I personally have heard more horror stories about people trailoring their cars
than driving them. So personally I'd rather drive than tow anyday.
> This is something I mull over a lot as well. Everything has been gone
> through, rebuilt, or replaced on Mr. Finzzz (my '57 Fury), and I've only put
> about 3000 miles on it since, so the car is barely broken in, so you'd think
> I'd have no problems, but it IS scary.
>
> Last year, I really wanted to take my car to the Golden Fin Society meet in
> Livermore, CA. It's almost 1000 miles away, across no less than 6 mountain
> passes. I had every confidence that I could drive it without breaking down,
> but I chickened out, and since my Dakota was not yet set up with a tow
> package, borrowed my Dad's F150 to trailer the car.
>
> Well, long story short, halfway through the mountain passes, near Yreka, CA,
> one of the scariest situations of my life happened! As I was passing a
> motorhome on a steep upgrade @ 65 mph, I felt the coolant reservoir burst
> and steam and coolant vent out over the hood of the truck and the engine
> died. I quickly pulled over, but the shoulder was narrow and on a right
> hand curve and there was a guard rail there, and I had to stop so quickly
> for fear of having a blown engine that I wasn't completely out of the travel
> lane. Once stopped, I could see I still had a foot or two of space to my
> right, and with that much of the trailer and my '57 Fury still in the travel
> lane, I was gonna try to inch over a little more to protect my car (and me
> too!). Since the engine wouldn't run, and the truck was an auto, the best I
> could do was turn on the key, put it in neutral, and try to back it up into
> place. . . .well, like I said, it was a steep uphill grade on a sharp right
> curve, and I was unsuccessful. All I was able to do was slightly jackknife
> and have the front of the car about 4 feet into the travel lane! And
> tractor/trailers were whooshing by less than 3 feet away!
>
> Just as we were about to call 911 from our cell phone, thank goodness a CHP
> officer happened by. He got behind me, used his cruiser push-bars to push
> me off the road as much as possible, turned on his overheads to warn other
> traffic, called a tow truck, and waited until the tow got there. A life
> saver!!!
>
> Then, it was just as scary to watch from inside the tow truck, to see my
> Fury being towed by the pickup, which in turn was being towed by the tow
> truck! I even got a picture of this if anyone wants to see this strange
> combination. It was certainly a test of how well I had cinched the car to
> the trailer, as they were bouncing around all over the place. . .scared the
> HELL out of me, but the car wasn't at all damaged. But I'll think twice
> before making a trip like THAT again.
>
> One the flip side, I drove Mr. Finzzz 300 miles to the WPC National Meet in
> Portland 3 years ago (no mountain passes) with no mechanical problems (blew
> the rubber boot on the driveline though),and had a great time getting all
> the looks from people who'd never seen a '57 Fury before. . . . so I'd be
> inclined to drive if I choose to go to a far away event again. But since
> I'm not too mechanically inclined, I may just stay close to home!!
>
> Mark mjh
> '57 Fury
> '68 300 ragtop
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Greg Filtz" <filtz@xxxxxxx>
> To: <L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Monday, January 27, 2003 2:04 PM
> Subject: [FWDLK] Nerves of steel?
>
>
> > Group,
> >
> > A general question to the group if you don't mind.
> >
> > With the car show and swap meet season approaching, how do you find the
> > nerve to drive long distances with your forward look vehicle? I love
> > to drive my car, but I stick to local shows and errands. I find the
> > thought of breaking down with vintage tin scary. Any thought to share
> > with me on taking my car to more events this year?
> >
> > Greg in WI -1 degrees this morning
> > 1956 Dodge Royal Lancer
> >
> > -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
> > 2003 Calendar voting results and ordering information is online! Please
> visit:
> > http://www.forwardlook.net/calendar2003 for more information.
> >
>
> -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
> 2003 Calendar voting results and ordering information is online! Please visit:
> http://www.forwardlook.net/calendar2003 for more information.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
2003 Calendar voting results and ordering information is online! Please visit:
http://www.forwardlook.net/calendar2003 for more information.
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