Louis Mattar, Our New Hero!

Road Trippin’

with Steve McCarthy

OK, Ladies, this one’s for you. Your husband buys you a new car! Your dream car! Then he spends the next seven years and something like $75,000 making a few “improvements. Raise your hands if this sounds at all familiar. Wow, there’s a Big Surprise. Look at all those hands in the air! Hmmmm, my wife, Marianne, is leading the charge. Uh, oh. 

No, I didn’t spend $75k on the Mustang. (or the Blue Meanie, I think, I don't know, I don't keep track of that stuff, too scary!).  I did add a few touches after the unfortunate Incident with the Camry That Crossed Our Bows Sideways on the I-5 in the OC. No, the King of All Tinkerers with the Wife’s Car, the Champion of Making Just a Few Improvements, the Sultan of Swaps is Louis Mattar. This guy is a Hero for all of us. 

Yep, in 1947, he bought his wife a new Caddy. Over the next seven years, he made a few improvements. SEVENTY-FIVE THOUSAND 1950s DOLLARS worth of tweaks and swaps and fiddling. And yes, his wife loved it, shared in it and stayed married to him. Like I said, a Hero! 

So what did he do? If you go to Balboa Park in San Diggy, hit the neat little car museum. Mattar lived in DayGo and instead of the Smithsonian, his wife’s Pride and Joy sits there. Ya see, this car is the Ultimate Road Trip Car. Mattar set records that will never be broken. From September 20^th to the 27^th of 1952, he and two other guys drove non-stop to New York. And Back. 6320 MILES WITHOUT STOPPING!!! Literally. In Kansas City, Camden, NJ, and Omaha, they drove onto small airports where a moving gas truck drove along side to fuel up the 230 gallon gas tank on the trailer they were towing. 

Not satisfied with that, His second run in August of ’54 took him from Anchorage, Alaska to Mexico City, also non-stop, and 7,482 miles. That’s in a world without the Dreaded Interstate. Mostly a world of two lane blacktop, and not a few dirt roads, especially on the AlCan Highway and in Mexico. 

No, lest you think that this was just a car towing a huge gas tank trailer, let me enlighten you about the rest of the modifications. The car can automatically change it’s own oil and refill the radiator. The tires can be automatically inflated as the car drives. In fact, using the catwalks added all around, two guys can change a tire while the car is moving at about 25 mph. Behind the rear seats is a vanity mirror. the arm rest folds down to either support an ironing board or a hot dog cooker. Under one rear seat is either a small washing machine, or, remove that and you have a potty. there is fresh water (30 gallons worth in the trailer, and 50 gallons in the trunk!) and a drinking fountain tap under one tail light. The radio antenna is replaced by a shower. The car has two TV’s and an in car telephone-1950’s, remember? This was really far out stuff then! The list goes on. The whole rig weighs in at 8500 pounds or so. And not a computer in sight! 

Get yourself down to San Diego and check this thing out. Words and pictures hardly suffice to convey the whole story. Good Ol’ Youtube naturally has footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT8azxnVAC4--it’  It’s a bit long, and at times a bit hokey, but still, it’s fascinating! In particular, watch ‘em change a tire on the run with no safety harnesses, no helmets, just doing it! Can you even imagine trying this in today’s world of hyper safety and the nanny state? 

So, to usher in this Possibly Apocalyptic Year of 2012, I offer Louis Mattar as the second in our Road Trippin’ Pantheon of Immortals, right up there beside Horatio Nelson Jackson, the first Road Tripper.  Let these two inspire you to Hit the Road! Who knows if you’ll have another chance?