After a sojourn of almost 24 months The Alfatross is finally back home again. Dave Carrell loaned me his Dodge Ram 2500 diesel pickup for the 2,500-mile round trip from Santa Fe to Vintage Autocraft in Lebanon, TN. I drove the trip out solo, then Dave flew in to co-drive the rig back to Santa Fe. The trip was largely uneventful, except for a big, violent wind and rain storm spanning most of Oklahoma.
I got the feeling that Tim would rather have had more time to work on fitting the windows and doors, but now that we are committed to showing The Alfatross at the Arizona Concours d'Elegance in Scottsdale in January, we are running short on time. It is necessary to get the car to Paul Russell & Co. as soon as we can in order to get the interior installed--a process that will take several weeks. But first we have to get it to Santa Fe to install the suspension, wheels, steering, etc., so it can be shipped via a commercial vehicle transporter. The plan is to get the car back to Santa Fe early in December, which will give us about 50 days to finish it.
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| It's finally finished! For the long trip back to Santa Fe in its Trailer, we took the wheels off the Alfatross' dolly and bolted it to the floor. |
I got the feeling that Tim would rather have had more time to work on fitting the windows and doors, but now that we are committed to showing The Alfatross at the Arizona Concours d'Elegance in Scottsdale in January, we are running short on time. It is necessary to get the car to Paul Russell & Co. as soon as we can in order to get the interior installed--a process that will take several weeks. But first we have to get it to Santa Fe to install the suspension, wheels, steering, etc., so it can be shipped via a commercial vehicle transporter. The plan is to get the car back to Santa Fe early in December, which will give us about 50 days to finish it.
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| The car and the craftsman, Tim Marinos, at the Vintage Autocraft shop in Lebanon, TN. |
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| Loading up for the 1,260-mile return trip to Santa Fe. I was amazed that the price for diesel fuel was at the bottom of its range across all 5 states we crossed. The Ram's 30+ gallon fuel tank gave it a range of almost 500 miles without a load. The trailer cut that down by half! |
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| Back home without a scratch after a 5-day, 2,500-mile whirlwind trip! |
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| On to the next phase: add the suspension, wiring harness, steering, transmission, parking brake, etc. We're about to find out that's a lot easier said than done! |
