Nature schmature, today it was all about the car! We left Livingston, MT, in cold, overcast, rainy weather with the top up. The trip on Interstate 90 to Missoula was highly forgettable. We thought this might be a throw away day.
However, once in a while things turn out amazingly well…this was one of those days! Once we turned onto Route 12 in Missoula, The Northwest Passage Scenic Byway, and got to Lolo Pass, things took a turn for the best. The sun came out, the top came down and we began a journey following Lewis and Clark who crossed Lolo Pass in 1805 on their way to the Pacific coast.
First some car history: The Alfa Romeo Spider was introduced in 1966 and was the last design of Battista “Pinin” Farina. Pininfarina is the design firm noted for its work with Ferrari. Besides the Volkswagon Beetle, the Alfa spider was the longest running vehicle line of the 20th century (1966-1994). Only 190 1994s were produced and numbered as Commemorative Editions. Ours is number 154. The spider is a rear wheel drive monocoque chassis with a two-litre double overhead cam engine putting out 124 horsepower. It is an almost perfectly balanced automobile. I’ve done some modification to the suspension adding Koni shocks all around; a chassis stiffener, manufactured by Ereminas Imports of Torrington, CT; and sport springs and bushings from International Auto of Charlottesville, VA. Our spider rides like it’s on rails!
About 10 years ago, Jean and her parents got me for Christmas a day at the Skip Barber Driving School at Limerock Park in Lakeville, CT. I learned how to handle the car on a skidpad, how to threshold brake, autocross, and the physics of how a car handles and reacts in many different situations.
Today’s drive on the Northwest Passage Byway allowed me to put many of those lessons to the test. The spider sings between 2800 to 3300 rpm. By never looking at the speedometer and only driving by the tachometer, it was possible to withhold use of the brakes for 40-mile stretches. Hands at 9 and 3 (there’s a reason Pininfarina designed the steering wheel with two handles at this exact location) and by using third, fourth, and fifth gears carefully keeping the rpms between the optimum 2800-3200, the twists and turns of the Northwest Passage Byway could be negotiated without brakes.
There is nothing quite like the top down in perfect weather. Besides a panoramic view, we could feel the coolness of the trees and smell their fragrance. Jean got nature, and I got one of the best 200-mile drives of my life. The pictures aren’t great today; you simply had to be there!
Approaching Lolo Pass. The pine forest is incredibly dense.
The Byway begins.
Paralleling the Lochsa River.
We encountered this sign again and again.
"The railroad on stilts." The Camas Prairie Railroad was built by the Union Pacific and Northwest Pacific Railroads. There are more than a dozen trestles in one five-mile stretch.
