Vacation Planning Time (Post #446) 2/7/2014

It’s time to start your vacation planning. I know it’s only February, but if you plan to see any of our great national parks, you need to start now. Reservations are necessary if you plan to stay in any of the park’s resorts. A budget for your trip is necessary. Dude, there is a serious lot to do, get started!

Mrs. Okierover and I went on a 3900 miles trek to Glacier National Park with another couple back in August of 2012. It was amazing. I can’t believe I didn’t post a story about it. If I did, I can’t seem to find it. I will have to recreate the posts and get it up on this page. It was an epic trip and a very good time for all.

In any event we went to one of the most gorgeous places on earth, Glacier National Park. Today Roadtrippers.com ran a time-lapse video of the Going to the Sun Road. I stumbled upon a video someone posted on Roadtrippers.com website for Glacier National Park. There are a great many links to click in there. Here is a short video (01:18) about the park by Joe Nugent.

Mrs. Okierover and I have talked about going back as have our friends. Their schedules did not align well last year or they would have gone again in 2013. We have a few trips ahead of this one. We have talked about going out to California again. We have talked about going to Massachusetts. We have talked about going out to Washington, DC again. And Mrs. Okierover has always wanted to visit a beach with clear water. I’m thinking this will be The Keys in Florida. Hawaii, Guam, Australia, Brasil,…etc…

The list of places we want to go is almost endless. Most of these trips will need to wait until we retire. The time and funding is just not there right now. Such is the fate of a middle class drone in America.

Start planning, thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

 

1969 Cord (Post #445) 2/7/2014

cord

I was eating at VZD’s on an unusually pretty day back in January when I spied what appeared to be a Cord pull up in front. The owner came in and I asked him if that was indeed a Cord. He said it was a 1969. Four hundred were made.

He told me about them being made in Oklahoma. I found this snippet along with a Youtube video.

These cars were made on an assembly line in Tulsa and later Mannford, Oklahoma for three years. It is a production of the original Cord inspired design but gone is the Lycoming V8 and front wheel drive..instead there is a 5.0 liter Ford power plant. A Chrysler 440 engine was also offered. The body is made of a fiberglass like material, apparently scaled down from the original dimensions of Cord. An earlier version by another company had a Corvair power plant and front wheel drive…it did not last in the marketplace…it was replaced by these Lear models.

I found a history of the Cord company and its principals on this site.

http://www.stutzbearcat.com/cordhistory.htm

According to Hagerty’s has an average value of 21,000$(US). The owner said it was a toy of his and he had only owned it six months.

I wanted to share this little piece of automotive history, history of Oklahoma, and a rare car with you. It’s an eclectic bunch that eats at VZDs in Oklahoma City and their cars reflect that.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.