Williams resident Bob Sarkesian displays his 1930 model A next to a red 1929
NORTHERN ARIZONA – The horrendous winds we have been experience stopped as the classic cars of the Route 66 Fun Run rolled into town. Each May classic car owners join together for a run down Route 66 to end up in the town of Topock, Arizona.
The Fun Run is sponsored by the Route 66 Association of Arizona which started the run seven-years after Williams became the last Route 66 town bypassed by I-40. They are dedicated to preserving the memory of the Will Rogers Highway which has come to be known as “The Mother Road.” The road has sparked the imagination through movies such as The Grapes of Wrath and Easy Rider—and more recently the hit animated feature Cars. The long-running television series Route 66 staring Martin Milner and George Maharis concerned two men traveling in a Corvette looking for various job opportunities. Though much of the series was not filmed on Route 66.
Richard from Scottsdale stands with his 1957 Chevy Pickup.
The Run travels through Holbrook to Flagstaff, through Williams and Ash Fork down through Seligman. They stop at Kingman for a 10 am car show tomorrow. The Run ends just short of crossing the Pipeline Bridge into California at the town of Topock, Arizona. Arizona boasts the longest remaining contiguous stretch of Route 66 and these cars travel the entire distance.
Richard, from Scottsdale, drove his 1957 Chevy pickup with a group of hot rods. While the others stayed in Flagstaff, Richard and his wife decided on Williams where they enjoy the dining fare at Rod’s Steakhouse on Route 66.
The historic cars of the Run also represent an educational opportunity. A few simple questions about them revealed some interesting facts. From Williams resident Bob Sarkesian, I learned that Arizona requires license plates to be the authentic colors of the year in which they were manufactured. He found a 30s license plate, but had to have it converted to the original grey color. The red 1929 Model “A” license plate is black with yellow lettering.
Bill Smith of Phoenix in his 1967 Karmann-Ghia by Volkswagen.
Bill Smith of Phoenix explained that the 1967 Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia that he drives was manufactured from 1956 to 1967. It was designed by Italian designer Ghia, but Volkswagen did not have the manufacturing capability at the time to produce it because of the popularity of the Volkswagen Beetle. They turned to German manufacturer Karmann to produce the body. Bill likened Karmann to Fisher Body which built bodies for American car manufacturers.
While the runners will pull out today in time to arrive at the Kingman car show, some return back through Ash Fork, Williams and Flagstaff on their return home. Not an official part of the Fun Run—Just fun.
