LUCY GETS SOME LOVE
Family hitting the road for big trip south in 1948 Chrysler New Yorker
Dudley and Jane Jacobsen are travellers. Both travelled extensively before they met while working for Princess Cruises, where Dudley was a food and beverage supervisor and Jane, a trained teacher, supervising the shipboard teen program.
With daughter Ayla, now 12, and eight-year-old son Kalen, the family has made many trips to South Africa, where Dudley was born. They have vacationed in Europe, the U.K, New York and Hawaii and, in 2018, took an extended holiday to China and Vietnam.
They mused about what might be next and decided to travel as far south as they could go, with the goal to eventually choose a place with an international school to live. This called for a road trip, but not just any road trip. They decided on a vintage car pulling a travel trailer as the ideal setup. A bulbous 1948 Chrysler New Yorker now named Lucy was purchased in 2016 for $9,000 and three years of preparation got underway.
Dudley, a self-taught mechanic, has completely rebuilt the car with modern disc brakes, air conditioning, all new wiring and other improvements including engine-cooling upgrades, air bag suspension and durable 10-ply truck tires, anticipating the possibility of some very rough roads ahead.
The Chrysler’s spacious rear seat area has been prepared for Ayla and Kalen with a console to hold their laptops and books for home-schooling by their teacher mother.
While the couple also wanted a vintage travel trailer, ultimately the prohibitive cost led them to purchase a more modern trailer for sale six blocks from their home.
“We wanted a vintage Airstream trailer but couldn’t find one we could afford,” Dudley says. The couple instead redid the inside of the trailer they bought with a retro theme.
Dudley, a helicopter pilot and Jane, a teacher-on-call have rented their house as of Jan 1. The vintage car and trailer will be loaded with all they need for their extended trip and they will hit the open road.
The family did a successful test run to Banff in the old Chrysler last Easter but didn’t pull the trailer. Dudley also drives the old car to work every day to test its reliability. “It starts every time, even in cold weather,” he reports.
One of the challenges is that the 72-year-old Chrysler has a six-volt electric system, and the trailer brakes run on a 12-volt system. Dudley had to convert the travel trailer to use hydraulic surge brakes for safety. He welded together a custom roof rack to carry an auxiliary gas tank, scavenged from a 1928 Buick, and some of their luggage.
“We need to go and enjoy life,” Jane says from behind the counter in the couple’s comfortable home. Rental of the upstairs and downstairs suites as well as a rear carriage house will provide income while they travel.
“We don’t know how it’s going to go, but that adds to the adventure,” Jane says. “We want to do this trip while the kids are young and still want to spend time with us. It’s part of their education.”
She says the kids have spent months searching out points of interest on the internet — places they would like to visit. They are looking for free attractions such as parks and museums.
“I’m really looking forward to fishing,” says eight-year-old Kalen.
Ayla, 12 is “looking forward to different foods and beaches along the way.” They will each have a travel blog to capture highlights of the trip from their own perspectives.
The family plans to do the trip in stages, driving as far as Dallas for the first phase. Then they will leave the venerable Chrysler with relatives and fly back to Vancouver where the children will return to school. “Ayla really wants to graduate with her Grade 7 class,” Jane says.
Plans are to resume the old-car odyssey in the summer, driving down Mexico’s Baja Peninsula with Panama as a possible destination.
“What’s the worst that can happen? Dudley says. “If things don’t work out, we will just come home.”
The family wants to use their travel blog to raise awareness for cancer and invite people to follow their progress at Lucy for Cancer.