The next day's drive was everything a drive should be-no mechanical woes, no traffic, good weather, and plenty of photo ops ... although we did manage to get a nice big rock chip in the windshield. Since it was on the driver side, I figured it was Steve's responsibility. He told me, "This is the kinda stuff that is covered by the Brizio warranty." Can't wait to hear what Roy has to say about that!
The best photo op of the day occurred some 40 miles east of Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was that time of day "shooters" refer to as the "sweet light," just after dusk and before dark. Unfortunately, the dirt road Steve wanted to be on meant crossing from pavement over a curb/driveway segment as yet to be finished. You guessed it; we high-centered the roadster, and we were able to get the car off the cement curb after assembling a makeshift set of ramps. There was no damage to the car, but some header paint was left behind. Again, Steve declared that "the loss of header paint would be covered by the Brizio warranty." At that point, I was becoming more and more fascinated by this Brizio warranty.
We were trying to get as far as Amarillo, but realized the once-impending rain was no longer impending. After driving about 15 miles in zero visibility, we stopped for gas and a motorist heading in the opposite direction told us the rain was coming down harder farther up the road; we were still 50 miles to the next town. Steve mentioned that the Brizio warranty would cover the addition of a windshield wiper upon return to the Bay Area. Showing amazing restraint and a hint of intelligence, we doubled back the 15 miles and spent the night waiting out the storm.
The next day was your basic "cook ham and eggs on the hood" hot as we drove through Texas into Oklahoma. The upside was we did take the time to stop and have dinner with Gary Howard of Customs by Gary Howard out of Austin, Texas, and his band of hot rodders on their way home from the 27th annual KKOA Leadsled Spectacular in Salina, Kansas. (Watch out next month as eagle-eyed senior editor emeritus Jerry Weesner reports on the Leadsled get-together.) This was a memorable weekend for Gary, as he was inducted into the KKOA Hall of Fame and was present with five cars featuring his handiwork. There was Steve Wertheimer's '57 Caddy Coupe de Ville driven by Steve; Mike Young's custom '36 Ford three-window coupe driven by Reggie Hill; another Young car in the '60 Caddy Coupe de Ville driven by Norm Jones; yet another Young car was the '60 Chevy Impala-the event's Bradley Award winner-driven by Christian Moore; and of course the Jimmie Vaughn '54 Ford Victoria driven by Gary himself. (Editor's note: The Mike Young '60 Impala was built back in '95, and to this day is still considered as fine an example of custom work as there is. Kevin Anderson credits this very car for being the impetus for his John Kouw-built Goldtop Riviera.)
It was a spectacular sight indeed to come upon these outstanding custom car examples on the interstate. All of the cars (including Steve's Deuce) parked side by side made for an impressive impromptu car show that evening at an Oklahoma City Cracker Barrel restaurant.
The next day was spent working our way toward St. Louis, Missouri, enjoying various degrees of Mother Nature's version of liquid sunshine. We did stop by Pete & Jake's Hot Rod Parts in Peculiar, Missouri, to visit longtime rodders and principals Jerry and Jason Slover. In the meantime, we were able to drip dry, get a meal, and enjoy a sneak peek at several new products to be introduced at the Nats. There was the P&J's new shock absorber (Aluma I shock), throttle pedal (Ghost, derived from an elite drum pedal originally manufactured by Ghost in the '40s and '50s), and a new standard drop, drilled, and filled beam axle.