We originally planned to take the 1937 Ford Phaeton because it has a top & side curtains. Not to mention the cushy seats! (weather prediction - lots of rain & cold weather) But unfortunately, the Phaeton's fuel pump decided to die on Route 495. We called good ole' AAA , and they sent a tow truck for us. He arrived about 30 minutes after we called, and proceeded to tell us that he couldn't tow our car because it's a convertible, and the top would be ripped off. What?!!? We've never heard of such a thing! Fortunately, Chris had been messing around with the fuel pump while we waited for the tow, and had gotten it to work -but we weren't sure how long it would keep running. So Chris asked the tow truck driver if he would follow us, and we would go with plan B (load the car backwards onto the tow truck; take the top down...) if the fuel pump quit again. We got into the Phaeton, took off down the highway, and got off on the next exit. Our tow truck driver kept going... Seriously, he only followed us for 1/2 mile. Gee, thanks for your help mister!!
Anyway, we did manage to drive all the way back home (about 15 miles) without the fuel pump giving out again. Whew.
10:30 am - Pick a different 'hot rod' (it's very nice to have more than one in your garage for times like these). We chose our summer favorite - 1931 Ford Model A pickup. Since it doesn't have side or back windows, we grabbed some blankets, and extra coats. And we were off!
11:00 am 1st stop - Gathering of the Old Faithful in Rochester, MA. Since we were going to miss the start of the Reliability Run (it started at 11:30, and we were 2-3 hours away), we decided to check out the local car show - a favorite of real hot rodders. And we had heard that there were a couple guys at the show who were going to drive to the Reliability Run later in the day - so we might have some company. Great show, lots of cool cars, but the guys who were originally going to drive to the Reliability Run bagged out. Rats! Oh well, let's get this show going anyway!
2:00 pm - Stafford Springs, CT We had called our good friend Billy O, and he promised to keep us updated on the run, and the location of all the drivers. We parked at a gas station for about 20 minutes when we saw the first group of hot rods go by. Chris wanted to wait until the 'real' ones showed up, so we waited for the 2nd group. This group consisted of Keith (Rolling Bones Hot Rod shop owner); Charlie & Gloria (Grafton, MA); Dave (CT); Charlie (Douglas, MA) and a few others. We jumped in behind the last car, and took off! Yeah, now the run really begins!
We spent about 3 hours driving a lot of backroads (only getting lost once...), and ended up in Berlin, CT: Allstar Hot Rods.
These next few photos are pictures of cars that did the Reliability Run (about 30).
The inside of the hot rod shop was very cool - lots of project cars, but also very warm and comfortable. They fed us pizza; beer; brownies - what could be better?!!?
We stayed here chatting with good friends until about 10:00 pm. Then we only had to drive across the street to our hotel - Best Western!
Sunday morning (10/18/09)- at least it wasn't snowing!!!
Yeah, the weather wasn't the best on Sunday, so we met at another garage, had breakfast, chatted some more, then called it quits. Bummer :( They usually have another beautiful country back roads drive scheduled.
Another Billy was driving our way so we were going to have some company on the way home at least. We didn't want to suffer through the downpour alone!!
Some last minute directions,
And we were off again!
Made it home in time for a hike in the local forest with our mini schnauzer Toules. Gotta love Sundays!!
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