Back when I first got my license I started taking little drives on the weekends. Not to far at first but as I got more familiar with my surroundings I started stretching my drives into longer and longer tours of the areas surrounding my home in cincy.
A couple of years later I had the most epic drive of my life...so far. I had a 76' cutlass supreme, no one would ever confuse it for a true gt car but it served it's purpose. I had saved a bunch of money, hoping to move south but as luck would have it the day I quit my job the timing chain let go and destroyed the heads. So I used my savings to rebuild it. A buddy who was really into Old's had a set of heads that he said had been worked over by Mondello, a big Lunati cam, Edelbrock performer rpm intake with a 750 Edelbrock carb, Hooker super comp headers that went into three inch pipes and flowmasters that dumped before the rear axle transformed my pos Olds into an even louder and thirstier pos Olds. With the 3.08 gears it was a dog of the line but when you got it up on the cam and the air started flowing that thing sounded and ran like a beast.
So the weekend after I got it finished I wanted to take it out for a drive and see what it was like. Went to bed early Friday night and got up at 6 a.m. sat morning and pointed it east. Roaring towards the sunrise on a two lane state hwy with nobody else on the roads I started getting into a rhythm with the car and the road. Letting of the gas to roll it into an easy left hander and hearing that thing pop and sputter put goose bumps on the back of my neck. Coming off the apex full throttle and the sound echoing of through the valley was intoxicating. I didn't want to stop and I didn't except for fuel. I kept charging east slowing down for little towns that popped up then roaring through the country side. As the sun started to fade behind me I roared through Pittsburgh and kept pushing east until I started to get a little tired and decided I would get a room for the night and head back in the morning. The next town I came to was Altoona, P.A. I stopped at three different places and they all where booked because of some convention in town. So I got a couple hours rest in the drivers seat and then headed back west. Coming back at night through one of the twister bits ( I believe somewhere in Hocking county) pushing around 8/10ths I passed a pickup truck with four guy's in the back drinking beer and they decided to give chase. I pushed it harder and my heart was pounding out of my chest. I ran wide open down through a little town out the other side and eased off with them no where in site. The rest of the miles went by and as the sun started coming up over my shoulders I was running on pure will just to get home and clime into bed. I was completely exhausted.
But the experience has stayed with me all these years and looking back it almost seems surreal. I imagine I got a little taste of what it would have been like to take part in the cannon ball run. I've tried to recreate that experience but with the more mundane vehicles I've had since then the whole experience has been a bit lacking.
So wise GRMers what car would you use to try and get that feeling back?
I've been daydreaming about a c3 corvette with around 400hp and a four speed. Or maybe a g-body with a truck arm rear suspension and global west parts up front with about 400hp and a six speed. Or maybe something German?
What say you?
