My sons and I made a trip along old Route 66 over spring break, driving it across Illinois, Missouri and Oklahoma. I expected to find plenty of curbside classics along the Mother Road, and I was not disappointed. I photographed as many as I could. Here they are, from east to west.
Bob Waldmire was one of the best friends an old road ever had. Splitting his time between Arizona and Illinois, he traveled the Mother Road constantly, advocated for its preservation and was known for his road-related art. His home base was Springfield, Illinois, where he lived in this converted 1966 Cheverolet/Superior school bus. Waldmire died in 2009, and his bus is now parked outside the Route 66 Museum, in Pontiac, Illinois.
Waldmire traveled the road in this 1972 VW Bus, which is now on display inside the museum. This bus inspired the Fillmore character in the Pixar movie Cars.
This ’51 Chevy truck is parked in front of a garage in Carlinville, Illinois.
Even though this truck has all its fenders, a pair of rear fenders filled the bed.
Many of the old cars along the route advertised the route’s businesses; this one advertises for a Subway in Edwardsville, Illinois. I hope, however, that the logo peels off this ’56 Chevy’s flank easily.
Tri-fives were well represented on Route 66, and this was by far the nicest example I saw. Nostalgia for the road seems to be centered around the 1950s, but in reality, that’s when Route 66’s decline began as the Interstates began to replace it. The road’s greatest historical significance comes from its early days, the late 1920s and 1930s, when it provided a vital path across the southwest.
Old trucks were also well represented along the Mother Road. This ’62 Ford looks like a survivor.
Now that, my friends, is what a well-used truck bed is supposed to look like.
This 1950 Chevy is permanently parked over the grease pit of a former Standard station in Cuba, Missouri. Built in the 1930s, the station has always fronted the cabins of the Wagon Wheel Motel. You can see some of the cabins behind the Chevy. The entire site was renovated a few years ago. We stayed overnight, and it was a highlight of our trip.
This mid-1980s Nissan truck was parked in a church lot in Cuba. I’ve never seen a flatbed Nissan before!
This 1951 International Harvester tow truck inspired the Tow Mater character in the movie Cars. It’s now rusting away along the route, in Galena, Kansas.
This 1966 Olds F-85 was parked just down the road in Galena, in front of the store it advertises. I can’t remember the last time I saw an F-85! Candy and jerky are certainly not an obvious pairing, but my sons and I stepped inside to sample both, and somehow it works. I especially liked the jerky, and bought a ton of it for us to snack on during the rest of the trip.
This 1970 Ford Mustang convertible was parked in front of a restaurant in Vinita, Oklahoma–and it’s for sale!
Route 66 no longer appears on maps, and in many places the Interstates have messed up its routing. In order to help me find the old road, I bought the book EZ66 Guide for Travelers, by Jerry McClanahan, an author and artist best known for his works about Route 66. His indispensable book shows maps of the route and tells you where to turn. When we reached the page for Chandler, Oklahoma, Jerry not only called it out as the town in which he lived, but actually gave his home phone number and invited visitors! When I called him at home, he invited us to stop by his home and art gallery, where he’s slowly restoring this ’57 Chevy wagon.
Jerry’s paintings of scenes along the route routinely feature old cars, mostly 1950s classics. Jerry said that people from all over the world come to the United States to drive Route 66, and those who visit his studio are most excited about the paintings that feature cars from that era. I was most drawn to his painting of a 1930s service station (it’s still standing along the route, in Illinois) with a 1948 Tucker parked out front.
I have to think that people looking for 1950s America along the Mother Road will be disappointed. Long stretches of the old highway parallel various Interstates and frankly, those segments aren’t very interesting. Also, towns along the route suffered economically when the Interstate took all the traffic away, and many of them show decades of decline.
Still, preservationists and businesspeople along the route keep it alive, and enough of them to provide good things to see and do still dot the road. They made it a good trip for us.
Nice writeup, thanks. Sometimes, the superseded roads serve as frontage for Interstates. I never would’ve guessed Mater was inspired by an IHC; I thought he was a riff on late-’50s GMC/Chevy. But the more restrained IHC design is less kitschy.
The only part of Route 66 I know well runs near the San Gabriel Valley foothills in CA. As So. Cal. boulevards go, it’s more interesting than usual, & some signs remind folks of its heritage.
This is the closest I’ve come to Mater’s inspiration:
Ah yes, much closer; thanks.
Mater is an International S-series
Mater isn’t anything exactly other than a made-up animation, but a look at Mater’s front fender line, which clearly continues into the cab side doors, as well as the tall and curved windshield suggests that your proclamation of certitude regarding his provenance may not be quite on the mark.
I wonder what the grille’s from on the once-blue IH – it appears to be placed upside down.
That Ford pickup bed looks almost exactly like mine.
Thanks for taking us along your trip. I loved the few stretches that were still original when I hitchhiked out west in 1972, but there weren’t too many left then.
Sans
the rusted out gate bottom?
Yes; good point! The bed and tailgate are still solid but the cab floor is starting to get holes, from water trapped under the rubber floor mat.
The Interstates had 90% taken over by 1972. But there are some unmolested stretches of road still out there. Here’s one in the middle of nowhere in Oklahoma. The concrete was laid in about 1930.
that’s an awesome picture. You can almost imagine Tom Joad thumbing his way back home from prison in this picture.
So was the ’62 Ford for sale? Looked like a sign was stuck up on the passenger side window… (I think I’m missing my ’69!)
Oh, and that L Series looks very similar to my ’50 L-170, same wheels, too.
Yup – for sale! 6 cyl, 3 on the tree. $2250.
Augh Jim, you’re killing me.
Only $2250…. It’s even in Missouri, a great excuse to visit one of my favorite states.
You’d think by now we’d all be driving 60’s Ford pickups like our leader.
Here’s the phone number….. 🙂
Another Rt. 66 tome I would suggest to readers, especially if you plan an extensive drive of it, is this book by a pair of guys from NJ that took off in a 1968 Cadillac convertible. I had the pleasure of meeting these two guys who did a wonderful presentation at the 2012 CLC Grand National in St. Augustine, Florida about their experience.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QVm-bp4UDc Full length of the presentation.
http://www.rt66cadillacguys.com/
The closest I ever came to following Rt. 66 was riding the Southwest Chief on Amtrak which follows the general geographic flow of the historic route and stops in many of the same towns on the old route.
That ’57 Chevy wagon is sporting very rare early 80s aluminum wheels offered on the Monte Carlo. He could probably part with those wheels and add quite a bit to his restoration kitty.
I agree, it’d look better with some chevy rally wheels with the chrome accent rings and center caps or some Cragar S/S mags. The Monte Carlos don’t look right on it.
Nice finds gotta love the L model International I had a AL 110 flatbed and the old Chev over the pit is cool, but tri 5 chevs nar too many around and theyre like M&Ms pick a colour you like as theyre all the same underneath. I thought Ta Mater was a Chevy Taskmaster with a lisp oh well I do like me a Cornbinder if thats the case.
Well, clearly the IH tow truck inspired Tow Mater in a very indirect way.
It sounds like you had a great trip. I have always wanted to make this trek.
In the summer of 1965, my little sister and I set out with my Mom and Grandma in our 64 Cutlass from Fort Wayne, Indiana to California, some of the trip on 66. There were quite a few interstates even then, but there was still quite a lot of old 66. Somewhere in my house are a batch of Kodachrome slides of pictures taken on that trip. I need to find them.
Definitely find them. You might have some views that aren’t otherwise recorded!
I am quite liking the rims on the 57 Chevy wagon.
Back in the early ’70s I made a number of trips from the east in my 1972 Fiat 128 to see my girlfriend in Zuni, New Mexico. Rt 66 still existed at this time as I-40 hadn’t been completed. Some of the highlights was the Big Texan restaurant in Amarillo, TX that advertised a 72 oz steak which was free if the gourmand could choke it down within a specified period of time. I actually stopped there for lunch on one trip just to look at the steak. I think I had a hamburger. The Cadillac Ranch didn’t come into being until 1974 so I missed it.
But my favorite evening destination was Tucumcari, New Mexico. For hundreds of miles east of Tucumcari on Rt 66 were billboards extolling the virtues of the motels, restaurant and bars in that burg so that by the time you got there you could make an informed choice for the evening’s lodging and dining enjoyment.
My favorite motel had singles for $9.95 a night. Meticulously clean and very comfortable. Across the motel parking was a laundromat where I would begin my my wash cycle. Girlfriends aren’t big fans of smelly raiment. As the rags washed, I made the short trip down 66 to Kentucky Fried, then on to a convenient drive-through liquor store for a six pack of Coors. By the time I got back to the motel it was time to pop the wash into the dryer.
Then back to the room for Monday Night Football, on CABLE! Beautiful picture. Good food, and a bit of lager. Life was damned near perfect.
That does sound about perfect!
Nice article. Anyone who has such an eye and affection for lost Americana is one of the good guys and it’s nice to see that you found like minded souls on your trip.
When I was little we drove twice from Philly to family in Kansas, once for Christmas 1960, again in the summer of ’62. Both times on Rt. 66 from Chicago to St. Louis, both times in the ’61 Ford Sunliner.
Turnpikes in Pa., Ohio, Indiana and Kansas, US 66 in Ill., US 40 in Mo. I still remember the old Chain of Rocks Bridge over the Mississippi, that turn in the middle blew my little mind! Sure wish I’d used my Brownie.
You can walk across the Chain of Rocks Bridge today. We skipped it because of reports of frequent smash-and-grabs with cars parked at either end, though.
Another type of Curbside Classic, old bridges are an interest of mine. A very good article on the Chain of Rocks bridge can be found here: http://www.builtstlouis.net/industrial/chain-of-rocks-bridge.html. There used to be an amusement park above it!
The Fort Madison Toll Bridge has a slight jog to it, though much less pronounced than the COR. I’ve crossed it several times on my way to the big car show in Nauvoo.
Oh, I’m a bridgefan too. I snapped photo after photo of old truss bridges along 66. I’ll be blogging about them on my personal site pretty soon. Click my name above to go there.
We folks in Oklahoma still treat Route 66 as a big deal, and the path it took across the state is well marked with special “Historic Route 66” signs. You can read about it on the Tourism Department’s website ( http://www.travelok.com/route_66 ), such as:
“Get your kicks on more than 400 miles of Route 66 in Oklahoma. The nation’s longest driveable stretch of Route 66 cuts through Oklahoma, making its way past charming towns, roadside diners and quirky attractions. Experience Oklahoma City, Tulsa and authentic hometowns along the Mother Road where you’ll meet friendly people and find unique shopping and dining opportunities.
Several state-of-the-art museums pay tribute to America’s Main Street including the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton, the National Transportation and Route 66 Museum in Elk City and the Route 66 Interpretive Center in Chandler. You’ll also find gems like the Vintage Iron Rt. 66 Museum celebrating the history of the motorcycle…”
My personal favorite is the Clinton 66 museum. It’s terrific for 30’s and 40’s nostalgia. The department will send a free brochure on old 66 just for the asking.
This sounds like an awesome trip, and a trip I’ve been planning to make (at least in Missouri) for a while. It’s good to see somebody doing this!
I hope you ate at Missouri Hicks (what an awful name) close to the hotel in Cuba where you stayed.
We did. It’s right next door to the Wagon Wheel, where we stayed, so it’s kind of an obvious choice!
Out in California there are/were parts of Old 66 that were remaining, if not preserved. Out around Amboy and various other little towns…the old road that chased the railroad as it wound through the Mojave.
Just looked it up – Amboy has been private for some years and with the death of its owners, it’s changed hands a couple of times. Current ownership is trying to preserve it. Which is good, I guess – I remember traveling through with the company hi-rail truck, finding all those empty buildings and restaurant, and getting creeped out.
If I recall, parts of it were tagged U.S. 666 (neat, huh?) and others various state routes. California had an accompanying sign…HISTORIC ROUTE 66 (the numbers in the route-sign shield).
There were a number of scrap-side classics we stopped to look at during slow times…a homemade pickup out of a Mercury Meteor; and an abandoned early-1960s mail van, a Kaiser FJ-3. My partner, no mechanic, had fantasies of rescuing it. Me, fresh from re-bodying a DJ Postal truck – and with bitter memories – couldn’t share the enthusiasm.
Anyway…looking back 17 years, it seemed fun. Although at the time, the 118-degree heat, the broken air conditioning, the horrific boredom in the Needles motel…not so much.
Nice bit of Americana there…photos and background.
A few blocks north of the shanty lies the old Rte 66. College Avenue is the name now but businesses along the route use Rte 66 as a theme and some of the firms have been there pert’ near forever, y’all
” Birthplace of Route 66 – Officially recognized as the birthplace of Route 66, it was in Springfield Missouri on April 30, 1926, that officials first proposed the name of the new Chicago-to-Los Angeles highway. In 1938, Route 66 became the first completely paved transcontinental highway in America—the “Mother Road”—stretching from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Coast.
Traces of the Mother Road are still visible in downtown Springfield along Kearney Street, Glenstone Avenue, College and St. Louis streets and on Missouri 266 to Halltown. the red booths and gleaming chrome in mom-and-pop diners, the stone cottages of tourist courts and the many service stations along this route saw America fall in love with the automobile.”
Google maps shows Kearney street as being Rte 66 across the entire city extending east and west into the countryside.
However, it appears the original route included other streets through town.
A thorough Google search will reveal various bits of info, landmarks, etc.
Happy motoring!!!!!!!!
Little known fact: Route 66 was almost named Route 60. Some 1926-7 maps actually show the route as 60.
While the F-85 cop car is an obvious fake, Olds did offer a police package for the first generation A-body.
Sounds like you had a fun trip Jim. Thanks for sharing the story and pictures!
Did you have a Horseshoe while in Springfield, or go to the Pontiac Museum in Pontiac? I intend to check the museum out sometime this summer.
I didn’t have a horseshoe in Springfield, but I did stop at Askinosie Chocolate (just off the route) for some of the finest chocolate I’ve ever had. Recommended.
I did go to the Pontiac Museum and will write it up shortly.
Nice article Jim, and of particular interest to me as I will be travelling part of Rt66 with my father in a couple of month’s time. We will start in St Louis and head up towards Chicago (don’t intend to go into the city unless we find some more time in our itinerary). Apart from the museum in Pontiac did you do much of the tourist-trap type stuff?
Sure. We started in IL and headed west so we were fresh and stopped at every little thing that interested us. By the time we reached Oklahoma, fatigue had set in and we whizzed by more than we stopped for.
The flatbed nissan is mine. The empty lot is the root 66 farmers market on the weekends. I use the truck to haul produce. Thanks for sharing it. Root 66 being a play on words.
It’s a real shame that so many vintage school buses were horrifically molested by mauradering hippies turning these buses into rolling love shacks full of clutter and filth. I’m glad that it’s a trend now to restore these marvelous old school buses back to their original configurations. I’d love to find a reasonably complete, no rust, unmolested ’50’s International R Series school bus or an L Series from the ’50’s. Now, if only I had the room to safely store a bus and a compliant wife who’d be respectful of my hobbies!