John Steinbeck called it the “Mother Road.” Bobby Troup wrote a song about it: “Get Your Kicks on Route 66.” For decades, Route 66 has had a hold on America’s imagination. The road, which starts in Chicago and ends in Los Angeles, was the way to get across the country.
Thousands of Oklahomans used it to escape the Dustbowl. Later generations took it to Disneyland. From 1960 to 1964 CBS ran a series about a couple of guys traveling on Route 66 in a Corvette. Very cool stuff.
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But since the construction of the Interstate Highway System, which began in the 50s and took decades to finish, the road is seldom traveled. Many of the businesses along it have failed. Still, there are tourists. Many of them from foreign countries, such as Bruno Gupsa from Switzerland. He arranged to buy a vintage Mustang in Tulsa, then had it shipped to Chicago. He drove it from Chicago to LA, taking the old road.
Hear from Gupsa, below, who explains why traveling down Route 66 was always his boyhood dream.