I Drive a 55

I got back from Northern California late on Monday.
Rested on Tuesday.
Washed and refueled The 55 on Wednesday.
And left for Scottsdale, AZ early Thursday morning.
My plan was to hit Joshua Tree National Park on my way out to the Goodguys season finale in Scottsdale, AZ.
I took The 10 out of Los Angeles and onto Highway 62 – Twentynine Palms Highway and followed the signs.
There’s a nice little curvy canyon section almost as soon as you get onto Hwy. 62 that’s good fun.
Especially early in the morning, with no traffic.
After a few miles I followed the signs and turned off on what turned out to be the worst road I ever driven The 55 on. 
It was muddy and filled with pot holes.
I crept along for about 5 miles until we got to Quail Springs Road which brings you right into the park.

We had Joshua Tree National Park all to ourselves.

No one else was there.

I had Key’s View all to myself.

A spectacular panoramic view of the Coachella Valley.

I’m a sucker for an elevation sign.

There was better light on the way out of the park, so I stopped again.

Then we were off to Scottsdale.
One of the things I love about The 55 is its big-ass gas tank.
Sorry…
Large capacity fuel tank.
It’s a CPP unit and it’s built specifically for TriFive Chevy’s.
If you remove your spare tire well you can put in a 29-gallon fuel tank.
And that’s just what I did.
I love the confidence it gives me when I see signs like this.

I had over 200 miles on my tank already.
And my Holley Sniper EFI averages about 16-19 mpg.
Depending on my “driving style.”

Not too bad for an old 350.
But I’ve been reading online, that these new-fangled LS’s get 20 mpg all day long…

And you know if it’s online, it must be true.
When we arrived in Parker, AZ we were greeted by the first ZL1 I’ve seen out in the wild.

In Sebring Orange convertible with the standard rear wing.
Pretty cool. 
With a full tank of fuel I took the 95 to the 72 to I-10 east to Phoenix.
Once on The 10, I linked up with two other cars and we boogied all the way to Phoenix.
Once I got into Phoenix and onto the 101 loop I saw another ZL1.
What’re the odds?

This one had the ZTK Performance Package on it – you can tell by the bigger rear wing.
I had a feeling that the Scottsdale Goodguys show was gonna be awesome.
They always put on a good show, but here in Scottsdale, at the last show of the year, they held the “Dual in the Desert.”
32 cars in a head-to-head shootout.
There were super-fast Datsun Z-Cars.

A Ford Ranchero, an LTG powered Chevy Vega, a Blazer and lots of Camaros and Corvettes.
One of the cool cars that just missed the shoot out was this AMC AMX.

Even the 73 Camaro built for Dale Earnhardt Jr built by DSE was out there getting beaten on.
It’s gotta full cage, RackPak digital dash with data acquisition and a 6-speed manual transmission.
It’s a full-on pro-touring machine.
All the gaps are paper thin and the attention to detail is nuts.

Scott Fraser won the Duel in the Desert in CSX3170.
Yeah… It’s a real Cobra.
I love seeing so many of the cars from SEMA at the show and off of the convention center floor.
Here’s The Riddler Award winning 57 Chevy in all of its glory.

Just look at those gaps!!
After 3-days of cars I was exhausted.
I spent the night at Casa De Ed and left early the next morning.
I’ve come to learn that I love Arizona drivers!
That morning I hooked up with two other like minded individuals and we made great time driving back to LA.
I still haven’t made the non-stop drive from LA to Phoenix yet.
(I always stop on the way back to fill-up with cheap AZ gas)
I know I can do it with the CPP 29-gallon tank.
I’ll get to that next year.
Now it’s time to get The 55 ready for The LQ4.
The goal is 500hp and 20mpg.
If I could pull off 20 mpg with a 29 gallon tank I’d have a 580 mile range.
That’d be awesome!!
So, until the next time.
Safe travels and I hope to see you out on the road.
#idrivea55