Mustang Maniac

Route 66 – part 13

Posted on April 4, 2015 by Mustang Maniac

Today is a gorgeous day and we are in Las Vegas, what more can a man ask for? We started the day of with a proper man’s breakfast, a T-Bone steak and eggs. I think I may skip lunch today though.

We had a look around the Vegas during the day and obviously found a Ford showroom or two to have a look at the 2015 Mustangs. I also had a business meeting today, which I will post separately a little later today if all goes well. Yes it was Mustang related before you ask.

We visited a few other places but picked ourselves up a couple of tickets to see a show during the evening.

After the show we went for a drink where I was offered some “Knob”, now where I come from being offered some Knob (according to Urban Dictionary), would end up in some sort of punch up. On this occasion I decided not to comment, although the barmaid couldn’t understand why I was laughing though.

I just don’t think I could live it down when I got home if I said “I had some Knob on holiday and liked it!” I’m sure it was a great drink though, but I settled for a cold beer instead. 🙂

Posted in Travel | Tagged beer, breakfast, Diana Ross, Ford, Knob, Las Vegas, Mustang, show, T-Bone steak | 1 Comment

Route 66 – part 12

Posted on April 3, 2015 by Mustang Maniac

Our travels have taken us through the Arizona deserts where the views are brilliant if not a little intimidating to get stuck out here.

2015 Mustang

We arrived at an old gold mining town called Oatman. Some interesting facts about Oatman:

In 1863, mountain man and prospector Johnny Moss discovered gold in the Black Mountains and staked several claims, one named the Moss, after himself, and another after Olive Oatman. For the next half century mining waxed and waned in the district until new technology, reduced transportation costs, and new gold discoveries brought prosperity to Oatman early in the twentieth century. The opening of the Tom Reed mine followed by the discovery of an incredibly rich ore body in the nearby United Eastern Mining Company’s property in 1915 brought one of the desert country’s last gold rushes. The boom of 1915-17 gave Oatman all the characters and characteristics of any gold rush boom town. For about a decade, the mines of Oatman were among the large gold producers in the West.

In 1921, a fire burned down many of Oatman’s smaller buildings, but spared the Oatman Hotel. Built in 1902, the now-Oatman Hotel is the oldest two-story adobe structure in Mohave County, a Mohave County historical landmark and is especially famous as the honeymoon stop of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard after their wedding in Kingman on March 18, 1939. Gable fell in love with the area and returned often to play poker with the miners. The Gable/Lombard honeymoon suite is one of the hotel’s major attractions. The other is “Oatie the Ghost.” “Oatie,” actively promoted by the hotel’s current owners, is a friendly poltergeist whose identity is believed to be that of William Ray Flour, an Irish miner who died behind the hotel, presumably from excessive alcohol consumption. Flour’s body wasn’t discovered until two days after his death and it was hastily buried in a shallow grave near where he was found.

There were talks about the gold mining process, a guy who had to kiss every woman who walked past him, a mule called “Mark” who was knackered after working all day just one of thirty-five or more mules wandering around the town.

We stopped of in this fantastic little bar for something to eat and drink where the custom is to pin a $1 bill to anywhere you can. The music entertainment was as good as the beer and food, we spent a lot longer here than we intended to, but who cares as we are on holiday in this wonderful country.

Mustang Maniac $1

We couldn’t leave without keeping the tradition going now could we?

We got back on the road, sort of sad to leave the old place where time has almost stood still, but at the same time looking forward to the next stop. We had to cross over the Colorado River from Arizona to Nevada states to get there.

We arrived in Las Vegas for a chillaxing evening and a very well deserved beer.

Cheers everybody, and thanks again for the kind emails and comments.

Posted in Photos, Travel | Tagged Arizona, beer, Carole Lombard, Clark Gable, ghosts, Gold Rush, Las Vegas, mines, Mustang, Mustang Maniac, Oatie the ghost, Oatman, Route '66 | Leave a comment

Route 66 – part 11

Posted on April 2, 2015 by Mustang Maniac

Our second day in Flagstaff Arizona means I got to grips with some real horse power. When it was suggested I could have a day of doing nothing but getting to grips with my pony rides, I thought it was going to be a great day. The day was slightly different to what I had in mind though. A short trip took us to a ranch where we would be spending the day.

I was going to be a Cowboy for the day, what a great way to back to nature is this glorious country side. First I was in Jesse James’ hide out now I am following in his mode of transport.

I was shown to my horse for the day and we got acquainted, not quite the Mustang I had in mind though! Me and my ride had the preliminary discussion along the lines of “I am in charge and it would be good if you did what I say.” Setting of for the trek my trusty stead had other ideas to start with and completely ignored our discussion. But things quickly settled down and we had a great day out in peaceful countryside looking at the fabulous surroundings. We even stopped to enjoy a Cowboy lunch too. There aren’t to many pics as I was trying to keep me and the horse on the right track, however I did try a selfie but it didn’t come out to well. 🙂

The horses were fantastic as was the country side and all the other fellow cowboys/cowgirls we joined for the day. Great fun. I am not sure what is more scary – a single horse power or 500bhp snarling under your right foot. I do know that I have had great days with both. Tomorrow we are back on the road again of to our next adventure.

Posted in Travel | Tagged Cowboy, Flagstaff, horse power, Mustang, Route '66, selfie | 2 Comments

Route 66 – parts 9 & 10

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Mustang Maniac

Another double post as we are having a two night stop over shortly. But first we have a little funny story where the my sense of humour is totally lost on a very nice unsuspecting young waitress. Now there is the old Tomato or Tomato(e) differences as the song goes, but this was UK slang term I made into an innuendo. We popped into a wonderful restaurant where they make their own delicious wine, which we bought a few bottles of and we also wanted a bite to eat.

The poor waitress came up to me and asked if I wanted a “nosh”, to which I replied “Of course, but the wife is sitting here next to me”. Needless to say that the waitress looked at me very blank and wondered what the heck I was on about. Lynn just shook her head and apologised on my behalf. The term “nosh” in the UK has two meanings, the first is a term for a bite to eat obviously the same as the USA, the second definition is a slang term for… well, I will let you look it up if you really want to know. I am still getting it in the neck from my lovely wife, sometimes I should engage brain before I speak. The excuse was that I was relaxed enjoying the atmosphere and I sort of forgot where I was for a while. We did make sure the waitress got a proper tip and she was absolutely lovely, she did think that I was a complete head case, but she put up with me. Moving swiftly along…..(Route 66).

We got back onto the road heading through New Mexico to Albuquerque where the desert and road merge into one on the horizon. The ford Explorer air conditioning was now getting a good hiding in the deserts to keep us comfortable.

Where stopped to stretch our legs to visit a free museum with a diner attached to it that was just crammed full of interesting stuff and cars.

Next Day:

We were now travelling towards Flagstaff and found an unusual place called the Wigwam Motel. Not real wigwams mind you, but they do look pretty good though.

The main goal for today was to travel the worlds biggest meteor crater which is just an incredible sight with spectacular views. You are basically in a desert and looking at the mountains in the distance which have snow on them, below you there is a 550ft deep hole.

The Meteor Crater is the world’s best preserved meteorite impact site on Earth. Located just minutes from Interstate 40 in Northern Arizona near Winslow, Meteor Crater is the breath-taking result of a collision between an asteroid traveling 26,000 miles per hour and planet Earth approximately 50,000 years ago. The Meteor Crater is nearly one mile across, 2.4 miles in circumference and more than 550 feet deep. It is an international tourist venue with outdoor observation trails, air-conditioned indoor viewing, wide-screen movie theater, Interactive Discovery Center, unique gift and rock shop, and Astronaut Memorial Park at the Visitor Center all located on the crater rim.

After we spent many hours here just taking in the sights we got back on the road and looked towards our next stop where we plan to stay for a couple of nights.

We do have to comment on one thing though, such a beautiful place for incredible scenery and we see this sign slapped in the middle of views.

We forgot to upload these couple of pics from the previous post, Caddy Ranch, not sure you want to see more pics of me, but here you are anyway.

Posted in Travel | Tagged aircon, Cadillac Ranch, desert, Flagstaff, Meteor Crater, New Mexico, Route '66, slang, wigwam | Leave a comment

Route 66 – parts 7 & 8

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Mustang Maniac

We left the lovely Oklahoma on our way to Amarillo, now I have said that I bet you are singing the song? We never asked anybody if this is the way to Amarillo either. On our way out of Oklahoma we stopped of here for a little look around to see some history of the famous Route 66 and a shop with a difference.

We got back on the road and found a great name for a road.

While we are on the Subject of Mustangs a little know fact about one of our cars. Our 1964 1/2 Indianapolis 500 260cid pace car which was one of only 190 made in hard top came to us from Oklahoma. We have an article all about the Pace Cars click here or it can be found under the “Our Cars” menu heading at the top. This Indy 500 Pace Car is the only known genuine item in Europe and was a complete nut and bolt restoration from the ground up completed by us.

’64 Indy 500 Pace Car

Across the hood

Inside

Under the hood of the Pace Car

We have seen some sights on the road and when people say they are moving house in the UK this isn’t quite what they mean.

As we had been traveling for a while at this point we decided that we would stop of for a snack. Well, more like half a cow served up on plate the size of a dustbin (trash can) lid!

Yep thats me

I think i just ate this!

Inside was amazing and everything just seemed to be as big as their steaks. I just had to try the 72oz steak that was just out of this world.

After I had finished feeding my face, stomach arms legs or just about anywhere I could put food it was time to move on. I am sure the suspension is a bit faulty as it seems to be sagging now on the driver’s side. 😀

Next day:

We have seen another famous sight on the road – Tumbleweeds, these things just appear out of nowhere to catch you out. The black blobs on the road are the weeds that just about show up on the pics.

We think this should be the next LAR Traffic Services tow truck back home in the UK! It would frighten the living daylights out of anybody when they see this coming down both sides of the road.

The next scheduled port of call was just outside Amarillo.

The Cadillac Ranch is a public art installation and sculpture in Amarillo, Texas. It was created in 1974 by Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez and Doug Michels, who were a part of the art group Ant Farm. It consists of what were (when originally installed during 1974) either older running used or junk Cadillac automobiles, representing a number of evolutions of the car line (most notably the birth and death of the defining feature of mid twentieth century Cadillacs; the tailfins) from 1949 to 1963, half-buried nose-first in the ground, at an angle corresponding to that of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

After all the walking around for a while it was getting near to another meal, this time we had a light(er) meal in this lovely place at the half way point of the Mother Road and our adventure so far.

Only another 270 miles to go before we get to our next stop over in New Mexico!

Emails:

We have had a few fantastic emails from people following our travels with recommendations and places to visit. We try to look at some of them and see if they are doable in our time frame as it were. Some we have managed to visit such as the Cadillac Ranch, and some we haven’t been able to get to.

Thank you to everybody who has taken time out to mail us.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 72oz steak, Amarillo, Cadillac Ranch, indy 500 pace car, LAR Traffic Services, monster truck, Mustang Road, New Mexico, Route '66, Tumbleweeds | Leave a comment

Route 66 – part 6

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Mustang Maniac

We left Springfield and took to the road heading towards Oklahoma and we can notice a definite shift in the warmer weather as we edge closer to Texas. The roads here are just so straight and perfect for a little bit of cruise control for a relaxing drive with not much traffic.

We travelled for what seemed like ages on the long until we got to our next stop at the National Rod & Custom Car Hall of Fame, shown on the map below here.

This place is full of unique works of art and are just amazing to look at. The amount of man hours that has gone into these cars I would like to even begin to count, what a fabulous place.

We had a bite to eat and then hit the road again on our way to Oklahoma, for a rest over. Once we had found our hotel and got ready to go we ventured into the city to look for some home grown American way of life. We found a nice bar where we had a few drinks with some very nice local people who welcomed us in to their evening and conversations.

the city

the bar

Our thanks to the other customers who made sure we had a wonderful evening, jetlag or hangover? Sure it’s only jetlag. 🙂

Posted in Travel | Tagged custom cars, hot rod, nightlife, Oklahoma, Route '66, Springfield | Leave a comment

Route 66 – part 5

Posted on March 29, 2015 by Mustang Maniac

Our journey had taken us to the outskirts of Missouri to a place called Stanton and the pictures we had taken did come out quite well we are pleased to say.

We went to a place called Meramec Caverns which have existed for the past 400 million years, slowly forming through deposits of limestone. In centuries past, Native Americans used the cavern system for shelter.

During the 18th century, the cave was used for extracting saltpeter for the manufacture of gunpowder. In the Civil War era, the Union Army used the caves as a saltpeter plant, but the plant was discovered and destroyed by Confederate guerrillas, likely including the future infamous outlaw Jesse James. According to local legend, James and his brother and partner in crime Frank used the caves as a hideout in the 1870s. One legend in particular claims that a sheriff tracking the Jameses sat in front of the cave, waiting for Jesse and his gang to emerge; however, they had found another exit. In 1933, the extended cave system was discovered, revealing the present 4.6 miles (7.4 km), and was introduced to the public as a tourist attraction in 1935 by Lester B. Dill, who also invented the bumper sticker as a means of promoting the caverns. In midsummer of 1972, Meramec Caverns provided the cave settings for Tom Sawyer, a musical film which was released to theaters that following year. In the 1998 movie Deep Impact (film) a reference is made to the limestone caves of Missouri as the location of the ARC shelter.

Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847 – April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw, gang leader, bank robber, train robber, and murderer from the state of Missouri and the most famous member of the James-Younger Gang. Already a celebrity when he was alive, he became a legendary figure of the Wild West after his death. Scholars place him in the context of regional insurgencies of ex-Confederates following the American Civil War rather than a manifestation of frontier lawlessness or alleged economic justice.

Jesse and his brother Frank James were Confederate guerrillas or Bushwhackers during the Civil War. They were accused of participating in atrocities committed against Union soldiers, including the Centralia Massacre. After the war, as members of various gangs of outlaws, they robbed banks, stagecoaches, and trains. Despite popular portrayals of James as an embodiment of Robin Hood, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, there is no evidence that he and his gang shared their loot from the robberies they committed.

The James brothers were most active with their gang from about 1866 until 1876, when their attempted robbery of a bank in Northfield, Minnesota resulted in the capture or deaths of several gang members. They continued in crime for several years, recruiting new members, but were under increasing pressure from law enforcement. On April 3, 1882, Jesse James was killed by a member of his own gang, Robert Ford, who hoped to collect a reward on James’ head.

The entrance to the seven tier tall caves.

Marker for Jesse James

After our trip to the caves and learning about Jesse James we found a Walmart for some supplies, what we hadn’t banked on was the selection of arms. Does anybody ever ask “Can I have a hot southern fried chicken and I will take that nice semi automatic rifle with 250 rounds too please”.

Posted in Travel | Tagged Jesse James, Meramec Caverns, Missouri, Route '66, Stanton, Walmart, Wanted poster | 1 Comment

Rebuild & Replace

Posted on March 29, 2015 by Mustang Maniac

Cars have turned up we are rapidly running out of space to store them all, working on them and getting them back to the customers turns into logistical nightmare. Anyway we have got to the point where the Rust In Piece convertible is now on the lift after we got the engine back in.

Working on the underside to get it back together again using as much of the original parts as possible from the front suspension and steering.

We are putting new brake hardware onto the axle as they were completely shot to bits and we will not allow them to be used although some people might try their luck.

Customers Cars:

We had Lance’s Gulf Stream Aqua ’65 Coupe in for a little blinging under the hood. He wanted to replace the pullies to some nice billet ones. While he was at it he changed his suspension to a nice positive Borgeson steering rack. As we were changing the pullies we fitted a nice sparkly new aluminium radiator to finish the look off. This is very pretty car under the hood now and kept Yogi quiet for a couple of days.

We hope to upload a video soon of the engine running with the new pullies in place. We let you know once it’s on our YouTube channel, click here for the link.

Rare car:

We mentioned that we will have some pictures of the rare German export model Mustang that were known as the “T5”. We have worked on this lovely car before and we said we are always pleased to have her back.

We have had a few questions about the T5 and we have added an “Article” in our menu about it click here. The car we have here is not badged exactly as they were originally on the rear trunk lid. The lettering “Mustang” was removed and was just blank. But as this trunk lid already came with the holes we asked to put the lettering in place.

The badges on the T5 are no longer made and are a rare piece of badging for the Mustang. Why was it called T5? Because it was the internal project code name at the time.

The interior badges are the same, Mustang was removed from pretty much everywhere including the steering wheel and the glove box. Another nice rare piece is the cover up late that just covered the original Mustang logo.

The interior was lovely condition too.

Adam parking her up

We hope you have been enjoying Adam’s Route 66 posts, we have even learnt some stuff here too. As Adam is away we have had a few customers asking about parts. Please leave us an email for technical questions and we will try to get back to you as soon as we get a chance. You can always still order from the WebShop and Yogette will get them out as soon as she can for you.

Posted in Customers' Cars, News, YouTube | Tagged borgeson, gulf stream aqua, Mustang, Mustang Maniac, Rust in Piece, T5, WebShop | Leave a comment

Route 66 – part 4

Posted on March 28, 2015 by Mustang Maniac

Today we are in St Louis for a little look around this lovely place. The Gateway Arch just dominates the skyline at 630ft tall, it even has a tram to take you to the top to look out over the city. The park is a memorial to Thomas Jefferson’s role in opening the Westward expansion to the west. Clad in stainless steel and built-in the form of a flattened catenary arch, it is the world’s tallest arch, the tallest monument in the Western Hemisphere, and Missouri’s tallest accessible building. What an incredible structure.

We went on to find that the old Union Station had been turned into an amazing hotel.

Yes I know I haven’t posted a picture of the car up yet, so here it is.

Tomorrow we will have something special in mind and hope it comes out as well as it should do.

Posted in Travel | Tagged Gateway Arch, Route '66, St. Louis, Union Station Hotel | 3 Comments

Route 66 – part 3

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Mustang Maniac

The first part of the journey was relaxing once we got going. We saw a sign on our way to the next destination. That sign is the home to American Motor Racing. We were going to stop by but decided it was to far off our track to visit. Next time we will.

We had a quick stop over at a few places including Isle A La Cache, Willbrook where we found Del Rhea’s the famous Southern Fried Chicken restaurant since the 1940’s. as seen on various TV shows. There was a farm nearby that had a petting farm and this big cock! Being a bloke thing, you just have to have you picture taken with a big cock ready for the innuendo “do you wanna see a picture of my big..” moving swiftly on!

We moved on to a place called Joliet where the Joliet Historical Museum and Welcome centre was located. There was some iron works, Joliet Kicks where I had a pic with the Blues Brothers and a car place called Dick’s who had an unusual way to store cars. The Joliet Welcome Centre had history of Route 66 and some good recommendations of places to visit along the Mother Road.