Summer Road Trip (long read)

This would be our first “Big Trip” in Cindy’s ’66 Ghia convertible since installing the bigger 2165cc motor, Based on a stock case and CB 044 heads and cam, this motor first served as the race motor in the Blue Car from 1999 to 2001. It has been reconfigured to serve as Cindy’s daily driver, with lower compression, a very mild CB cam, and 40X35 CB 044 heads that have CNC chambers and mild pocket porting. On top of all that is CBs programmable EFI.
We left from Clovis (near Fresno, CA) on the evening of July 2nd for the 120 mile cruise to the coastal city of Paso Robles. The cruise seemed effortless and the car took the Kettleman hills with ease, barely requiring any more throttle than on flat ground. We thought about the James Dean incident 53 years prior as we passed the Memorial in Cholame, CA. Unfortunately it was night-time as we passed so a photo of the memorial was not possible.
Leaving from PR the following morning, we took twisting and winding “Old Creek Road” rather that the highway. This car is perfectly suited for this type of road. Single lane, switchback turns, rolling hills…spectacular! The road empties back out onto the Pacific Coast highway just north of Morro Bay. We stopped there for a couple hours for a walk on the beach and some light shopping. From there, the cruise southbound on the Pacific Coast Highway was simply glorious! Wind in our hair, smell of ocean breezes, and the ocean at our right. It doesn’t get much better!
We arrived in Santa Barbara around noontime and decided to take a break. We parked right on the SB pier and had lunch at Longboards Café. We topped off the tank upon our departure and recorded right at 30mpg.
Resuming the drive, our next stop was unplanned when we got to Santa Monica. Holiday traffic brought progress to a crawl. However, we did get a pretty good look at the PCH section of Malibu on our slow tour.
Deciding we’d had enough of the “Parking Lot” conditions, we decided to take the freeway for the last leg of the journey to our final destination of Huntington Beach. Upon taking Interstate 10 east bound from Santa Monica, it was more of those “Parking Lot” conditions, except now we were just on a freeway and not on the coast! These conditions prevailed almost the entire way, continuing on Interstate 405 South. Sometimes stopped, sometimes moving, it took three hours to get from Santa Monica to Huntington Beach, a trip that might normally only take 30 minutes.
The Ghia never missed a lick sitting in gridlock all that time! My worst fear of burning up the motor in those condition were not realized as oil temps never rose much above 185 the entire time, and the motor purred along nicely. However, Cindy did suffer a very bad sunburn!
Upon our arrival at the hotel in HB, all we wanted was a shower, a beer and then bed! We had a full day at the beach planned for the 4th and wanted to be fresh and ready to go. Filling up with fuel there in HB, we still netted just under 30mpg for the last leg even with the traffic.
More gridlock greeted us as we approached the coastline Friday the 4th. It took close to an hour to make it back to the PCH from our hotel, a mere five miles inland. When we finally got to the beach parking area, it was filled to capacity, so we headed for downtown. Driving aimlessly trying to find parking, we finally did so at a private lot a block off the beach and we were the last car they let in before closing. At $20, it seemed a bargain at that point! Once we were parked, that is when I noticed the dent near the right taillight. Someone had hit Cindy’s Ghia in the hotel parking lot and left without leaving a note for insurance. The dirtbags!
We were absolutely awestruck at the mass of humanity gathered on the beach. There had to have been well over 100,000 people amassed on the beach as far as could be seen from the pier both to the north and the south. A parade in downtown HB that morning had people lining the streets as well and it was a total party atmosphere. Cindy and I were just observers, spending most of the day walking the beach and people watching. Lots of exposed skin to be seen….some of which should NOT have been seen!
The day culminated with a fireworks display off the end of the pier, to which Cindy had purchased pier seating for before we came. The fireworks were exploding right over our heads and we could feel the concussion of the explosions, they were so close. It was an incredible spectacle!
After the show was over, we were greeted with more gridlock. At least it was cool outside and lots of crazy people were around to watch, so we had entertainment. One guy who obviously had had plenty to drink over the course of the day yelled out at us as he passed by us on his bicycle, “Hey man! That car is BAD ASS!”
The next morning, Saturday the 5th, we left our hotel room early for the 30-minute drive to La Brea to visit the tar pits and museum there. Our goal was to also visit the Natural History Museum, but after our tour through La Brea, along with our difficulty in actually finding the Natural History museum, we decided to call it a day and head back to our room, so we could hook up with Allen and Sue Wiess for dinner.
The Wiess’ showed up at our hotel at around 5pm, and drove us down to one of their favorite coastal restaurants, “Joe’s Crab Shack” in Newport Beach. Beers, crab, conversation and just spending time with good friends is dang good times!
We left for home early to beat the heat and traffic the next morning. The quickest way home was also the hottest, and included the climb over the grapevine. Last year, powered by the little 1776, we had to downshift into third gear, to keep the heat in check, and still hit close to 230°. This year, she sailed right over in high gear with only a little pressure on the throttle. Oil temps maxed out at 210°.
Once back down in the San Joaquin Valley heat, the final leg of our 840 mile round trip was smooth and uneventful. This particular combo seems to run a little warmer at higher freeway speeds, most likely due to the air deflection over the decklid vents because of the spoiler effect of the convertible top. At 65 to 70mph in 100° heat, she was running at about 210° the entire way from Bakersfield back to Clovis. We averaged really close to 30mpg for the entire trip. We feel the combo was tested thoroughly in a variety of circumstances. From cool morning flatland to warm gridlock, steep hills, and hot, freeway speed cruising. No complaints…at least from the car. Cindy and I were well done in!