were once thriving businesses and the pride of the people who owned them. Lots of abandoned farms and ranches too with the roofs caved in.

If I drove my Model A across the United States I would look for back roads and not the major highways.
 
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When we drove it, we found quite a bit of the old road including the paved section and the "sidewalk highway". There are signs at each end of that section banning heavy vehicles and tourist coaches. We had to stop while a bus load of Chinese tourists got out and all picked up a piece of concrete. By now, there's probably as much of that road in China as there is in the US! We zig-zagged under the modern road through narrow culverts and saw plenty of dilapidated buildings that were service stations, motels etc. We stayed in a couple that had been resurrected. We loved the rural areas and small towns we went through and the friendliness of the people, especially when they found we were from Australia.
We rented a car in Philadelphia and drove to join Route 66 at about Pontiac. I don't like cities so we didn't go to the very start. We drove to Flagstaff and turned right to Monument Valley for a few days, then back to Flagstaff and on to Phoenix down though the gorge to catch up with a friend. Soooo many great memories from that trip.
On a later trip, we saw a bit more of it around Denman. We'd love to do it again with others but this time in a model A.
That's why I asked this question but it seems either no one is speaking up or it isn't happening. The end result is the same.
 
A lot of interstate speed limits here are up to 80 and more in some desolate places. Model A cars are more vulnerable on the interstates than they ever were. I would be concerned about getting run over. I'm in the heart of Texas where interstate 10 crosses through and it can get scary on there when going through metro areas even with a reduced speed. Going up the hills around Kerrville is a challenge for a stock model A but folks do it when there is a club get together there. I would take old Highway 90 if I was going out west. There is a whole lot of nothing out there if a person has a break down so spares & tools are a good thing to have.
 
There is an annual 66 cruise in the Ontario, CA area but I suspect it is extremely crowded? Do a search using "route 66".
 
Jim Brierley said:
There is an annual 66 cruise in the Ontario, CA area but I suspect it is extremely crowded? Do a search using "route 66".
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The Ontario Rt 66 is a local show and not a cruise of the highway. The route never touched Ontario, but did go through Upland. Ontario started their show after the city of San Bernardino, which put on the Rt. 66 Rendezvous for years went bankrupt. The local chamber of commerce is putting on the show in San Bernardino now. It will be on October 1, 2022.
 
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cokefirst said:
The Ontario Rt 66 is a local show and not a cruise of the highway. The rout never touched Ontario, but did go through Upland. Ontario started their show after the city of San Bernardino, which put on the Rt. 66 Rendezvous for years went bankrupt. The local chamber of commerce is putting on the show in San Bernardino now. It will be on October 1, 2022.
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Maybe that is what my friend heard about and he got it wrong. Doesn't seem like there is a trip along the old route planned. Thanks guys.
 
Synchro909 said:
I was talking with a fellow Model A owner at a car club (all makes, not only Model As) on Friday night and he said he had heard that a Model A club over there was planning a run along Route 66. My wife and I have done it in a modern car but would love to do it in a Model A or at least follow the progress.
Is there any truth in what he said? If so, which club?
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This link could be the club he was talking about. Last mention of the Route 66
Tour was a couple of years ago - everything seems to be kind of out of date since Covid hit:

https://modelatouring.club/category/tours/route-66/

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We use I-40 from Amarillo to Arizona. There the old Route 66 ran parallel to the Southern Pacific RR line where possible to ease building. We stayed in Tucumcari coming and going to Durango, Colorado this year. Many of the old motels are re-furbed and some great old restaurants to be had. You can see the old Rt 66 through much of Nm.

I'd like to drive some of it in my '30. Something to look forward to.
 
I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m interested in taking a run on Route 66. This is on my bucket list.

If anyone hears about a group going, please post.


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California Travieso said:
I vote for Barstow as the “jewel of the IE.” we always stop at DiNapoli’s Firehouse Italian Restaurant for lunch on our way to and from Las Vegas.

David Serrano
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Nope. Amboy is the true Jewel of the IE (Inland Empire for non SoCal types)
 

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I’m going by Bobby Troup’s lyrics:

“. . . Now you go through Saint Louis, Joplin, Missouri
Oklahoma City is mighty pretty, you see Amarillo
Gallup, New Mexico
Flagstaff Arizona, now don't forget Winona
Kingman, Barstow, San Bernandino . . .”

Barstow is the first city mentioned in California. Neither Victorville nor Amboy are mentioned.

The song was recorded by many artists as well as Bobby Troup. Anyone traveling on Route 66 has to play all those artists along the way.

David Serrano
 
Route 66 was just that, a route. It wasn't built as a highway but instead was simply a route designed to use existing roads. As better roads were built the route was changed to use the better highways. What was Route 66 in one year may not have been part of it the next year. Unlike the Lincoln Highway it did not run from coast to coast. It ran between Chicago, IL and Santa Monica, CA ending at the intersection of Santa Monica Blvd and Ocean Ave. These days the city of Santa Monica have put "Route 66" signage and "The End of Route 66" on Santa Monica pier in an effort to bring tourists to the pier.
 
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