[400 4spd.]

Originally Posted by Ozzmann

My longest trip was around 2400kms over 4 days, 2 x 1000kms days on hiway and 400kms around town and at track in-between, and the car never missed a beat!

That converts to 1491 miles over 4 days.

[Chicagogoat]

It's really cool to see many if not most "classic car owners" from all around the world that actually drive the heck out of their cars and even road trip them! There are far too many in this hobby that see these cars as a novelty or fine art to be kept in a museum. The funny thing about that is I think those types are afraid they will have to work on the car too much but love to polish and clean it obsessively. Where guys like us love to work on and upgrade it, drive the snot out of it, but hate the cleaning, waxing, and polishing like I definitely do.

[JC61]

I purchased my 1961 in 1976 and have driven From Kings Park, NY to the following POCI Conventions.
1980 Gettysburg ,PA
1983 Niagara Falls, NY
1987 Sturbridge, MA
1988 Downingtown, PA
1992 Gaithersburg, MD
1995 Lincoln,NH
1996 Moline, Il
1998 Sturbridge ,MA
1999 Buffalo, NY
2000 Grand Rapids, MI
2002 Charleston, WV

Since frame off restoration I have trailered it to all POCI conventions and numerous car shows. Have driven it to all Long Island Chapter shows to date.

[Bob Hall]

Originally Posted by AdamIsAdam

Hey, look, GTO in tron land! LOL

https://youtu.be/SRAUGtV4PnY

They should have made the rest of the car out of the same material as the hood. That hood is bullet proof.

[360Rocket]

I owned my GTO not even 3 months and I drove it 300 miles round trip to attend the Daytona Turkey Rod Run. That's with 4:10 rear gears. Took back roads so I didn't have to try and run at 70 MPH. My average was about 55 MPH at 3K RPM. Ran like a champ, no issues, no overheating. A great trip for myself and the wife.

[Judge-1969]

Originally Posted by Bob Hall

They should have made the rest of the car out of the same material as the hood. That hood is bullet proof.

LOL....no kidding! I don't think any hoods where harmed in the making of that video! Ha ha!

[lust4speed]

A little over 4,600 miles round trip from Southern California to Ohio for the Co-Vention in 2009 with my wife as co-pilot chasing Les Iden (Wheelspin) and his wife across the states at speeds that might be considered environmentally unfriendly. We were in the '67 GTO Cruiser and the Iden's were in their '68 Grand Prix. Going across Texas and the Arizona desert in July with temps well above 100° was a little worrisome, but no problems and the A/C's worked great.

[Ozzmann]

Originally Posted by 400 4spd.

That converts to 1491 miles over 4 days.

Yep, and I didn't leave the state, you could drive for 36hrs straight and not cross the border here.

[goatwgn]

Originally Posted by geeteeohguy

Last weekend, drove the '67 on a 600 mile trip....4.5 hours each way. Stock carb, points, engine. Driven my '67 130,000 miles in the past 30+ years I've owned it: Yellowstone, Grand Canyon (twice), etc....These cars are just as or more reliable than modern ones if they are maintained and cared for. I wouldn't hesitate to jump into either of my GTO's and drive them cross-country at any time. I favor the '67 on long trips, though, with its 2.56 rear gear ratio and great MPG at high road speeds!

Couldn't agree more.

[Longs]

I've owned my '67 GTO for 35 years and the furthest I drove it "one way" was about 260 miles when I bought it and drove it home! Probably the longest "round trip" was a little over 300 miles in a day, and that was also 30+ years ago. I've probably drove it about 200 miles round trip on a "fun run" with our GTO Club last year.

The big question going into next year is whether I drive it the almost 600 miles each way to the GTOAA in Springfield IL next year. I'd have some work to do if I'm going to pull that off.

[goatwgn]

Originally Posted by AdamIsAdam

I'm not worried about a head on in any car. I'm worried about any accident in a 50 year old car with virtually no safety features.

I agree, 3 point seat belts are very helpful, but without proper seat backs with head rests, it's not helping my neck any. That's my #1 fear, whiplash, serious whiplas.

Here's the crash test I was talking about.

https://youtu.be/fPF4fBGNK0U

Hey, look, GTO in tron land! LOL

https://youtu.be/SRAUGtV4PnY

This one is pretty scary too:

https://youtu.be/siT-SIfOnQw

Interesting the title of the second one. "1968 GM car crash tests" None of the cars were GM cars, and they all seemed to be from the late '50s. By the way, nobody ever shows a "modern" car crashing with the likes of a 1974 Cadillac Fleetwood. My '74 Cutlass, even being a smaller car than the Caddy I just mentioned, has had a couple of newer cars hit it over the last 20 years, and in both cases, caused quite a bit more damage to the late model vehicles. The '70s cars were quite a bit better in crash protection than the '50s, 60s and even the '80s cars IMO. The only measure of superiority in the new cars is the airbags. Without the airbags, the new cars are only "on par" with the mid '70s vehicles. That being said, I have installed later model seat backs on my '66 that have headrests in them. I just like the "feel" of my whole back and head having support behind it. The best thing you can do to your '64 to make it a safer car, isn't in worrying about crashing, but in preventing the crash as much as you can if possible. Because I drive my '66 a lot, I installed front disc brakes, dual master cylinder, quick ratio steering box, big front and rear stabilizer bars, wider tires, halogen headlights, LED tailights, all while keeping a stock appearance from the outside. It makes the car a lot more fun as well.

[AdamIsAdam]

Originally Posted by goatwgn

...The best thing you can do to your '64 to make it a safer car, isn't in worrying about crashing, but in preventing the crash as much as you can if possible. Because I drive my '66 a lot, I installed front disc brakes, dual master cylinder, quick ratio steering box, big front and rear stabilizer bars, wider tires, halogen headlights, LED tailights, all while keeping a stock appearance from the outside. It makes the car a lot more fun as well.

I agree. I've got every one of those items except the rear LED's. I rarely drive it at night anyway.

But yes, it's MUCH safer to drive than my first car (72 340 Duster) which had 4 drums, non power assist! I think that car is probably still moving as it never seemed to come to a complete stop! LOL

[goatwgn]

Originally Posted by AdamIsAdam

I agree. I've got every one of those items except the rear LED's. I rarely drive it at night anyway.

But yes, it's MUCH safer to drive than my first car (72 340 Duster) which had 4 drums, non power assist! I think that car is probably still moving as it never seemed to come to a complete stop! LOL

LOL. A friend of mine had a 318 Duster about that same year with brakes set up the same way back in the early '80s. He had to plan his stops ahead of time. The LED bulbs I like because they are real bright as brake lights. Thinking of getting one of those strips that people mount on pickup trucks and hiding it but have it light up when I apply brakes to alert the idiots on their cellphones out there even more.

[goatwgn]

On the original topic, I have went 900 miles in one day with my wagon, but it was quite a while back, in the mid 1990s. Did a lot of travelling with it back in the '80s and '90s, that is why the car has a tad over 400000 miles on it now. (Had about 300000 on it back in 1989). Now I take "short" 300 or so mile trips in it every couple of years. I wish i had the time, i would take the 5000 or so mile round trip to the Pontiac Heaven event in Arizona one year (from the coast of Virginia). Maybe when I retire in about 13 years or so i will have the time.

[Steve Barcak]

Long road trips with vintage Pontiacs?
Well, for me a 2-3,000 mile trip, have done more of them than I can count. 250-500 mile trips, several each and every month.
Longest drives?
Have driven 2 separate road trips that exceeded 10,000 miles in vintage Pontiacs.
The first one was the entire month of October 1993 in a 70 GTO with a 455 I had just put together a few days prior. We covered 36 states and parts of Canada. That first one was 10,400 miles in about 30 days.

To date, my longest road trip was in my 1972 455HO GTO, a real round port GTO. That trip started in Sept, about this time of year, in 2007 and I returned home in early November. So, was on the road with my 72 GTO for 7weeks and covered 10,800 miles with her. This trip is fairly well documented here on PY. Oh, to add to it, I towed something the whole distance of this trip. The first leg of it, I towed a 1975 Trans Am behind my GTO from Phoenix, Az to Columbus, OH. The last leg of this trip, I towed a 1968 GTO from Mo back to Phoenix. And hauled parts inbetween. It was a great adventure and I have seen so much of the US and Canada in my vintage Pontiacs- 47 states and counting, all with a 1961-1972 Pontiacs of various models.
Last month, I just made a 4,200 mile trip with this same GTO. I also towed the entire length of this trip with it too. I delivered a frame from Az to IL after a detour to visit the Bonneville salt flats during speed week and hauled back to Az a 1974 GTO from MO. Much pics on my face book page - Pontiac Heaven.
Driving vintage Pontiacs is the best and no trip would be as enjoyable without one.

[The Champ]

My longest drive (in one day) is 450 miles. Drove the GTO (with the top down) to a job interview. Beautiful sunny day in May back in 1996. Interview went well, but decided to take a different position that didn't require relocation.

In 2001, I drove the GTO to the Iola Old Car show celebrating the 75th anniversary of Pontiac, left there and went to the GTOAA meet in Treasure Island, left there to the Jim Wangers all Pontiac Drags in Rock Falls, left there and headed back to Treasure Island for the POCI National Meet and then home - all in a period of 10 days.

Frequent 500+ mile round trip weekends.

[SRR]

In 1993 I drove a 65 Catalina 2DR 389 2V TH400 sedan from San Diego Ca. to Springfield Ma. and back. I averaged 17 MPG. My Dad (R.I.P.) went with me on the first leg of the trip and I let him drive for a bit. I took a nap and woke up to him doing 100 MPH! I said why are you driving so fast??? He says: This thing has to be off, it doesn't feel like 100 MPH. The only upgrades to the car were an HEI and a one wire alternator, halogen headlights. Not one bit of trouble. Gas was around $1.60 then.

[goatwgn]

Originally Posted by Steve Barcak

Long road trips with vintage Pontiacs?
Well, for me a 2-3,000 mile trip, have done more of them than I can count. 250-500 mile trips, several each and every month.
Longest drives?
Have driven 2 separate road trips that exceeded 10,000 miles in vintage Pontiacs.
The first one was the entire month of October 1993 in a 70 GTO with a 455 I had just put together a few days prior. We covered 36 states and parts of Canada. That first one was 10,400 miles in about 30 days.

To date, my longest road trip was in my 1972 455HO GTO, a real round port GTO. That trip started in Sept, about this time of year, in 2007 and I returned home in early November. So, was on the road with my 72 GTO for 7weeks and covered 10,800 miles with her. This trip is fairly well documented here on PY. Oh, to add to it, I towed something the whole distance of this trip. The first leg of it, I towed a 1975 Trans Am behind my GTO from Phoenix, Az to Columbus, OH. The last leg of this trip, I towed a 1968 GTO from Mo back to Phoenix. And hauled parts inbetween. It was a great adventure and I have seen so much of the US and Canada in my vintage Pontiacs- 47 states and counting, all with a 1961-1972 Pontiacs of various models.
Last month, I just made a 4,200 mile trip with this same GTO. I also towed the entire length of this trip with it too. I delivered a frame from Az to IL after a detour to visit the Bonneville salt flats during speed week and hauled back to Az a 1974 GTO from MO. Much pics on my face book page - Pontiac Heaven.
Driving vintage Pontiacs is the best and no trip would be as enjoyable without one.

I was hoping you would chime in. I knew you "took the prize" for the longest trip at one time in a vintage Pontiac. Nothing is better on a road trip IMO. Would be nice if more people took them out and drove them around vs keeping them away in a garage or trailer all the time. That is what they were built for.

[Heybuck]

I've put just on 40,000 miles on my '66 Grand Prix since I bought it in 1999.

Longest trip was almost exactly 9000 miles back in 2003 when we drove it right up the centre of Australia, over to Townsville on the east coast and back down to Melbourne following the coast all the way. Lots of side trips into some remote areas along the way. I have a picture in my mind at 6.30am while I climbed Ayers Rock of my GP looking like a lonely ant in the desert as I looked down on her.

Lots of other long distance trips to Queensland and South Australia. I can't say for sure but I'd guess that maybe only 5000 miles of my total has been accumulated in trips close to home.

I have a couple of dreams:
1. Drive the big girl right round Australia when I retire. I WILL achieve that. For Sure.
2. Ship it to New Zealand and spend 3 months or more touring the country. And that's a maybe....... It's achievable but not cheap to do it.

Point is, I've NEVER been scared to take her down long dirt roads. I've driven miles of them and its never been a concern if those roads take me where we want to go. Stone chips??? Well, they happen. Dust?? it happens. But guess what, you can always fix the chip and there's no dirt that can't be removed with a wash!!

I know guys who won't take their car to the shops in case it gets a parking ding. Or it might get wet!!!. I always say you are a long time dead and why are you preserving the car for the next owner to enjoy because he might not give a tinkers cuss about how he uses it. But he might thank you for keeping it in good order.

Ian

[Ozzmann]

Originally Posted by Chicagogoat

It's really cool to see many if not most "classic car owners" from all around the world that actually drive the heck out of their cars and even road trip them! There are far too many in this hobby that see these cars as a novelty or fine art to be kept in a museum. The funny thing about that is I think those types are afraid they will have to work on the car too much but love to polish and clean it obsessively. Where guys like us love to work on and upgrade it, drive the snot out of it, but hate the cleaning, waxing, and polishing like I definitely do.

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