Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 A week's worth of driving for my Plymouth.

Casa de Fruta is the only Route 66 type attraction
in my area.

While nostalgia for a time that I never knew, colors my thoughts, I deleted the color from the photographs that I took.

The Plymouth had been sitting in the garage for several months, I thought that now, with better weather, it was time to put a few miles on it.

On Saturday the 14th, I attended Ronnies' Morning Get Together in Campbell. This is a long running  (16 years!) and very well attended Cars and Coffee event. It was held at the Cambrian Park Plaza, a large, rambling old fashioned open shopping mall with plenty of parking. This event has been looking for a new permanent home since it was ousted from a Target parking lot over a year ago. 

The organizer of this event, Ronnie Ogas, is a member of the West Coast Kustoms club, and he drives a customized 1956 Chevy sedan delivery. He is an active member that drives this Chevy all over California attending different events and participating in fun runs. He is very active on Facebook posting about all his activities. 

Since these events start at 7:30 in the morning, I left home at 6:45 and drove down in the dark. This was my first experience driving any distance in the dark. The participants were all driving with their headlights on while they were setting up in the lot. It was pretty evident which cars were still running a six volt electrical system.

The morning dawned with blue clear skies and warmed up appreciably. The event was very well attended both with participants and spectators.

On Wednesday I drove to a retiree's luncheon and afterwards made a local Costco run before driving back home. On Thursday I again drove out to Campbell for a dentist appointment. I had taken a local expressway, Capitol Expwy/Hillsdale Ave there, the same one that I took to the C&C. The speed limit on Capitol is 45/50 mph. while it is 35 mph. on Hillsdale Ave., which is an extension of the expressway.

On the way home from the appointment I decided to jump on the freeway. The car runs great at 55 mph. Traffic was light, though it did slow down to 40-45 mph. in some areas. Since I had been driving at a similar speed on the expressway, I figured why not save myself the trouble of stopping for so many traffic lights?

Running a few more errands around the neighborhood I ended up with another 100 miles on the odometer. 

As the weekend was approaching I'd thought that I'd like to take the car on a little trip. This would be my first actual driving trip. I didn't want to travel too far, or to have to drive long distances on the freeway. However there are a few rural highways that I'm familiar with, and have driven over, that are not too far from home,

My destination would be the Casa De Fruta. It's approximately 45 miles away.

I would drive down through Morgan Hill to Gilroy on the Monterey Highway.

The Monterey Highway is the old El Camino Real. Up in the Peninsula, the  E.C.R. is just another city street that runs from San Jose to San Francisco. But south of San Jose, the El Camino remains true to it's rural highway roots. It is four tree lined lanes through open farm land and passes a few closed businesses from the old days. It passes through the center of the towns of San Martin, Morgan Hill, and Gilroy. The speed limit is 50 mph. This used to be the main highway connecting northern and southern California. It was crowded with cars like the Plymouth rolling along at the 50 mph. speed limit. Back then, the trip to Los Angeles would take the better part of the day. Monterey Highway connects with s/b US101 south of Gilroy.

While I was driving along a motorcyclist caught up to me and was pacing me in the right lane. The rider was on a Harley Sportster. The beauty of a Harley is that it allows the rider to settle in at lower speeds and enjoy the rhythm of the highway. Unlike a modern imported sports bike, it never encourages you to keep pressing faster and faster. It was made for highways like this one.

I would turn east at Leavesley Rd. which will intersect with SR152, The Pacheco Pass Highway.

The western end of 152 remains a rural highway. It is a two lane roadway that follows the alignment of the old highway. There are still several fruit and produce stands along the roadway. This part of the highway really feels like old time California. 

There have been some improvements made over time. There is a long uphill stretch that was widened to four lanes and now incorporates a passing lane. The highways 152 and 156 used to intersect with a stop sign controlling the intersection. It was about twenty years ago that the state improved this area with a new flyover ramp. This eliminated a trouble spot that resulted in a lot of congestion. East of the Casa de Fruta the highway has been improved in areas, but it is still quite steep and winding until it passes the San Luis reservoir. SR152 has become a commuter route for people who drive from the Central Valley to the south Bay Area. 

Casa de Fruta used to sit right off the shoulder of the Pacheco Pass Highway. I remember pulling off the roadway and parking right in front. It bills itself as the world's largest fruit/produce stand. There is also a restaurant, RV park, camp ground, Merry go round,and miniature train ride. It is the closest thing that we have to a Route 66 type attraction in the area.The entire compound is very well maintained. It's a popular spot for tourists and Bay Area residents that want to take an enjoyable morning drive.

After breakfast I decided to head west on SR 156 to San Juan Bautista. This is a two lane road that winds through agricultural land. There is a barbeque place that opened a few years ago a few miles down the road. I had seen a Victorian house with a barn located across the road from the restaurant. I thought that it would make an interesting picture with the Plymouth parked in front of it.

I continued driving west until I reached the town of San Juan Bautista. The mission that was made famous in the movie Vertigo was a good spot to stop and take a couple of photos. 

I entered n/b US101 a bit north of the famous Vertigo Eucalyptus grove. US101 has retained a lot of it's historic flavor. It follows the alignment of the original road. There are lots of curves and it rises and falls with the terrain. The land around it is rural, with rolling hills dotted with old oak trees and is sparsely populated with only a few businesses. While there are sections that have been widened and improved, the majority of it is still only four lanes. US101 is my favorite route whenever I drive down to Los Angeles. It only takes an extra hour or two compared to the dreaded and awful Interstate 5.

I considered taking the freeway the rest of the way home. The Plymouth seemed quite happy to roll along at 55-60 mph. Traffic on 101 is much less aggressive than on I-5, but I always stay to the right to allow faster traffic to pass me. There had been a couple of spots that I'd passed on the Monterey Highway on the way down that I wanted to return to, and take some photos at. 

I'm making a real effort to take more photos at events and activities that I attend. It takes just a bit more effort but it gives me more material to share on the blog.

I left the freeway at Leavesley Rd. and continued north on Monterey Highway.

In Morgan Hill there was a house that had several antique vehicles parked in front of it, I initially thought that it was a restaurant or other business. There was a mid Forties Ford done up in LAPD livery parked off the street. I had to get a shot of the two cars together.

My last stop on Monterey Highway was at the location of the old 15 Mile Stop, an old truck stop and diner. There used to be lots of places with names like this back when these country highways were the main thoroughfares. Now there aren't many businesses for travellers out on this highway. The building and grounds had been converted into a warehouse and storage lot for a drywall business. At least they kept the old sign.

While I was getting ready to take a photo , a young guy in his 20's, came out of the yard and asked me about my car. At first I thought he was going to tell me to leave, but he was just curious. Then he told me that he had something he wanted to show me. 

Inside the yard was a mid 40's DeSoto business coupe. He was in the process of making a street rod out of it. The body was stock, but he'd had a new front clip, Chevy V8, and Camaro rear end installed. The interior had been re-upholstered and the car was waiting for a new exhaust system and some re-wiring. Then he pointed out his own antique, a '48 Chevy coupe done up in the traditional LowRider style. He told me that this had been his daily driver for quite a while but that he'd been doing some work to track down the reason that it was running hot. We talked about cars for a half hour or so, and I suggested that he attend a few of the Cars and Coffee events in the San Jose area. 

For all the negative talk on the forums it seems that there are some younger guys with an interest in vintage machinery.

By the time I pulled into my driveway I had put an additional 105 miles on the car. The car had run  fine, the engine never got hot. That is a frequent problem with older cars. Luckily it wasn't too hot that day. It had been almost 90 degrees during the week. I was comfortable with the windows and the cowl vent open. During the first year I've owned it I'd only put around 400 miles on it. 

There are a few things that I need to fix, like the weeping freeze plugs before I continue taking longer trips. I had been concerned about the tires which are pretty old. I had spoken to a guy at the antique Ford store in Campbell, and he told me not to worry. These old type tires have very sturdy construction, I should just keep an eye out for cracking, then I should replace the tires. The tires seem to be holding up pretty well.

After I got home I took a little break, then I took my own Sportster out for a short ride.