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By William Hall. Photos by the author and Derek Klein.

Our much anticipated crossing of the Continental Divide is upon us, and we could not have been luckier with the weather. It’s clear and mild, but the biggest road hazard is the snowmelt spray causing havoc with our windshields. None of the cars have working window sprayers…so instead we employ spray bottles directly onto the glass. It works remarkably well, and is a more effective delivery of the large quantities we are going through. The only downside to the sunlit ride is the temporary suspension of the Sludgecicle Challenge, another of the amusing competitions we have developed between the three cars to hang the largest icicle off the bumpers. Sadly, our hopes of delivering a pure Pacific Northwest icicle to the steps of the Cobo Center in Detroit will have to wait until next year.

Today I am back in the 1957 Chevy Nomad, and it’s a great day to be driving it. The sweeping curves and climbs through the mountain passes of I-70 bring out the best of the small block V-8 and four-speed transmission. The curved Hurst floor shifter is perfectly placed on the tunnel and does not interfere with the leading edge of the bench seat, and the dual exhaust gives off a great sound when engine braking on these long rolling downhill roads. The shorter wheelbase and rigid body make the car an unlikely canyon carver compared to the 1961 Chrysler. There are few too many times you can utter the phrase “I passed him in the twisties in my 1957 Nomad,” but today is one of those glorious days. The cars are running so well that we decide to deviate from the route book and take Loveland Pass out of Dillon to better enjoy the view from 11,000 feet.

We arrived into Lakewood, Colorado, for the night and spent New Year’s Eve at Club Auto, a satellite enthusiast organization of the LeMay/America’s Car Museum. Club Auto offers car storage in a beautiful 15,000-square-foot social environment, complete with in-house mechanical and detail services, conference rooms, a library, kitchen and event space. Inside are some of the Denver area’s most incredible cars, and the equally interesting enthusiasts who own them.

Adjacent to Club Auto is The Intrigue Collection, where Daniel Kalvar, manager of the collection, insisted we display our cars inside the carpeted showroom, showing of all of their hard-earned road patina to the assembled party guests. The cars were dramatically lit next to the dance floor and club’s billiard table. It was a surreal moment to be dining feet away from the objects that had brought us this far, and would continue to hurtle us down the winter highway to Detroit.

It was a comfortable night amongst friends old and new, and The Drive Home crew took turns reading aloud some of the incredibly supportive comments and stories that have appeared on this blog and elsewhere. It feels especially rewarding for the efforts and energy of the team to be reaching the target audience: fellow enthusiasts from around the world who believe cars are fine in museums, but even better when you use them. We also sent out a personal video message to the cadre of volunteer restorers at ACM who have worked tirelessly in the NAPA AutoCare Center at the LeMay/America’s Car Museum to ready our three mounts for this long journey. Their commitment to our safety in prepping the cars cannot be overstated.

New Year’s Day met with a 9 a.m. start and the thoughtful gift of “road trip goody bags” put together for us by Derek Prechti, Sara Bain and their Hagerty Insurance staff in Lakewood. The apropos selection of post-party snacks and beverages braced us for our straight shot across the Colorado plains and into Kansas on I-70, one of the most desolate legs of our journey.

The cars were now running as good as they have all week. So our expedition leader, ACM chief executive David Madeira, spooled up his Mustang’s 289 and set a brisk pace to our next stop in Hays, Kansas. The little pony had not given David any grief for the last couple of days, and he was still wearing a devilish grin from driving the mountain pass the day prior. I was now back in the Chrysler, a conscious move selected for the big Mopar’s forte at crossing distance in comfort. Road handling has gotten better (or at least my perception of it) and even little things like a bouncy ammeter gauge needle had settled down and found center as the car continued to re-condition itself through steady, considerate use. All three cars were actually becoming better cars the more we drove them. Quite a concept.

The crew has a taste for barbecue, so we are heading to (where else?) Kansas City tomorrow. It turns out our tagalong ACM volunteer Gregg Smith is a Certified Barbecue Judge, so once again The Drive Home team has the right talent in the right place. If you are around the area this weekend and would like to see the cars firsthand and chat with the team, we will be at a Cars and Coffee meet at The Roasterie at 1204 W. 27th St, Kansas City, Missouri, this Sunday Jan. 3 from 10 to 11 a.m. The event is sponsored by the Ace Café North America.

William Hall is a writer, car collector and classic car broker based in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

Roy Lunn, the man behind Ford’s GT40 and, ultimately, its racing successes, recently was feted at an event put together in Florida that featured plenty GT40s, GTs, and Cobras. Car Guy Chronicles has coverage of the event.

* The Mod Top, that floral-pattern vinyl top with matching interiors that Chrysler used to make itself appear hip in the late Sixties, was never supposed to go on the Charger, let alone the Charger Daytona, but one apparently did slip out with the decoration and is now going under restoration. Moore’s Mopars has more on it. (via)

* In the days before multi-ganged plows clearing a swath down the Interstate, we had Walters like the one above to clear the roads of snow. The Old Motor this week took a look at how these primitive plows got the job done.

* A far smaller subspecialty of trucks were those built by chrome platers to act as support vehicles and tow trucks for Southern California jalopy racers and midget racers of the 1930s. Rik Hoving over at Custom Car Chronicle put together an article this week focusing on a handful of the more prominent ones.

* Finally, what can you do with an old school bus? Quite a bit, according to a book put together by Farm Show that details about 300 ways to repurpose old buses and combines. (via)

Photo by the author.

Just a quick programming note: We’re going to take a break tomorrow so we can get our desks in order for the new year. This past year has been a great one, and we’ve got more planned for 2016, so stay tuned. And most important of all, be safe when ringing in the new year tonight.

Ron Bouchard at Dover in 1985. Photo by Ted Van Pelt.

Outside of New England racing circles, the name Ron Bouchard may not be known to those without a passion for NASCAR trivia. Over the course of a seven-year career in NASCAR’s Winston Cup, the Massachusetts native earned a single victory (at Talladega in 1981) and NASCAR 1981 Rookie of the Year honors, regularly delivering top-10 finishes for under-funded teams. On December 10, at age 67, Ron lost his lengthy battle with cancer.

Ron’s start in racing came in 1963, when the then 15-year old sat in as a substitute driver for his father’s team. His move up through the ranks began in earnest after his high school graduation, and his first real success in stock car racing came in late models at Massachusetts’s Sekonk Speedway. There, Ron swept the track championship from 1967 to 1971, when he began racing modifieds for Bob Johnson.

The pairing delivered championships at Stafford Speedway in 1973 and 1979, though Ron also raced for other teams (and at other Northeast venues, such as Thompson Speedway and Waterford Speedway) in this period. In 1981, Ron made the jump to NASCAR’s Winston Cup series, joining the Race Hill Farm Team at Bristol, the sixth race of the season. In just his second race for the team, Ron delivered a top-10 finish, followed by another just two races later.

Since our recent posts on Route 66 and the alternate cross-country routes y’all suggested, we’re paying more attention to the old route marker signs, such as the three for U.S. 91, U.S. 93, and U.S. 95 in this Fremont (and Third) Street scene that we came across on Vintage Las Vegas. As already pointed out, the theater marquee narrows the date down to October 1954, so that leaves only the cars to identify. What do you see here?