I am in the process of training for my ~100 mile per day bike ride, from Pittsburgh to D.C. With that taking place, why not look at some of the finds I made along the iconic GAP trail? The GAP trail, or Great Allegheny Passage, is part of a bike route that connects Pittsburgh, PA, to Washington D.C. It is a mostly unbroken 333-mile bike path that crosses the Allegheny Mountains. The route begins in Point State Park in Pittsburgh at an elevation of 735′ and ends in Washington D.C. at sea level. The route rises up to 2392′ above sea level as it crosses the continental divide near the Mason-Dixon Line, before descending into Maryland and connecting to the C&O towpath trail along the Potomac River.
The Route can be accomplished in three days with gear and camping provisions. At my current strength and fitness level, it is more likely that I can comfortably ride ~75 miles per day, but I am training for a century per day. Who knows if I will be able to complete my goal?
My last long ride began along the Youghiogheny River Trail, which is part of the GAP. Let’s see what automotive treasures were found alongside this bike route. Riding roughly southeast, our first find is this Packard / C3 Corvette Pair.
My guess is the CC readers will want a closer look at the 1956 Packard Clipper Deluxe.
As has been told at CC before, Clipper became its own brand in 1956.
This example looks like with a little clean up and a splash of gas, it will be ready for some local cruising around southwest Pennsylvania.
Hmm, I think I have seen those taillights before in many hot rod creations;
Interior looks good too!
The next stop on our bike ride encounters, some (VW) Beetle mania:
Two parts cars on the street make handy access to spares in this home’s driveway…
Then, the Beetles in the driveway beside the house seem much more roadworthy compared to the examples out front. Soldier on Little Beetles!
Our next stop finds a 1971 Mercury Marquis.
It looks good with current registration and custom wire wheels.
As we come across many of these classics along the trail, there seems to be a support vehicle or parts car nearby to keep the roadworthy CC’s soldering on. There was a second ’71 Mercury Marquis parked nearby, losing some of its badges, light housings and and trim, possibly to the first example shown above. These folks are committed to having spares for their cars handy;
The next stop is at one of the trailhead parking areas to admire this well-preserved ’80s Ford Econoline 150 Conversion van with dual fuel tanks.
This example looks ready for a long cross country road trip to your favorite trails or camping / hiking destination.
Vans, vans, vans, vans! And more vans!
Not the shoes, but a hardy quartet of late 90’s Dodge B Series 1 ton Maxi Vans!
I cannot tell if the establishment is still in business; the web address listed is no longer active, and their Facebook has not been updated since ~2016.
For the last stop on the ride today, let’s admire this thing. A VW thing to be exact;
Let’s close with bike content and my companion for that day. My bike rig is a used Cannondale and I haul it around with whatever old MoPar I happen to be driving at the moment. For this occasion, I hauled it to the trailhead on my ’64 Dart. When properly equipped with modern Thule Rain Gutter Foot Mounts and the appropriate cross bars, access to easily hauling Bikes, canoes, etc. can be done with most of my Old MoPars. That includes most, except for the F Body Aspen and Volare.
I hope you enjoyed the ride along the bike trail today. This particular ride took me 9h:10m for a total of 74 Miles. I will share some more trailside classics from some other local Rails to Trails routes in the future.
GAP sounds like a fascinating cycling trail. what is the riding surface generally like? rail cinders, dirt, tractor path, paved? i ride road bikes, 28 c tires on 700c wheels.-rather wide. & my bad weather bike is a fendered cyclocross setup with 32 c rubber. your mounts looks to be more MTB tire width. are these a necessity on the GAP? great photos, BTW.
Some of the trail is paved. Mostly the ~9 Miles or so heading out of pittsburgh toward Homestead, PA.
Then the rest is crushed limestone. I am sort of new to any hi end biking parts and such.
I see many folks riding on this trail with thin tires.
I put 1.75″ tires on my bike down from 2.25″ when I bought it second hand a few years back.
The entirety of The GAP trail is well maintained. I have ridden most of it now except for a few miles between Markleton and Rockwood.
I have not yet ridden on much of the C&O towpath. I have read that It can be a bit more bumpy etc. I cannot confirm this yet.
Nice to be able to bicycle a long distance, those days are decades behind me .
I like the black Mercury quite a bit .
Always nice to see anyone doing the endless fight against the tin worm with old VW’s .
Not many ‘Safari’ VW to be found anywhere these days .
I’d like to see a picture of your camp set up .
-Nate
Some friends from here in California rode the GAP Trail. They had a lot to say about the weather (wet, hot, humid) but didn’t mention anything about trailside cars. They are not car guys 😀. But they had a great time.
Biking and camping sound like utter torture but the cars are cool! Really like that Marquis – a guy near me has a minty dark green one with a new 7.3L Godzilla and a stick!
Always great to wake up to a ’56 Packard. or ’56 Clipper if it was one of the early ones; later Clippers (including this one) bug customer request had “Packard nameplates appended to the trunk, either by dealers on their stock or at the factory later in the year, as this one does. I don’t see the pushbutton transmission so ii’d asumming conventional colum-mounted twin-Ultramatic with black gauges. These have the “Slipper” tailiights that are so popular amongst customizers – they can pick from ’55 to ’59 Packard Clipper tailights to choose from, as these are amongst the few parts that interchange between ’56-58 Packards. I think black gauges do to.
Lots of conversion vans, being converted to many different things. Vans are like blank convassess.
Interesting coincidence, but the colour scheme of the canoeing adventure company’s Dodge van, is near identical to the colour scheme used by the Ontario Ministry of Health Ambulances throughout the late 1960’s, and 1970’s. White with a navy blue central colour band.
The Ministry primarily used Dodge vans back then, as well.
A bit of historical trivia. On November 10th, 1979, there was a major train derailment in the City of Mississauga. Forcing the evacuation of 200,000 people. The largest civilian evacuation in North America, up to that point in time.
The province pulled over 85 of their Dodge van ambulances, from elsewhere in the province, to evacuate patients at the Mississauga General Hospital, that day.
I just saw someone in what looked like a nearly new Chevy conversion van. I didn’t think anyone still made/bought those.
That 56 Clipper is like one that stumped me as a kid. I knew that Clipper sounded like a model name, but couldn’t find a manufacturer brand anywhere. Oops.
A “VW Thing”! ( looking rather “whole” and “operational” too!)
Glad you enjoyed the Youghiogheny River Trail, which runs through my hometown of McKeesport.
Yes Robert I am in Irwin, not far.
I have not made it to the port this year on the YRT.
have to get beyond boston and deadman’s hollow. A good ride from West Newton to the point is in order soon!
I’ll take that Thing.
Nice article and equally nice seeing a non-chrome tattoo’d mid-50s Packard, err, Clipper. Your pics also brought back memories of a college rafting trip in Spring of ’87 down the “Yok” after a night of debauchery near the river that culminated in an ill-advised wresting match between two guys in our group. The pouring rain and my friend’s injured collar bone sent him to the hospital and us to its parking lot, where I slept in the front passenger seat of his Renault Fuego. Nice seats, and there was nothing like an early morning rise and 3 hours of white water to chase away the hangover.