Take a look at that great pic. Every time I look at it I am reminded of some memorable trips out West—either for camping and fishing in Yellowstone country or for more “mundane” activities. Nearly always we stopped at the Texline rest area (at the border between TX and NM) on 87 especially if we were headed out to the West rather than returning home. This pic was snapped by me early one morning as the sun was coming up at the rest stop. I can't be sure which trip it was.
One trip we were headed to Ouray for the 1985 national KF meet. I was in my 54 Late Special and the Stradt boys were in Larry's 52 Kaiser. Both cars had Chevy V8 engines and have been discussed in various articles in the Quarterly before. In fact the very first issue that I edited featured details of the V8 conversion. The 54 made its first road trip to the 1984 national KF meet in Pigeon Forge, TN. This was also the first national I ever attended.
The 54 had been found not far from Nacogdoches and the seller was motivated so I bought it. The car had been subjected to an amateur restoration and looked pretty good but in need of some attention. We got it to run well enough to get inspection so I could get the AR title transferred to TX but the engine was leaking oil badly. So, it was ready for the transplant. Fortunately Tom Stradt was willing and able to provide his mechanical skills and I mostly was the boss and beer wrangler.
The interior looked good since it had been redone but was not original materials. It suited me since I had no plans for the car other than to be a driver.
Anyway here is the scene at the rest area for our stop on the way to Ouray. We got there some time after midnight and pulled in to take a snooze. I decided the back seat of the 54 would make a nice area to stretch out. I soon found that with one door closed and the other open I could use the arm rest of the closed door as sort of a pillow. After some time I woke up and decided it was time to switch positions and put my head in the other direction. It was then that I noted a problem. Get out the judging sheet! No arm rest! Funny how you can overlook something like that until you really need it...
I never got around to finding another arm rest but that 54 provided a lot of fun over the years as many trips to KF events were made in it. Some time back I sold the car to a club member and he has been updating it.
No comments:
Post a Comment