More Information On Route 66 Road Tour for 2027 Gathering

So far, we’ve had lots of interest in my initial post regarding making the 2027 Vette Registry Gathering be a Road Tour of Route 66.While the survey is still open until late June, I know many of you have said you have questions. The below should help filling some informational gaps, but if you have specific questions, feel free to ask them via comment.

First of all, if you’re not aware, Route 66 Doesn’t Exist. The last segment of Route 66 as an official US Highway was decommissioned in 1985 due to Interstate Highways essentially making the roadway redundant as a cross-country highway. At that point,the signs came down and markings came off most maps. Many of the states where the route existed have since put up Historic Route 66 signs, but these can get confusing (missing, poor placement) and overwhelming. That said, outside of specialized knowledge, maps and navigation tools, these signs are generally the best way to find your way.

Route 66 existed from 1926 until 1985.It went from Chicago, IL to Los Angeles, CA, covering about 2500 miles and eight states along the way. During those years, the road had been designated along multiple alignments (varying roads used to better control traffic or commerce).This means that today, there could be multiple roads in the same town (correctly) marked as Route 66. Towns along the route today often have signs directing you off the (current) main road to drive what alignment used to go through the town, whether anything significant exists today, or ever did. Some sections of the route have alignments 30 or more miles apart.

As noted, Route 66 covered nearly 2500 miles. This Road Tour will not cover the entire length. At most, it may cover most of three states

worth, plus the possibility of part of a fourth (I am still working on the specifics of the itinerary).We would start in Joliet, IL (about 50 miles from the actual start), follow the road through Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas (it only covered 12 miles there).Depending on how things work, we may allow time on the last day to venture into Northeast Oklahoma. I recognize that not everyone will have time or resources to do the entire trip as planned. The itinerary, to include stops and approximate times will be published, so you can join or depart from the group at any point, but we will be on a tight timeline most days, so it may be difficult to re/join the main group if you aren’t with us already.

Over the last fifteen years (and as recently as two weeks ago), I’ve driven the route in sections and covered almost all of it from Downtown Chicago to the Santa Monica Pier (which was never the official end).I’ve driven multiple alignments, but certainly not all. Some areas I know better than others, some barely at all. In that time, I’ve learned what I enjoy about Route 66 and the things I enjoy seeing. These things are shaping the rough itinerary I’m working on for the potential 2027 Vette Registry Gathering.

What we’ll see

·Muffler Men, including a museum dedicated to them in Illinois

·Restored Gas Stations turned Visitor Centers / Photo Opps / Retro Shops

·Un/Restored Motels, many seeing a resurgence, and some we may be able to stay in

·Some original roadbed (we won’t drive on much original concrete, but we will hit some bricks)

·Ruins – these are abandoned gas stations; motels; camps, etc which likely would have been torn down anywhere else, but with nothing to replace them, no one wants to pay to get rid of them. Some of these are my favorite things along 66

·Quirky, Route 66 specific Oddities (some of which are non-original tourist traps)

·Small towns (lots of them)

·Plenty of countryside

What we won’t see

·Big Cities – my route will purposefully avoid Chicago and St Louis (including the Arch, sorry).You’re obviously welcome to hit those on your own.

·Because of the logistics of keeping a line of twenty plus Corvettes together (and because some of them are fairly mundane or boring), there will be many sights along the road which we won’t get near, or may just pass by without stopping. I will work to call these out and try to gain consensus on what we will see vs skip. I also plan to create a listing of things we can see from the car and when they will pop up so your navigator can call them out and pictures may be possible

Potential Challenges:

·Weather – as we get in to Missouri and Oklahoma, we’re right in tornado alley. Even without severe weather, we may encounter rain or thunderstorms. None of us like getting our Corvettes wet, and older ones could struggle with leaks. Photo Opps are also less desirable with tops up or wipers running.

·Lack of Roadside Services – because Route 66 mainly flows through small towns, we won’t see too many of the large truck stop gas stations/fast food combination type places (there is one Wally’s and one Buc-ees on the itinerary).This means we will struggle to find good restroom stops which don’t incur long waits and lines.

·Limited Space for twenty plus Corvettes and passengers – many of the stops have virtually no parking. This means we will skip some landmarks, or could lead us to opt for a modern restaurant vs an original Route 66 option.

• I can see this creating delays as some folks may choose to split off to get photos in these places and then getting behind or lost. We’ll work with this to try to make it work, but I’m confident there will be challenges
• Even with planned stops, this could be tough with folks wanting to get individual pix with their car

·Road quality – while I’ve driven my C3 and C6 on the majority of the route we’ll cover with no clearance issues, not all of those roads are great quality. Many post speed limits of 55 where the road quality doesn’t justify it

·Speed – please don’t join this touring gathering expecting to be on a cannonball run. There are long stretches where we might be going 60 mph, but there are far more where we might not exceed 35

·Group Meals – trying to get this many people in and out of a single restaurant quickly will be difficult. In some places, we may need to split up to make our schedule

·Timing – in working on the itinerary, I currently have some long days, and I’m still working on how this will look. Guestimating how long stops will take will be difficult. As of now, I have the Road Tour covering five days

Odell Station, a restored Standard Oil Station along the route, Odell, IL, taken in 2025. This is on our itinerary

I think that covers my view of what common questions may exist .Feel free to put any other specific inquiries in comments below.

Are we there yet?

MOST EXCELLENT Marshall...!!! Looking forward to more info as you get it put together. Makes me wish I/we would have explored some of the western sections when we were living in central Colorado. At the moment it looks like I'll be solo on this trek (and it looks to be a LONG one!).