Great American Road Trip

It’s about 8:30. I went to bed at 2:15 and awoke to the alarm at 7. Today will be a long day–Las Vegas is 867 miles away. That’s about 13 hours, if the car continues to run properly. I awoke here at the Hampton Inn to the sounds of little people–very excited about something. When […]

So my mission of the day: fix the car (again). It’s probably either the voltage regulator or (worse) the generator itself. Maybe both. My friend and fellow Brougham driver Ken Long, of Dallas, kindly researched the best electrical shops in town. Auto Electrical Systems, Inc. said they could take me at 8 am on Tuesday

Unbelievably, the Brougham isn’t charging again. My generator light is on and the needle reads “discharging.” No amount of profanity can adequately sum up my frustration. Let’s recap my charging trouble, shall we? I had the generator rebuilt by Southern Armature in Birmingham, Alabama. Day two of driving the Brougham, I noticed the system wasn’t

People who love old cars also have a good appreciation for history. I’m one of the lucky collector car owners who knows the history of my car. In fact, I bought the car from it’s original owner, which is a rare thing. My 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham was purchased in the summer of 1958 by

Omaha rose off the plains like a shimmering oasis. We stayed at a fantastic Marriott and spent the morning seeing a few sites. The Lewis & Clark landing seemed particularly appropriate for the western-ho part of Motorpool.com’s road trip. Where Lewis & Clark once stood. Before leaving town, Kim and I swung by the Omaha

Throughout our time in this friendly North Dakota town, Kim and I developed an annoying joke routine of peppering all our conversation with lines from the 1996 Coen brothers movie, Fargo. “How’s your breakfast?” I asked. “Pretty darn good, ya,” Kim responded in her best impression of Frances McDormand’s character. We were staying at a

Breakfast at the Best Western revealed a car-enthusiast waitress, who came out with the cook, dishwasher, and general manager to see our stately departure from the parking lot. The view from the Best Western St. Paul Ominously, the generator light would not go off and the needle read “discharging.” Not encouraging. Still, we managed to

I’m lactose intolerant. It’s not that I can’t eat cheese, milk and other diary products, it’s just that I’m ready to get out of Wisconsin. My cousin, Kim Morgan Jemison, has joined me on this leg of the adventure. As we flew from Birmingham to Madison, I assured her that the automobile had spent the

At five this morning I bolted out of bed and made for the parking lot. Aside from the 41-degree weather and being stranded in tired Holiday Inn, it was a stunning day in Wisconsin. Mist rose off the pond behind the hotel and the sun broke through a grove of nearby trees. Down by the

My fascination with Chicago and the car’s electrical spasm put me more than a day behind schedule, so air traffic control (Catherine Russell, our office manager) routed the Brougham through Madison, Wisconsin instead of Milwaukee. A cold Pabst would have to wait for another trip, sadly. As I zoomed into Wisconsin, the car felt full