Special thanks. Nice story and well worth warching and very genuine in every way.
What a story!
I've been seeing the tag in You Tube for a few days and until I saw this thread it was just something I might look at. But now I'm glad I saw the thread and went straight to the story.
Maybe it's not everyone's cup of tea (sorry... coffee), but it does move you, it takes you on a ride.
Oh, yeah... I have been in a Hemi-powered car. A stroked Hemi in a 1965 Plymouth GTX. Just a short ride. "I gotta go down the gas station and get some beer," the man said. On the way he floored it and opened the electric exhaust cutouts.
That was Pedro, one of the Montana Dodge Boys. Now, there's a story you can look up.
Tell us more Ray Bell, MORE More more, please !!Originally Posted by Ray Bell
What more can I tell you?
Here's their story: http://www.fastfourspecial.com/the-story.html
And here's my story of that day:
I got through the 70 miles of Idaho and to the first rest area in Montana Wednesday night and slept a few hours in the van. I didn't mind travelling at night through this stretch as we'd been here last time, but in the morning I was reminded of just how beautiful the place really is...
Montana revisited. This is Clark Fork, the river that the Interstate follows for a hundred or more miles. In the morning sun the turbulent waters and reflected sunlight looked great.
Rolling along the Interstate. With virtually every vista displaying a snow-capped mountain, this is the kind of sight you dream to see. And everyone along the Interstate must surely enjoy the sights.
Montana revisited. This is Clark Fork, the river that the Interstate follows for a hundred or more miles. In the morning sun the turbulent waters and reflected sunlight looked great.
Rural living. There are parts where the farms are being cut up and rural residential areas spring up.
Closing in on Butte. These mountains captivate me. They are so solid, pure beauty, stretching for endless miles and giving rise to the streams and rivers that bring life to the valleys.
I stopped in Butte and got some extra things, including some more clothes from a Goodwill Store. But I was seriously intent on keeping moving...
Hang on, the rest of it has to go in another post.
Continuing the story of that day in 2014:
And it gets better! East of Butte there is the 'Continental Divide' where the van readily climbed to 6300' altitude. So there was more snow to be seen, more mountain scenery to absorb. Did I say that I love this stuff?
Mining in Montana. I think this huge open-cut is a copper mine, like the similar scar in the hill overlooking Butte. In the background is the Continental Divide, we're covering miles here.
Over another hill. And the Interstate flows out across the valley floor as we see yet another range in the distant with its white caps and covering clouds.
And yet another! It just keeps on coming, to say I was delighted with the scenery would be a serious understatement.
My thoughts the whole day were on the pure beauty that's inscribed in the Montana landscapes. Etched in so it will never go away, I hesitate to use the word 'awesome', but it does apply.
Another thing which was etched in my brain was the sensation of riding in a 'no longer 426 cubic inch' Hemi-powered Plymouth GTX. Pete, one of the 'Montana Dodge Boys' had it among his collection and he took me for a ride - and used the electric exhaust cutouts! - down the road to buy some beer at the gas station.
The Montana Dodge Boys, based in Bozeman, have made a sensational assault on the salt flats at Bonneville with a 1929 Dodge 'Fast Four'-based car they've coaxed up to more than 140mph. Here's the car packed in its trailer:
Sheer dynamite! Built up as a result of a $100 bet, this car has steadily improved its speed on the salt flats from just over 100 to almost 150mph in just a few years. In the background is the Plymouth GTX.
And here's Pete, or 'Pedro' at work on another Dodge Fast Four:
Pedro at work. Pete holds up an aero screen he plans to fit to another 'Fast Four' project car.
By the end of the Thursday I was in Columbus, I met some nice people there including one who invited me to visit him in Dickinson, North Dakota as I went that way in a couple of days. I used the wi-fi at McDonalds and slept comfortably in the bed in the van parked in the truck stop nearby.
I caught up with the car again, surprisingly enough, two years later:
Tuesday, May 3, 2016…
Another day which was to be tinged with disappointment despite the joy of meeting up with friends again and seeing more of their cars. We didn’t go all that far on this day:
The first call was to Bill Wiswidel’s facility in Holland. Jerry Entin joined me there and I had a good time catching up with both of them. At one point, Bill said to me, “You know that Plymouth GTX that you had a ride in last time?” He was, of course, referring to the car in which Pedro had taken down to the gas station to get some beer in Bozeman, Montana.
“I’ve got that now,” Bill said. No longer was it part of the Montana Dodge Boys inventory, but it sat in Bill’s shed alongside some very illustrious and diverse machinery.
In fact, to say Bill’s collection is ‘eclectic’ is definitely understating the case. From the obscure to the famous and much in between. The one I really liked, the Kurtis-Buick, was gone, but the Indy cars I’d seen the last two visits were still there. And this oddity had arrived…
Motorcycle power. Jerry shot this pic of me sitting on this strange vehicle, a new member of Bill's 'eclectic' collection.
...with motorcycle power and a leaning towards the drag strip. I think. Amid the various engines…
Engines and a picture. A couple of obviously hot V8 engines sit on the floor and an interesting-looking pic hangs on the wall.
...and the ex-Indy and F5000 Eisert-Chevrolet... (edit: Including New Zealand)
The Eisert Chev. Jerry and Bill beside the Eisert which was once used on the roads of Nebraska.
...and the other multitudes of things was a ’29 Ford hot-rod…
A-Model. Sporting the flathead 4, this A-model hot-rod is definitely 'old-school.'
...the Plymouth GTX with its huge Hemi engine…
Hemi GTX. I know this flies because I rode in it in Montana. Jerry peers under the hood of the Plymouth.
Ray,
I enjoyed your wonderful descriptions of driving across Montana. Our daughter lives not far from Butte in Philipsburg, MT.
(KH photo..)
Philipsburg is off to the left of this photo. The roads are long and fast and note not much fencing to keep animals from roaming around !
She is married to a fly-fishing guide and it is always a pleasure to go there ( in the summer !) and drift along Rock Creek drinking a local brew and watch him display his skills in the river.
(Ken H photo )
My son in-law at work on the river. Life is good, especially with a fine local beer in hand..
Also Ray, it was good to see Jerry Entin in your photos as he had been with the Theodore Racing Team group at the first F 5000 Long Beach Grand Prix watching the late, great Tony Brise in action. ( Thanks for sharing these.)
Ken H.
Last edited by khyndart in CA; 01-02-2021 at 10:07 AM.
Would almost remind you of fishing in the Waihou river back home.
That was just a part of it, Ken...
39 states of the USA, eight provinces of Canada:
I did see someone fishing in Montana, too:
But Allan I haven't found any big slimy eels here in Montana's Rock Creek !
Ken H.
Ray Bell,
Thanks for the stories of your trip through the USA. Great Stuff.
This Boy has only been on the West Coast, from Northern Mexico [Ensenada and Tijuana ] through California, Oregon and Washington in 1982 on up to Vancouver BC Canada once in 1982 and a side trip through, Arizona to Colorado for the Big Austin Healey meeting in '82 - well covered in the Austin Healey thread
Then did California Oregon Washington again by car and train in 1988 and Honolulu, Hawaii 1988, finally [ so far ] Los Angeles and Honolulu in 1990.
The " Mid West " I have never seen except from the air flying from Seattle to Chicago in 1988, heading for London, via Amsterdam
It is on my " Bucket " list as another visit to West Coast USA, would love to go and see Ken H, in Los Olivos and all my Austin Healey mates in California, Oregon and Washington that I am still in touch wit.h
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