Starting in Bend, one of my favorite video essayists drove the entirety of the old Lincoln Highway, a cross-country trip that almost never touches an actual freeway. It's really exceptional: I recommend taking some time each evening over a week and just enjoy the journey.
Great story behind the plotting and building of the highway. It was one of Dwight Eisenhower's first big assignments, and factored heavily into his thinking when he pushed for the current interstate highway system as president. I highly recommend "After Ike: On The Trail Of The Century Old Journey That Changed America", by Michael S. Owen. The trek was a very slow and painful process, but entirely necessary. I've been on bits of it on my travels and seeing any of the original highway markers was always very cool. In fact, an antique shop in one small forgotten town actually had one of the markers for sale but as I recall, they were asking several thousand dollars and the thing would have destroyed my car's leaf springs by the time I got it all the way home. Woulda looked good in my yard though.......
It’s a Ford Thunderbird… he actually goes into why he picked that car for the trip early in the video.
Because the guy behind the road (Carl G. Fisher) named it after one of his heroes, rather than name it after himself. Other suggested names included Thomas Jefferson and Fisher himself (which he personally rejected).
