Don Caldwell’s first road trip adventure with his ’55 gasser was a mixture of fun and fear. No, Don wasn’t afraid, even though the ’55 was squirrely on the trip to Huntington Beach from his hometown of Upland, Calif.
“I started out at 5 a.m. with my girlfriend Carol for a Saturday gathering of Donut Derelicts,” Don said. “It was a foggy morning, I didn’t have wipers, the ground was damp and every time I punched it to change lanes, the tires would break loose. I had my hands full, but I was having a ball.”
While at the gathering, where some 75 cars show up every Saturday morning at Adams Avenue Donuts, there were plenty of admirers hanging around Don’s gasser. When it came time to leave, Don wasn’t gonna disappoint the crowd. He side-stepped the clutch and roared off leaving rubber in four out of five gears.
“It was the first time my girlfriend had ever been in a really fast car,” Don chuckled. “I looked over and she was petrified. She had the fear of God in her eyes as I banged the gears.”
He took it easy the rest of the way home.