Photos by Bill Hall and Derek Klein.

Day 2 started early for the crews. The cross-country expedition from the LeMay/America’s Car Museum to The North American International Auto Show in Detroit has wound east of Bend, Oregon, and is headed for Boise, Idaho. Ahead of us lies the high desert of Eastern Oregon.

The cars are settling in nicely, and the crews are all feeling a sense of accomplishment for navigating the snowy pass the night before. The morning is clear and cold, and we are sure to give the cars plenty of warm-up time as we deal with the small items that plague old cars in winter; frozen locks and sticky weatherstripping. Each of the cars cranks easily and idles well…

Read the rest in Hemmings News

Our send off from Tacoma featured remarks from Paul Sabatini, Chair of the Detroit Auto Dealers Association and Rod Alberts, Executive Director of the North American International Auto Show who flew from Detroit to join us. Our Chairman Corry McFarland and Mayor Marilyn Strickland also provided words of thanks to all who helped including lead sponsor State Farm‘s representative (and ACM Steering Committee Member) Rock Jenkins who joined the send off.

In Portland Host Keith Martin brought out the journalists and did a great job telling the story and purpose of The Drive Home. See the film clip from Portland here.

It’s about 15 degrees right now as we get ready for today’s drive to Boise.

Time to fill my thermos with hot coffee and hit the road soon.

David

The last time I was in a Chrysler 300G, Ronald Reagan was president and premium gas hovered at 97 cents a gallon. A college dorm mate had borrowed his brother’s coupe for the weekend – a laAnimal House‘s Kent Dorfman – and piled five of us in, boiling the rear tires at every stoplight. As a GM guy, I remember being absolutely shocked at the unbridled fury emanating from that Chrysler cross-ram 413 engine. It left quite an impression.

Eager to renew my acquaintance with Chrysler’s early muscle car, I jumped at the chance to pilot another 300 on the first leg of The Drive Home, a 2,400 mile, mid-winter road trip from LeMay – America’s Car Museum in Tacoma, Washington, to the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on January 11th.

Read the rest on Hemmings Daily

Day 1 is a success on The Drive Home! We departed the Museum at 10am joined by members for local Nomad and Mustang clubs and other enthusiasts. One enthusiast drove his vintage Ford F-150 to Portland with us where Keith Martin and American Car Collector magazine generously hosted our group for lunch. They were joined by ACM Board Members Neal Arntson and Bob and Susan Falleur and several local media outlets. The trip slowed in the afternoon as we headed over the Mt. Hood Highway toward Bend driving 100 miles in a heavy snowstorm over numerous mountain passes. The cars ran great and we are thankful to have all fuels, oils and antifreeze supplied by Shell who consulted with us on types and weights of fuel for each car. I must say the winter tires provided by Michelin were superb on the often icy and snowy roads and while we saw many vehicles by the side of the road, but we had no issues!

We arrived in Bend where 20 enthusiasts were waiting to greet us and a good number having brought their cars.

All in all a good day. Tomorrow – 300 miles to Boise!

David