Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 Maybe you can't go home again,

Mendocino waits for my return.
photo source: the web

But you can pass by the old neighborhood, drive through it, and reminisce.

This post is not the usual blah, blah, blah!

I've been doing a lot of thinking about my old motorcycling days, as I've been looking at all kinds of old photos. It was all about motorcycles back then, and only about motorcycles. I never took a long trip with a car of my own. 

Since I've been married, I've taken a lot of road trips with my Wife and family. 

This thing about Mendocino, it holds a special place in my heart. Riding up there was almost a yearly pilgrimage, and a way to baptize a new machine. Though I'd been there at least once or twice with the Wife and kids. Once even with my Wife on the back of my motorcycle! We were just recently married. 

Would I still feel that a trip up the Coast Highway would be something special, something to reaffirm my love of driving? I was going to make this a solo trip, like back in the Old Days.

Well, I wasn't completely alone!

Part of my curiosity was about my Riviera, and the other part concerned the LaSalle, that I've been thinking about. The question that occupies my mind is simple.

If I bought it, would I ever drive it anywhere? 

It is even prettier than this picture.
photo source: the web

I wanted to take the Riviera on a tour, to a scenic spot, via a scenic route. I'd been up Ca. Hwy. 1 many times in the past. I knew that it was very curvy and narrow, without guardrails in most places. I'd driven our minivan and my '96 Mustang up there once. It's no big challenge, just pay attention, and watch your speed! It's a very slow road. It's about 200 miles on the way up and another 200 miles coming back, though I did cut inland at highway 128. Mendocino is a bit less than 100 miles north from Bodega Bay, but you won't make it in less than two and a half hours. Average speeds are between 30-40 mph. with occasional 50 mph stretches. It's best to mellow out and enjoy the drive. No need to squeal the tires, or expose your passengers to excessive G loading! 

I have always suspected that the most uncomfortable car is far superior to any motorcycle as far as comfort is concerned. No blasting wind, or numbing cold, as you gamely hang onto the handlebar grips, and steel yourself for the duration of the journey.

Any car seat is much wider than any motorcycle seat, and every one of those four wheeled contraptions comes with a windshield! (plus heat and a/c!)

I wasn't surprised that the Riv did a good job on the road, it's got plenty of power, rides smooth, and goes around turns quite well.  It's also got all the essential modern safety equipment. That's become important to me.

It's hard to imagine driving an old car like the LaSalle down that same road. It would probably be like the time I rode my front brake-less chopper to Mendocino! Gotta gauge your speed before you enter the curve. You'd have to select the proper gear, there's only three with the LaSalle. You would always have to leave a large cushion for safety. It would be hard to change course once you are committed to a curve, hopefully you won't encounter a stalled car, or anything else blocking the road!

You have to be disciplined in maintaining an optimum speed, and it would be very important to stay near it. In a modern car it's quite common to pick up more speed than you should, but you can always slow down. Even rather abruptly, if needed. 

But back then, all cars were like this, actually most weren't as good as the LaSalle. This was the time when the best performing road cars were the expensive makes, like Cadillac. The engine has a wide power band with lots of low end torque, to minimize the need for shifting. And the transmission is a synchro mesh, which makes shifting much easier, especially from second to first.

Don't forget, that the roads back then were much worse. They were tighter, steeper, and poorly surfaced. 

I left fairly early in the morning, at 7:10, gassed up, and hit  US101 at 7:30. However during the work week this is commute time. I expected it to be heavy and slow, but there were two incidents that caused me a huge delay. First, after I got on n/b 101 there was a vehicle fire on the opposite side, and everyone slowed to look. We creeped along for several miles until I was past it. Even worse, traffic through Oakland was extremely heavy. Once I got on the freeway to the Richmond Bridge things lightened up and traffic sped up to 65 mph. That is, until just before we reached the bridge. Traffic abruptly came to a complete stop in all lanes. All the transition roads entering the freeway were backed up. We must have sat for twenty minutes, creeping forward an inch at a time, until two fire engines forced their way by, on the right shoulder."Something" had happened on the bridge and was blocking the lanes. Nothing to do but wait.

It was tiring and frustrating.

It took me three hours to travel 60 miles! 

How would this have been with an eighty year old car? 

One of the biggest and most common problems with an old car, is with one that overheats. That was a common problem back then. Being stuck in non moving traffic will cause almost any car to start to run hotter. It could get bad enough that you might have to pull over onto the right shoulder and let the car cool down. Provided that there is a right shoulder! 

After traffic was moving, I finally crossed the bridge, and continued through San Rafael until I reached US101 n/b. I stopped at a McDonalds north of Hamilton Field. I had left home in a hurry, gassed up, without eating breakfast, or even grabbing a cup of coffee. I was hungry, but I also wanted to reassess the situation.

My plan had been to join the Coast Highway at Bodega Bay. My first alternative was to take a shorter route that would turn east at Jenner. Then I would continue to Santa Rosa and return home. My original plan had been for a day long drive to Mendocino, and then to return home. Just  like when I was a kid in high school!

It all depended on how I felt at the moment. Since traffic was now light, and the weather was clear and beautiful, I was feeling pretty good. I'd make my decision further down the road.

At Petaluma I turned east, and continued through town until I was driving through pastures filled with contented cows. The landscape was lush and green thanks to all the rain we've had this Winter. It was a very relaxing countryside to drive through, and my spirits were picking up. This was also new territory, as I'd never driven this route.

Taking a photo break at Bodega Bay.
photo by author.

I reached Bodega Bay, though I didn't recognize any locations from the famous Hitchcock movie, The Birds. 

Once north of Bodega Bay the road is extremely twisty and winds close to the shoreline. The views of the rocky shore are breathtaking and truly worth taking a trip to see. I was now fully invigorated and thinking that I would continue to Mendocino.

My Riviera looks longingly at the Sea.
Photo taken north of Bodega Bay.

At Gualala, approx 160 miles into the trip, I topped up the tank, requiring 6.6 gallons. That worked out to 25 mpg. That was pretty good considering all the time spent in stalled traffic. For some reason the driver's window now refused to work, and wouldn't close. This made for a blustery ride as the wind was blowing in from the ocean.

The road was in very good condition, however there were a few places that were partially closed due to construction. These had flagmen controlling traffic, but the delays were short. I was somewhat surprised to see that there were large areas of blown down trees, many had been dragged to a corner of the property. There were piles of cut up trees all along the road. Obviously the powerful storms of this last Winter, had caused a lot of damage to many properties. 

Earlier, at the highway Junction with Jenner, I saw that the restaurant that I used to stop for coffee and clam chowder was now boarded up. The Whale Watch Inn, also located in Gualala appeared to be closed for repairs. This was a spot that my Wife and I had celebrated a couple of our Wedding Anniversaries. I saw that there were trees and debris piled up against some of the buildings. I hope that the owners can get the business back in operation soon.

As I stated, you can't make up time on this road, in fact, that would be contrary to the whole point of taking this trip. I wanted to enjoy the drive as well as the scenery. My memory was jogged by many views that I had appreciated over the years. I was on a journey of rediscovery, did I still enjoy touring like I used to? 

Arriving at our destination, my Riviera enjoys a breath
 of the sea breeze.

Upon reaching Mendocino, I made my way to the coastal view area to take a picture. Originally I had hoped to arrive by noon, then that was adjusted to 2:30. It was almost 3:00 when I arrived.

My Map Questing research had determined that the entire trip would take almost nine hours. Due to the delays it ended up being closer to 12 hours.

I knew that the drive home would be much quicker. I had to back track a few miles down the coast. Then I would take highway 18 east, through Boonville and then on to Cloverdale. 

The first leg was through a dark, very curvy, two lane through a forest of redwood trees. Not a lot of room for error, as the trees are right at the edge of the pavement!

Then I emerged into the bright sunlight and continued on through Boonville. After passing through town, the road narrows considerably, and becomes much twistier. This wasn't a sports car road, it was a motorcycle road! I tossed the Riv from side to side and it never made me feel less than confident, but it didn't feel satisfying, like a proper RWD sporting machine. It could handle the road, but it was clear that it wasn't made to dance.

I rejoined s/b US101 at Cloverdale. 

Once I was back on the freeway, it was all about relaxed cruising. At Petaluma I stopped to top up the gas tank once more. It was another approx. 160 mile leg requiring another 5.3 gallons of high test. Gas mileage was computed at 30 mpg! The difference in price was considerable. At Gualala, premium was 6.65 a gallon. At the discount station in Petaluma it was over a dollar cheaper at 5.35 a gallon.

After I passed Santa Rosa, traffic had lightened up considerably. The remainder of the trip home was uneventful and I arrived at around 7 pm.

The only problem I experienced on the trip was the inoperative driver's window.

The fuel gauge has been pretty erratic, I ran out of gas once, a few months ago. I am hesitant to completely fill an old car's gas tank, until I'm certain that it's not going to leak. I've been adding four or five gallons, then I'd zero the trip meter and add more when it indicated 100 miles. I'd been wanting to fill the tank and check the fuel mileage. This trip would provide that opportunity. If a full tank was going to leak, I would be able to run the level down by driving it.

Imagine my surprise when it only needed 2 and half gallons to fill the tank, I guess I'd been getting ahead of the usage. With a full tank, I would top it off again at around 150 miles, that would give me a starting mileage number. My second top off was in another 150+ miles. I plan to top it off again at another 150 miles segment. The first calculation was of 25 mpg. That was with a lot of time idling in traffic. The second calculation resulted in 30 mpg. I had read that mileage for these cars, was usually between 25-30 mpg. With a 19 gallon tank, range could be between 475 miles and up to 570 miles. That is pretty impressive!

This trip occurred mostly in the lonesome boonies, and my Riviera ran like a champ. It really builds confidence in a vehicle when you put it to the test, it's a pretty good car.

What about the "spiritual" aspect of the trip, was it transcendent? Well, I did enjoy the drive, but it was a longer day than I now prefer. My preference would have been to spend the night in Mendocino and return the next day. If I'm being honest, I think that I used to take these long rides because it filled up my time and gave me something to do. It filled up the time between work and school. I wasn't in a serious relationship for most of my younger years, so I had a lot of free time to fill. It also established the idea in my mind, that I was a serious rider, ready to hit the road at a moments notice. Now I have a very full life, and I'm content and comfortable to be at home with my Wife and take things a bit easier.  I'm half a Century past those days! 

I did spend quite a bit of time thinking about the LaSalle.

I do like it, and think that it is something "new"and different.  Well, at least as new as something that is eighty years old can be! But it would be a new experience to me. But it is more of an artifact, like a large piece of Art Deco furniture. It would be usable but in a limited way. In some ways my current Riviera fulfills many of the same needs. It's something unusual and somewhat rare, and worth taking to shows. 

I have a lot of time to think about this, since I can't just run out and buy it, even if I wanted to.