My "soon to be mine" Dodge A100's

Okay, I'm excited so I have to share now......

I've been hunting for a decent A100 for a while now. Well I finally struck a deal for a PAIR of them! I haven't got them yet, but hopefully, if all goes well, I'll have them next Wednesday. You may recognize them from a website.

They are in Phoenix, AZ and I'm in Ottawa, ON. Yes, thousands of miles away. How will I get them home? Well my buddy and I are going to fly in (flights are booked!!) and drive those suckers home. It should take us about 5 days of driving.

On Saturday I'm picking up an A100 in Montreal that's really rough. We plan to cut it up for parts and take as many of those parts with us as we can, to help with the 5 day trip! I just hope the 5 day trip doesn't turn into 10 days or something......uh oh....

I know this is mostly a Chevy van site, but I don't seem to be "allowed" into the Yahoo group so here I am!

These vans were very expensive (at least for what I wanted to pay) but I called the guy anyway and turns out he was ready to let them go for less, so I have no choice but to take both and go there and get them. I should be able to sell one and recoup enough to make the whole adventure worth it.

The Scooby Doo one is apparently the best one except for that side window...buggers eh? Why'd they do that!? Anyhow, I'll try and take some photos along the road home....I'm scared now!

be sure to arrange the purchase of a suitable tow bar and hitch incase one brakes down!! Good Luck!! have Fun!! I envy and admire your road trip,

hey, thats awesome! i too envy the trip you are about to make. hopefully it will be trouble-free but even with a problem or two (they are 40+ years old), it will still be memorable...

and if you come through denver and need anything, dont hesitate to call (PM me for my #). i am a novice mechanic but might be of some assistance if needed. you never know, i might even find a friend to buy one of those off you if you decide to sell fast....
good luck
james

Thanks guys. It's the craziest thing I've ever done I think!

Here's the proposed route, according to Google Maps. I see no reason to not follow this map. If there's any early vanners en route, I'd love to stop by.

[b][i]What date do you think you'll be driving threw Michigan on your way home??? I reason why I'm asking is it would be great to have you at the Baker's show on June 22 with both vans.

It sounds great, but we have to be home by then. We're arriving in Phoenix June 4 and heading out that same day or maybe the next. I'm hoping it will take about 5 days to get home....depends on whether or not the vans cooperate! It's going to be one heck of an adventure.

I'm hoping to buy a wreck this weekend that has new brakes and stuff. We plan to bring the brake parts and whatever else we can manage along with us. It's a crazy plan......

Wholly smokes, enbro... you got it BAD!!! Looks like you'll be able to cruise some Route 66 roads too.

Just bought the Cars movie... remember the "Rusteze"(?) sponsor for Lighning McQueen... the A100 van? Grey one kinda looks like him

Safe travels... have fun... hit a run (or two)! Take lots of pictures (vans and travels)!

Where are the route 66 roads? That would be cool. I sure hope these vans are up to the challenge!

There's so many questions and only one answer.

Questions
How am I going to pay for all this?
Where are we going to sleep?
Will the vans make it?
Will my wife be mad if I'm gone too long?
Will we get lost? Stranded in the desert? Mugged and left for dead?

The only answer
Because I just want to do it.

[b][i]Are you taking all your tools on the plane??? There are vanners along your way that may be able to help if your in there area. I would try to get a few numbers of members. We are all hopeing you have a trouble free trip.[b][i]

Historic Route 66 on Wikipedia

Ran from Chicago to LA... I40 was what bypassed and killed Route 66 in most of the states it passed through... your map route looked like it ran pretty close! I too would love to do that cruise!

You gotta do it so you can say you did it.

This is another one, a '66 that I'm considering purchasing for parts. She's pretty rough looking.

I've made a deal on the rusty Woodworking van pictured here, not for the whole van but for parts off it. There are certain things I need for one of the Arizona vans. It's pretty far away, too far to tow home, so on Monday I'm travelling there to get what I can off her. Hopefully I get what I need....I'm sure there's something I'll wish I had gotten and didn't, but that's always how it works eh?

Hey Enbro.
As a fellow Ottawanian (is that what we call ourselves now?) I wish you the best of luck and the wind at your back for your adventure. Ah.....the Canadian spirit eh! You're right...DO IT 'CAUSE YA WANNA!! Just found/joined this site and will be haunting the pages soon. Saving a 64 Econo right now and I know I'm gonna have a bunch of ?s.
Safe journey.

Mike

Hey Canadamike! I've only seen a couple of early econos around Ottawa. A blue window van, all jacked up and owned by a band member named Damian and a red panel one out towards Manotick.

Thanks for the good wishes.

Donivan: so it only took 4 days?

I'm hoping to hit some of the Route 66 but I don't have days and days to kill, so I might have to hit big highway some of the time. I'm hoping to find a good map once I'm down there that will lead the way. Pretty much winging it.

Once these vans are home safely, I'll post more photos. I don't really have any more at the moment.

i to did a trip from the states not as far but great road trip don't forget to do the border paper work or your trip could take longer .

Ya, thanks. I have all the information I need, I think. Each border crossing has their own set of rules concerning exportation of a vehicle. You have to phone the one you're going to cross to make sure you know their rules. For example, Port Huron will accept a fax of the title 72 hours prior to the cars arrival, and you can arrive 24/7. Port Alexandria will only accept the actual title Fedexed to them 72 hours prior and you have to cross with the vehicle M-F 8-4. That sucks!

if you buy the parts van in the snow bank ( i'm from pei ) so i know a thing or two about snow let me know if you would be interested in selling the front bumper from it or any one of them. i need one to redo for my pickup.