My big summer adventure began when my friend, Ryan Richards, said, “Have you heard about the big Lambda Car Club International’s (LCCI) Detroit Invitational Car Show that is held every 10 years?” (It had been postponed the last two years due to COVID.) He said, “We should go.” I already had plans to drive from my home in Oklahoma City to the Cadillac & La-Salle Club’s Grand National in Chicago a month before this July event, so I thought another big trip was not practical.
The more I got to thinking about it, it hit me — I would turn 50 this year, and my birthday would be right in the middle of the LCCI meet. Maybe I needed a good 50th birthday story. I started planning the trip to Detroit with Ryan and we discussed which cars we would take. When I said I would take my 1990 Cadillac Brougham, he said, “No!” and insisted that I must take an old car. I guess 32 years of age isn’t old enough for him.
Well, the next most road-ready car I own is “Endora,” my 1960 Buick Electra 225 convertible, which has never let me down. We made plans, purchased event tickets and started preparing our cars for the trip. I arranged for a full tune-up plus belts, hoses, tires and a full check-over by my mechanic to ensure she was ready for the journey.
All of my friends said I was a mix of brave, crazy and stupid for planning to take a 62-year-old car without air conditioning on such
