The 1950’s were arguably some of the finest design years for the American car industry; particularly for Chrysler. In the past, American cars had done very little for us, as we find ourselves getting a bit older, however, there is a possibility that we may have dismissed some pretty neat cars; or is it really just age? We have almost always been focused on European cars; why? To us, they were far more attractive, they handled better, they performed better; hell let’s face it- they were simply better cars. 

A couple of years ago we were given the opportunity to spend a little more time around great old American built automobiles; Packard’s, Lincoln’s, Cadillac’s etc. They were however, pre-war cars and one could argue that by comparison, America was indeed manufacturing some of the finest automobiles in the world and American automotive craftsmanship was on par with some of the great European marques; perhaps even better. The time we had spent with these great cars opened our eyes to some of the later cars from this side of the pond, but, what really did it was spending more time with and driving some of the fantastic Chryslers belonging to John and Christie Lazenby. This story will focus on just one of their magnificent cars; the 1955 Chrysler New Yorker deluxe wagon.

In the mid 1950’s Chrysler started producing truly great American cars. Chryslers Design staff was headed up by Virgil Exner and with Exner’s excellent eye began producing fantastic looking cars, perhaps the best looking cars offered by any US manufacturer at the time. Included in the 1955 model year line-up was the 1955 New Yorker Deluxe wagon.

The 1955 New Yorker wagon was built in very limited numbers as only 1036 were manufactured. They were also very expensive. In 1955 this car would have cost a hefty $4,800. If we consider that an average home could be bought for about $12,000, this was one very, very expensive station wagon and most certainly not intended for the masses. There may only be a handful of these cars left; some suggest about 10.

The car was equipped with a 331cid V8 hemi that put out a pretty stunning (for the time) 250 horse power coupled to a Powerflite transmission with a dash mounted gear selector.

This car:

John and Christie’s New Yorker is finished in its correct Canyon Tan with Desert Sand interior, is believed that the 53,000 showing are correct and the car may have more of a story to tell as it seems a certain Cecil B. DeMille may have owned this very car. He was known to have had one and this car was found in Studio City – seems to fit. What is also interesting is that the car was found with a holster mounted under the diver’s seat; Coincidence? This wagon drives like….well… a wagon, but, a very stately wagon… it is such a great looking car and has so much presence….we like it – a lot!

O.C.C.E

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Tuesday was bitter-sweet as U27 headed to a new home; I’ll miss having the car though it will be going to a well seasoned vintage racer who most certainly has the talent to drive it well. A2Z and I had lunch with its new “custodian” today. Over lunch, the topic of “tribute cars” came up and we agreed that this car, though not the real 1968 championship winning car, was as close as anyone could possibly make it and THAT is what attracted its new owner. With Tony, Mac and Don all being consulted in the build (those who built the original some 42 years ago) it may be the best and perhaps only time that the same group of guys were brought together to bring a truly great car back to life. The big applause however, goes to Marc Zurlinden…race car builder extraordinaire…well done Marc; truly, well done!!!

On a side note, Marc…..those on that other web-site that we both admire so very much…..well, they can kiss our lilly white butts!

 Sure would have liked the chance to drive this fantastic car on a track just once…….the smile factor must be enormous.

 O.C.C.E

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Today would bring me home and my adventure across the US to an end; kind of sad really and though it was a great road trip, it is nice to be home; very nice. The trip ended up being a total of two thousand five hundred and eighty five miles and today- the longest; yet, one if the nicest drives of all. It was also the day that the Arizona Highway Patrol and I would meet; officially.

I needed an early start this morning if I was going to make it home as last night I had stopped just as I had crossed the Arizona State line from New Mexico. I still had to cross Arizona, stop and see my good friend Marc Jones and drive from Scottsdale- home.

I got up early, real early, walked outside the hotel room in a t-shirt and jeans and DAMN…..it was cold! Nineteen friggin degrees cold! I did not know it but Springerville Arizona is located at an altitude of just above 7,000 feet. I hit the remote start button for the car and the engine sprang into life. This also meant that the heater and the heated seats came on as well…nice! Ok Steve….it is a truck, though a very nice truck! I’ll get back to that.

I had a quick bite to eat, loaded up on my drug of choice, coffee, and headed down the mountain. I had never been to the White Mountains of Arizona, but, I will be going back!

If you have not been…go! I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking.

Heading down the mountains and into the valley, before Mesa and Scottsdale was fantastic. I had seen the Arizona desert before, but never in the spring. wild flowers blooming, rich, green-fantastic. So fantastic, that I was simply in awe and NOT watching the ol’ speedometer….you know, that little round gauge that tells you how fast your vehicle is traveling. Well, camera in hand (most of the shots on this entire trip were taken this way…do not try this at home and only professionals drivers on a closed course should attempt this….etc.) I was focused on the road and which direction I should point the camera for my next shot. Look….there is just no-way too look through the view finder and drive…it can’t be done…so I would just point the camera and press the shutter button….Anyway I got a glimpse of “him” in the rear view mirror. I had just gone under an over-pass and saw the car. Shit! How fast was I going? Don’t know. Pretty fast? Yup! 80 plus…Oh, double shit! I pulled in behind a truck and set the cruise at 65…yes, the posted speed limit and waited. By the way…no license plate on the truck….no plate frame or paper plate from the dealer; nothin’. Hell, I should have just painted a big friggin bulls-eye on the back! 

I have not had a speeding violation since 1976; high school. No kidding! Now, I am gonna get lit-up. Sure enough…lights on-CRRRRRAP. I turn on my e flashers, pull over and have my license out before he gets to the window. “Do you know how fast you where going” he asks? I swear to God (the guy looks pretty cool) “I have no fucking idea” I said! He grins….but just a snicker of a grin…He is NOT laughing!  Cool, but, it ain’t over yet! I hand him my license, my business card and the dealer plate and tell him…” I am driving home from North Carolina after picking this truck up for a client … I just got caught up in the scenery…I am really sorry”

He checks the stuff out. I stand at the back of the truck…take a couple of flower pictures…these here. He gets out of the cruiser, walks up, hands me my license and the dealer plate and says “You might want to slow it down, have a nice day”. That’s it? Cool! I shake his hand and thank him.

I stopped in Scottsdale and saw my good buddy Marc. We had a bite to eat, caught up a bit and I drove the rest of the way home. I did run into a bit of traffic in Riverside….It was bound to happen once in 2500 miles!!!

The truck, a very nice 2009 Tahoe-I have to admit….I like it. I am not normally a truck guy but, I’ll be the first to tell you that it was comfortable for this long journey and I actually came to like it. It handles well for a big vehicle and with the 6.2 liter motor, it goes!  There were times that I had wished that I were in something else just because the roads were just so much fun…. After reflecting a bit however, had I been in anything even remotely exotic ….I’d be writing this from a cell.

I gotta go to bed…Thanks for listening!

O.C.C.E

Klaus

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This morning; perfect. Clear, sunny and 38 degrees, my kind of day! I love cold clear days; they’re just the best…

Ok, sorry Texas and Texan’s. I gotta be honest with you, I was not looking forward to driving through the rest of your boring State…yeah , I know, don’t mess with Texas and all that crrrrap, but, damn…OOOOOOOklahoma was getting flat and boring, I think y’all ended up with some of the s^& they just didn’t want.

I will admit however, that I had one of the best steaks in my life last night in Amarillo at a place called the Hoffbrau Steakhouse, a pepper crusted sirloin; it was great!

Driving from Amarillo into New Mexico was about what I had expected. As I started getting closer to Albuquerque though, the scenery picked up and the mountains still had some snow. I had also come across another section of Route 66, some of the old signs are pretty cool. I stopped for some lunch in old town Alburquergue, it really is rather nice…real artsy-fartsy and one of the places on this trip that I would like to go back to and spend more time in with my honey.

I reset the Navigation and as I entered I-40 asked myself …”is this what I really want to see” and “do I really want to go all that far North and through Flagstaff?” I searched for another route and the Navigation system suggest a “shorter mileage route” but longer time and - through Phoenix. I wanted to stop and see my good friend Marc in Scottsdale anyhow ….so…I punched it in. Ok…navigation is a cool option! I got off the I-40 at the hwy 117 exit, fueled and asked the nice lady behind counter if (in her opinion) it would be worth the extra time to go west via the 117. She said “it is a prettier drive”, that’s it.

I start driving west on the 117 and the road is fantastic, there is no-one on it…I like that!

The geography starts changing pretty dramatically and all of a sudden I find myself in the El Malpais National Conservation area…..un-friggin-believable. I could have spent hours there, it was just fantastic- the lady at the gas station never said a word!! This is why I took this trip; this is the stuff I wanted to see.

After a taking a couple of thousand pictures, it was back in the car and back on the road. I drove for another 2 plus hours and never saw another car heading west….not one! 4 trucks passed me going the opposite direction. The speed limit is 55…right! This is a section of highway that is perfect for all of us track heads…it has elevation changes, corners that you can see a half-mile through, no-where for the police to hide… it is simply a prefect road and only the second time that I found myself on this trip (the first in the Smokies) going through a list of cars in my head that would work really well out here; my old Lotus, Robert’s Noble M400 (yum), Leighton’s’ Lamborghini, Mecey’s Porsche and finally Darren’s Porsche CGT…..I though about the CGT for a long time. This road, that car, the glorious symphony that comes with it at full chat……oh my.

117 ends at the 60, yup, same 60 and heads into Arizona. I crossed the Arizona line and have stopped in Springerville for the night…I already asked…no, Jerry does not live here, only looks like he does J

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Slept like a rock! The Ozark Inn and Restaurant in Ozark, Oklahoma has some of the best beds I have ever slept in…soft, goooshy, warm, great feather pillows…nice- and all for $50 bucks! Took a nice hot shower dressed and walked across the gravel parking lot for breakfast; God I love this, and there it was, an all you can eat breakfast buffet (you must pronounce the ‘t”) Eggs scrambled in bacon grease, bacon, sausage, hamburger patties grits, tater’s, French toast, buckwheat pancakes, biscuits and bacon grease gravy…as Daffy Duck would say DaRooool. The biscuits had that nice layer on the bottom, not burnt, not crispy- just a bit chewy and with that gravy….OMFG!

Billy Joe Bob and his eighteen cousins (whose family tree goes straight up) were all there at the trough too, and they we packin’ it in baby. There is no-way that restaurant made money today….just no-way, hell they lost money on the gravy alone! I can put some groceries away, but these boys, they are in a completely different league. I’d say there were about 20 of ‘em in thar, some with their wives; I think. Had to be that 15 of ‘em where wearing bib-overalls. If any one of these guys were to walk out of a Guess store wearing a new Guess shirt………I dunno……I’d “guess”- three-eighty-five? 

I stayed off I-40 first thing this morning as Ozark is located at the intersection of hwy 23 and 64 west. Turning left out of the parking lot (after a little giggle I might add) I headed west on 64; fantastic! Once past Fort Smith, I hoped back onto I-40; it was time to make up some ground.

The day had started pretty nice but, the weather turned as I got closer to Oklahoma City and it turned down right nasty shortly there-after. The winds kicked up and I do mean kicked up! Semi Trucks were actually leaning over to their left and then it started coming down. I don’t know how those guys were keeping these things on the road. I would bet it was blowing 50+. Right before leaving Oklahoma I found the Route 66 museum and had to stop and take a look. Unfortunately there is not much of the old road left, but, the museum is cool and I drove the old road to the Texas line.

Amarillo tonight…maybe a good Steak?

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Overcast skies and rain started the day today. I was hoping it would not stay that way for the entire days drive. The further west I went the better the weather got, then blue skies and sunshine until night-fall. It was a bit cold, 43 degees cold…well digger ass cold!

I planned the drive last night. I would take I-40 West to Nashville and from there take the old hwy 70 west. I think the 70 is the 2 lane road used to travel west until the I-40 replaced it. This detour was on purpose however, as my intent on this trip is to SEE the US not just drive across it. I was pretty sure that the scenery was not going to be nearly as interesting as yesterdays and though I was right, it was still a great drive.

I turned off I-40 as planed and got on to hwy 70. It was fuel time…the car gets pretty darn good mileage. Steve, I have decided to keep you guessing for another day. J There is something that I have discovered about the South; Southern hospitality does indeed exist.

The drive into Nashville happened while many were still on their way to work. So, when I fueled there were a number of people at the service station…fuel, coffee- the typical gas stations stuff. The difference is that everyone (I do mean everyone) says Thank you ma’am, yes sir, no ma’am, yes please and no thank you. Hey, I love California like everyone else, but damn, it sure is nice to see and do and we should all do more of it! The rumor about Southern food being great however, WRONG….the food sucks, until tonight, more on that in just a moment.

Hwy 70 finally brought me back to I-40 just west of Memphis. I was thinking about stopping and sayin’ hello to the old boy, not. Through Memphis and over the mighty Mississippi (always wanted to say that) and into Arkansas. Arkansas started of rather flat and ugly. It got better; much better. Andrew, I am starting to hear Banjos too man…pretty darn scary….

Getting hungry, I started looking for a restaurant again. I found one called “The South Park Restaurant” …no joke. I was going to take a picture of the place. I actually walked in, took a look at what was being served and left, I was NOT going to eat crappy food again…not today anyhow. Then I saw it…..a sign, in German. A Restaurant at a Swiss winery…could it be…REAL food??  I followed the sign to the Wiederkehr Winery and Restaurant, about 4 miles off I-40 in Altus Arkansas. A nice filet with béarnaise, German potatoes, green beans, fresh bread and a great cup of coffee; fantastic! Seems the Winery has been there since 1880 and is the oldest in the region.

The car? It hauls ass when you want or need it to…getting on the freeway is effortless, it pulls like a God damned train!

Steve….I just read that you believe you have broken the code…really? How? Enlighten us please….

Tonight, in the Ozarks, tomorrow…tune in J

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What a great start to this trip across our country. There are a vast number of auto dealers on the West Coast who could learn a thing or two from dealers here in the South. I am talking about how they do business and treat customers; fantastic! I am going to refrain from showing pictures of the sales person and the dealership as it would give away the car…..tune in tomorrow for that.  

Larry Clayton from the dealership picked me up this morning after a nice leisurely breakfast at the “DOWNTOWN” Marriot…Larry is a very likeable guy…I am sure he does well there. As we walked into the dealership he asked if I wanted a coffee, handed me the keys to the “car” as I had asked to take a look at it. It was parked up-front, detailed, fueled and ready to go. I’ll give you this much….It is Black…it was detailed VERY well.

Happy with the car, I was introduced to Tracy; I think she is either the finance manager or office manager. She had all of the paperwork ready to go…no bullshit, no sell you this, sell you that…just done and ready to sign. Nice! I then met Jeff Davis the used car manager and who I had worked with and then of course, Dee. Dee had spent a great deal of time answering emails and getting everything done….Thanks Dee!! What a great bunch of people….THIS is what dealerships should be like. I am however, going to have to learn a new language; Southern. DAMN!

What I had expected to be a 3 hour ordeal (it would have been in California) ended up being about twenty minutes. Larry walked out to the car with me and started showing me how things worked….he was just so darn nice and helpful.

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