Car - Race - The end of a long journey 1906 is a photograph by Mike Savad which was uploaded on December 17th, 2015.
Title
Car - Race - The end of a long journey 1906
Artist
Mike Savad
Medium
Photograph - Colorized Photo
Description
Colorized photo from 1906
Original title: REO Mountaineer, New York to San Francisco and back
Location: 162nd St and Jerome Ave, Bronx NY (about where the Stadium is)
In the red car you'll meet Percy Megargel and David Fassett, 2 guys that traveled across the United States and back in that car, mostly to prove they can do it too, after they saw someone else did it. They are driving a REO, its a 16 horsepower automobile, and the drove it 11,000 miles.
They estimated it would take them 112 days to do it, but it actually took them 10 months. They made many modifications to the stock car. Folding seats made it easy to store things and make it easier to sleep in. A device in the back that dug into the ground a bit if the car slipped down the hill. A long thick winch in the front to get up hills.
The biggest issues they had was getting stuck in snow and quicksand. The almost lost their car entirely to quicksand, and had to wait 3 weeks to let the snow thaw out and flood out the stuck car and wash away the sand.
At one point they ran out of food, what they had froze solid when it dipped below -20 (the lowest their thermometer went), and would explode when tossed into boiling water. They ate crackers that were sitting too close to the gas can, and tasted like gas. They even had to be rescued by someone (looking for someone else), they were nearly frozen to death.
They said if they had to do it again they would bring more fuel with them. In 1905 when this took place he once spend $1.75 a gallon on gas, which is about $50 now. He would take more food and guns (they used them to ward off wolves). And a thicker cable on the winch, despite being 3/8" it still broke.
Uploaded
December 17th, 2015