Anyone who has not done some long-distance driving in the Sprite does not know
what
they are missing. Back when the Sprite was much younger, I made a number of
cross-country trips that will forever remain memorable.
The longest trip, 5,731 miles, came after I got out of the Navy in February
1963. I
had $300 in my pocket, a Texaco credit card in my wallet, and wanted to visit
friends as well as historic sites around the country. From the Memphis Naval
Air
Station, I headed for a sweep down South through Mississsippi and Alabama to
Atlanta. Then it was up the East Coast, and eventually hitting Washington, D.C.
Leaving Washington, I was passing through Silver Springs, Maryland, and noticed
an
autocross being held in a shopping center parking lot. Whipping in, I paid my
entry
fee, ran the course with the spare tire still tied to the back, and won a trophy
(which they never sent). On, then, up to Harrisburg, then across to Beaver
Falls
where I was joined by a former WAVE I had known in Memphis.. We had only gone
as
far as Cadiz, Ohio, when the generator blew up. Then, we headed West, stopping
in
Columbus, Ohio, to visit friends before turning South to Memphis. From there
it was
across Arkansas to Venita, Oklahoma, where I blew a head gasket and had to wait
a
week to get a replacement. Swinging further South to El Paso, it was then
across
the desert wastes before pulling into Anaheim, California.
But that was only the longest of many long-distance drives in the Sprite. There
were a couple of mad dashes from Memphis to Southern California and back (3,902
miles each), as well as some weekend excursions from Memphis to Clear Lake and
Mason
City, Iowa (1,590 miles each), once when the snowdrifts were higher than the
Sprite,
and one from Memphis to Minneapolis (2,011 miles).
What made these trips even more fun that it was before the days of freeways, so
they
were on the city streets and a lot of two lane highways. Add to these trips
all of
the races, rallyes, autocrosses, and gymkhanas
What trips. What fun. What memories.
Bob Evans
Anaheim, California
Frogeyes AN 5L/762, AN 5L/6893
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