The drive from Toronto to the Detroit area was very easy. Straight, fast roads past all sorts of English-sounding places, like Hamilton, Cambridge and London. There was light snow, and the route took me through wide, flat farmlands. I came back into the United States through a town called Sarnia.
The Walter P. Chrysler Museum was exceptional. It's collection of perhaps 100 vehicles (Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth, Rambler, Hudson, DeSoto, Willys, Jeep, etc.) is in impeccable condition, and includes some of the Chrysler greats: the 1934 Airflow, a 1941 Town and Country, a 1969 Charger, and some fabulous 300's and Imperials.
There were some world-famous concepts, as well; the Chrysler Atlantic and the original Viper, for example. One fun car they had on their "garage" level (downstairs and not to be missed!) was the Chrysler LaFemme, designed to appeal to newly liberated 1950's women. It had any number of styling features specially designed for women, and a lovely pink and white color scheme.
I was reminded what a technological tour-de-force Chrysler had been up through about the '70s, being first with Hydraulic breaks, aerodynamics management, the use of alternators instead of generators in thier cars, etc. There was a nice group of docents, too, who were happy to share their knowledge of the museum and its cars.
There were three great short film, too. An overview (quite dated -- 1999) of the Daimler Chrysler Technical Center, the history of Dodge and Plymouth muscle cars, and the life of Walter P. Chrysler.
It was about a 45 minute drive around Detroit to the Red Roof Inn in Dearborn, where I'm staying before hitting the Henry Ford Museum first thing tomorrow,
1 comment:
Te- you are the man. Just remember to keep her between the lines. Real smooth, real real. RK Out.
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