All for the love of a car....A speedster Adventure

Hello fellow speedster owners,
After a year of saving up and searching for the perfect car and the perfect deal, I finally purchased my first speedster. A dream now a reality and here is my story. A little less then a week before Thanksgiving my girlfriend and I boarded a plane that would take us from Anchorage, Alaska to Detroit, Michigan where I was going to pick up my new 1991 CMC 1600 speedster. The stock 1600 engine had only 5100 miles on it and a new CD player, Nardi wood stearing wheel and shifter, all new badges and new Perelli tires were all just installed. All for $12,000 it sounded like a bargain off of Ebay. The car was beautiful except for a few minor blemishes and some stress cracks around the wheel wells. After a friend of mine who was a mechanic did a fairly extensive look over of the car and gave us the thumbs up we were off. A full tank of gas, maps in hand, and grins on our faces, we started our journey to drive across 10 states, 2500 miles so we could meet up with our family 5 days later on Thanksgiving Day.....To be continued....

That's great ! A Newbie that's already giving Jim Ward a run for his money!!:)

For your info Meriah, Jim is one of our regulars here and is probably the guy who's logged on more miles on his Speedster than anyone else here. He's from Oklahoma and drove his new Intermeccanica all the way from the shop in Canada. When I was first looking for a Speedster I almost bought a used CMC; I was planning on flying up there and driving it from Knoxville, TN to Jacksonville Fla. to put it in a barge to get it here. It's not a long trip like you guys did but it's an adventure nonetheless, especially when you're not a local. I ended up getting a new VS which is great but never did the trip....

We made it out of Michigan, crossed Ohio, through Kentucky when the rain,wind, and hail started to fall as we entered Tennessee. The water soon became a problem as it poured in through and around the windshield frame and through the side curtains. The floor was soaked and so were we, but there was no where to stop. The quickest solution...duct tape...yes, I did say duct tape. After a few minutes of drying the car we duct taped every crease and leak we could find. This included the door edges where the side curtains didnt seal right. The only problem that we could forsee is that we just taped ourselves into our car, so we werent going to stop until we absolutely had too, and then it would be only for gas. 50 miles later....the tape gives, the water comes in, and the engine stalls out. Stuck beside the interstate 30 miles from any town we wait for help inside our taped up leaking speedster. 2 hours later its now dark and were rescued by a tow truck driver who talks so darn southern and barely opens his mouth when he speaks, you cant understand what he's saying except for the, ....''It will be $200.00 to get you to the next town...cash only please'' So he tows us to a little town called Crossville, where there is no mechanic who knows about VW's, and the car sits for a day in a garage to dry out. The next day were lucky she starts right up. I suppose she got a bit of water in her, so were off again. As we pull off onto the I-40 a Tornado warning is issued. We have to keep driving in the same direction due to there is no where to turn around. So we head towards Memphis. There is hail coming down the size of large marbles and I'm worried about my paint....well, and the 3 tornado's which were suppost to be with in 50 miles from us. We pull off into another small town and find the only hotel that has a car port or covered parking. I talk the bell clerk into letting me keep the car under the main drop off enterance to the hotel incase a tornado did come through, maybe the 1500 pound car wouldnt get blown away. Another day stuck in a no nothing town with nothing to do.

A little dis-hearted and down on our luck we spend the next day getting the hell out of Arkansas, passed Oklahoma and headed into New Mexico...where the fun really starts. As we pass a little town called Wagon Wheel there's a chug, a sputter and a huge clank come from the motor. The engine threw a rod,...''dont figure''. An hour or so later another tow truck comes, charges me another $200 to tow me 50 miles to the nearest town. Where again I'm told that no one works on VW's and they dont have parts...nor does anyone want to touch a 1957 Porsche.''so they think anyways'' After a few hours of phone calls and searching on the net, I finally track down an engine. The only problem is...the engines in Lake Havasu, Arizona and thats 9 hours away. With Thanksgiving just 3 days away, we do the quickest thing we can think of...Pay $600 bucks and rent a U-Haul truck and trailer and tow the cars ourselves. We drive all night and drop off the car to a mechanic named Bill who agreed to trade out my blown 1600 for a newly rebuilt 1915cc all for $1600 bucks. He promised the car would be good to go and we would be home for Thanksgiving. 48 hours later our car was ready and we had 24 hours to make it back to Reno, Nevada which was still 13 hours away. We planned to drive all day and night until we got there. We pull back onto the I-40 and as I feel the new raw power of the 1915 engine my disapointment of the car and trip thus far starts to fade. I smile as I feel the added horse power as I acellerate. A light shutter....followed by a rattling noise from the rear ...and again...we lose power. Another tow truck...another mechanic...

Wooo!!! That's a great story!!! Did you know you have to sort of "break-in" the motor before attempting a long drive?....You also need to change oil and adjust valves at the 300 mile mark. What I don't get is why your 1600, which had only 5,000 miles on it just died like that.....they're supposed to be reliable if built right.

The problem....what else could go wrong? It appeared to be a brand new Empi high performance valve spring busted in 3 sections. Another day stuck and I'm begining to look at my car and wonder if I had made a mistake. Turkey day came and went and we settled for Strawberry pancakes from Denny's. Of course we had to settle since that was the only thing open on a Holidayand soon to be the only thing that we could afford. Away from family, almost 5 grand in the hole, with my hair tied back, sleaves rolled up, covered in grease from head to toe...working side by side on an engine that I know nothing about with a mechanic named Bill. From sunrise until sunset we were determined to get the darn car back on the road and home as quickly as possible. 24 hours later....were off again.On to Nevada. Evening falls and so does the temperature outside. For some reason the car begins to get really cold...the heater craps out and all of our warm air is now flowing underneath our car due to the heater hose cracked and is un-salvagable. It being late with no shops open we do the next best thing....Wal-Mart. We take our last $40.00 and buy 2 sleeping bags, gloves and hats and were off again. The temperature is just above freezing as we head into the Nevada mountains. With our feet and hands numb but we drive on. Snow begins to fall and all we can do is laugh at the sight of us strapped into our seatbelts inside our sleeping bags driving across the united states. We finally made it home with no money, no vacation, but we still had a beautiful car. Was it worth it? Would I do it again....absolutely. Here she is guys and if you dont like her you better lie.

Ricardo...heres the funny thing or well..not so funny. The guy that I bought the car from never took out the oil plugs. When we cracked open the old motor we found these little round rubber pieces that were suppost to be taken out before the engine was run. They were melted shut and had blocked the oil from flowing. You couldnt tell until you opened the engine up. Talk about a schmuck....anywhoo. If you ever go on a road trip, bring duct tape.....lots and lots of duct tape. I suppose that I shouldnt complain.....I did gain 2 sleeping bags, a bigger engine, a great story.

Meriah,

Welcome to the group! Great story. Glad to see it didn't sour you on these great but finicky little cars.

Happy holidays.

Merriah,
Great story, you should know a trip without duct tape isn't really a trip. Any Alaskan would be proud of you. I'm still laughing about picturing you inside a sleeping bag, seat belted in! I'm thinking that might work, and I'll start driving my car again next week to work.

Pat

Pat- Yeah it must of looked pretty funny to other people passing us by but hey.....were in a Speedster. It doesnt matter what you look like its the car that matters. I cant wait to get mine up here this spring though. We will for sure do a drive together. I still think over all I got a good deal on the car and I plan on doing a bit of work on it myself too. I'll bring it up around the end of March and have her all ready by May. I need a good fiberglass repair shop to fix that scratch and dings in the door. Oh well, It's all worth it.

Meriah, I am one of a very small but growing number of heretics who have thrown tradition to the wind and replaced a traditional Speedster with a Cabriolet with a modern drive train. Apparently, we covered much of the same ground, since I drove to Southern California last April, most of the way on I-40. My weather was much better than yours was, but I was dry and warm the whole trip. The car performed almost flawlessly, except for a dead battery (twice) and a broken strand in the throttle cable that caused an interesting battle waged on the computer between the throttle position sensor vs. the speed sensor; a stronger return spring overcame this glitch.

I guess in my declining years, I have become a slave to comfort and like to pick my adventures carefully. Your ordeals are a testiment to your character and resolve; good for you. Enjoy your car. It's gonna be fun, I promise.
Hoss
ps. I too carried a supply of duct tape. Old habits are hard to break.

You aren't a true Speedster Owner till you get grease on your Nautica shirt. :)

There used to be a childrens guy on TV when I was a kid called Johhny Jellybean and he used to say,"you don't know what lonesome is 'till you start herdin' cows."

Way to go that must have been quite the trip. You got enough money to get home or are you stuck in Nevada?

What a story!!!More power to you my friend.

Oh I made it back to Alaska alright. I'm back at work 2 weeks early trying to put that new engine money back into my savings. It was all well worth it and I would do it all over again if it meant that I'd still get my speedster. Memories you cant buy.....you have to make them yourself.