Police escort

[SWhiteley]

From SC to MI, last week (15 hour drive). Parking at the hotel was 'special'. Thought it was pretty cool.

[76was124]

Welcome to Michigan!

[AriK]

I haven't seen police lights like that since the 70s maybe even since Andy Griffith! Even country bumpkins like Rosco and Enos had modern light bars.
In any case that's an unusual photoshoot of a Spider.

[MrJD]

Man... Those cars look Huge!

[btoran]

how fast were you going and how long did it it take them to catch you?

[76was124]

I haven't seen police lights like that since the 70s maybe even since Andy Griffith!

I think they keep that big bubble gum machine light for nostalgia..... there's a lot more bar type lights on that car's rear deck and behind the grill

I never understood the stop sign on the hood though?

[Exit98]

Stop sign?

It looks like a rocket launcher!

Tell us about the trip.

[Redline]

Man... Those cars look Huge!

That was my first thought. Everything looks huge compared to our nifty little Fiats, even so-called "compact" cars.

[SWhiteley]

Yes, it looks very small next to, well, everything. For the record, it's an 82.

The trip was over 800 miles. Charleston SC to Detroit MI. Since The car has only done, perhaps 400 miles locally since I got it running, this one trip had me nervous.

Firstly, not as uncomfortable as I thought it would be; with a 10 gallon tank, you have regular stops, anyway. Talking about tanks, average fuel economy was 25mpg. Typical cruising speed was around 4000rpm in 5th. This equates to about 75mph - the speedo packed in about an hour into the journey, but came back perhaps 20 miles later.

Hot and noisy. The heater was always blowing hot. I had the quarter windows turned out so that they would direct air into the car. Ear plugs, iPhone, and iHeart radio passed the time. I got a car organizer from Walmart to sit on the passenger seat that has cup holders, and little storage compartments.

Car performed great. Indeed, while the car isn't a rocket, at 75, if you want to go faster, there's plenty of room left, and the car does not struggle at all (once you get used to the high revs - it's disconcerting going from the V8 rumble to the inline 4). Indeed, there were a few stints where the needle was pegged on the speedo - above 80.

My eyes were glued to the temperature gauge, though. Outside temps were in the upper 70's, low 80's. Needle stayed below the mid point, covering the '1' in the 190, for most of the way, macroscopically edging over into the '9'. The only time it crept over mid way was going slow (around 40 to 50 due to traffic) when the interstate went through urban areas. Cities were significantly hotter than interstate through the countryside.

The interstate with toll booths through West Virginia mountains were fun - no trouble with the twists, or the hills - pulled strongly and speed didn't waver. This was, of course, after I first thought the car was loosing power, slightly. Living in the SC low country, there are no such things as hills. Slight pressure on the gas, and a steady 75 was maintained up through WV. The tree covered mountains on each side of the road are quite impressive. No cell coverage, of course, so no tunes.

Actually, at the speed I was going, I was a tad concerned about 'pacing' through the toll booths, but I'm not sure they do that in the US. Yes, I was speeding - dropping the revs down from 75 to 60 or so, makes it sound like the car is letting out a sigh of disappointment. I was having too much fun in the left lane racing past one or two corvettes (traffic was light, mostly all the way).

In all, it was a fun drive - I don't think I'd subject an indifferent passenger to the trip, though. This car is made for driving, and while I wouldn't say it's a cruiser, it was up to the task.

[bigjon42]

Thanks for the nice write-up, sounds like a fun trip. I too have a dark green Spyder, but a 71 1608cc version.
Can't bring myself to cruise at 4k rpm, but I am sure the engine is up to it. Cruising at about 3500 I get 28mpg. Enjoy !