The 2010 Route 66 Microcar Rally departed from Santa Monica Pier a few days ago.
Here’s a video as the group of tiny-car enthusiasts makes its way through the Los Angeles metro area:
I noted that one of the itty-bitty cars bore a strong resemblance to Luigi in the movie “Cars.” Some of these cars have engines as small as 500 cc.
You can follow the Route 66 rally here on its Facebook page. At last check, they’d passed Kingman, Ariz., and had already experienced a breakdown or two. The desert’s gotta be tough on those cars.
The group is hoping to make the Microcar Minicar World Meet in the Chicago suburb of Crystal Lake, Ill., on Aug. 21-22.
Now, there’s a Route 66 event I can get behind. It has all the basics: cars, cross-route action against the odds and taking on the elements. Nothing fake or nothing to do with feeding donkeys here.
The only downer from a Route 66 Purist POV is it starting on or at the SM Pier, which was never really ‘the end’ of Route 66, but, for self promotional reasons (I guess) is being promoted by some as the real end. The car guys, or course, aren’t going to be pay much attention to that which goes to show that the new ‘bogus end’ of the Route is gaining steam out there.
That’s why I’m not a purist. Taking a group of tiny cars from the Pacific Ocean to the shores of Lake Michigan is too symbolic to pass up. The Santa Monica Pier’s location is why it will endure as a Route 66 destination, and it’s why the true western endpoint of Route 66 at a nondescript intersection is often ignored.
This group of microcars enroute to Chicago is scheduled to stop at Afton Station, Afton OK, on Monday, August 16.
Looking at those cars, I’m reminded of something my Dad (6’3″ and 250lbs in his prime) used to say, “You don’t get in those cars. You put ’em on.”
I’d love to drive one of those cars, either way. Must be fun. I saw a microcar museum awhile back in Georgia which was neat.