The Coldest Car!!!

I bought a 1972 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Convertible back in March/1983 and am the second owner. So I've had this car for quite some time and while I've kept it garaged (so it's not used to be the coldest car), it has NOT been "babied" as a show car and has been through quite a bit over the years.

So for the 20th year of ownership, I ended up having the coldest "3 hour epic battle" drive home from work against a Colorado snow/ice storm on Thursday, Feb 27th, 2003 - this drive usually takes about an hour. The first half hour was uneventful (light snow), but it rapidly got nasty, with the first ominous sign being a garbage truck facing the wrong way on "Pray for Me, I'm on Highway 93" surrounded by emergency vehicles. I got as far as a moderate hill 10 miles South of Boulder (composite picture shot a few weeks later) that was incredibly icy/slick. I tried about a dozen times over an hour to make it up this hill ... while watching other cars spinning, side-swiping, ending up in ditches, being pushed by a crowd, turning around, and all sorts of stuff! I had a GREAT side-road vantage point to see it all, which also allowed me various opportunities to "go for it" without getting in anyone's way; and also an "escape route" to slide back to when my attempts failed. I have no chains for the convertible ... and with the big V-8 engine, there is not a lotta traction on the rear wheel drive back tires. BTW, I don't exactly have snow tires on this car, and those that are on there were bought back in March/1993 or about 20,000 miles ago. So the equipment is a bit marginal for the coldest car!

My biggest regret was not having a camera to record some of the carnage above - fortunately, nobody appeared to get hurt. And not only was I was the coldest car, I was also by far the "most popular car" out there, as I got quite a few comments sitting in my convertible ... in the coldest snowstorm! After an attempt as the #4 car behind a snowplow dropping dirt on the road, I finally had to throw in the towel and turn around, taking a very long way back home via I-70/287 ... and the picture belows shows what it looked like when I finally made it back home inside the garage! ;-)

Alek finally pulls into the garage in the Coldest Car

coldest car

Click here to see the original 2048X1536 3-megapixel image of the coldest car




It is also the Coolest Car and after I did a stretch-job, it became the Longest Car on the Internet! ;-)




© 2003 Alek Komarnitsky