Driving Cross Country in Reverse

[lookin-backtexas]

Of course reverse has always been a favorite gear . . . recall the two guys getting all the publicity when they drove their Model A Ford from New York to LA and back again in reverse in 1930? Here's a mention of it in the "This Day in History" website: 1930 - Charles Creighton and James Hagris completed the drive from New York City to Los Angeles and back to New York City all in reverse gear. The trip took 42 days in their 1929 Ford Model A. I always wondered whether they used the rear view mirror or just looked over their shoulder . . . for 42 days . . . seems like the ultimate "crick in the neck!"

This is from the website - Big Site of Amazing Facts: "In 1930, two men took off from New York City and drove all the way to Los Angeles, almost 3,600 miles away, in a Ford Model A roadster. And they completed the entire trip without turning off the car once! Then they turned around and drove all the way back to New York, again without turning off the car a single time! The entire trip took 42 days. And to make the trip even stranger: The men completed both coast-to-coast journeys by driving their car backwards the entire trip!"

I hadn't heard about them never turning the engine off; guess they took turns driving while the other guy slept! That also brings to mind the issue of filling your car with gas while the engine is running. Now think about this: if it was 7,200 miles round trip over unpaved dirt roads (presumably in those days), and they never turned the engine off, then they must have never changed the oil! Sort of hard to drain the crankcase and refill it with fresh oil while the engine is running. Now since these guys seemed to do everything backward, maybe they just opened the drainplug and let the dirty oil run out while at the same time pouring in fresh oil at the oil filler tube (all this time with the engine still running) - of course you recall what Henry Ford said about oil - one quart of clean oil added to four quarts of dirty oil equals five quarts of dirty oil.

Fred