ROUTE 66 Reaching the end of
SANTA MONICA. CA: With 1,130 km behind me, the third day of my Route 66 sojourn was perhaps the most poignant of all.
After the majesty of the Grand Canyon, the vast eerie expanse of the Petrified Forest and the quirky stops like Oatman, AZ, and its feral donkeys, the last 536 km leg revealed how Route 66 was killed off by Interstate 40 but to this day, refuses to die.
Parts one and two of the journey can be found at https:// www.ourwindsor.ca/communitystory/9780549-road-trip-2020nissan-murano-on-route-66/
My mount for the third day was a 2020 Nissan Altima mid-size sedan in the top Platinum trim.
Last year at the Canadian media launch of the new Altima, Nissan officials said that despite the shift to SUV/CUVs, sedans still have a major role to play in the brand’s marketing strategy.
In fact, more money had been spent on the platform architecture Altima shares than any in Nissan’s history.
While front-drive is also available in the U.S., Nissan says the decision to go AWD only seemed a natural, making it also the first AWD sedan in Nissan Canadian history.
All models are powered by a 2.5-litre, direct injection twin-cam inline four-cylinder, producing 182 hp and 178 lb/ft of torque mated to Nissan’s proven Xtronic CVT transmission.
Among the long list of standard equipment are: Intelligent Driver Alertness; rear door open alert; remote engine start; heated front seat; NissanConnect with eightinch touchscreen; Apple CarPlay and Android Auto; Bluetooth and four USB ports (two in front, two in back).
ProPilot Assist is found on the SV trim and above, which aims to help drivers stay alert and centered in the lane and navigate stop-and-go traffic, maintain a set vehicle speed and hold a set distance from the vehicle ahead.
The system uses a forwardfacing camera, forward-facing radar, sensors and an electronic control module to help the driver stay centred in the driving lane and to maintain vehicle speed as set by the driver.
Thus, it helps keep a gap to the preceding vehicle if the vehicle speed drops below the driver-set speed. It also can slow the vehicle to a complete stop and hold the vehicle during adverse traffic jam conditions.
The AWD system varies grip from 100 per cent to the front wheels for best fuel economy, to 50:50 frontto-rear for best launch traction and 30:70 front-to-rear for best cornering grip.
For improved ride and handling, the Integrated Dynamics Module (IDM) technology borrowed from the Maxima, Nissan’s flagship sedan, empowers the Altima with Intelligent Ride Control, Intelligent Trace Control and Vehicle Dynamics Control.
For the new, sixth generation Altima, the styling is more edgy and is longer, lower and wider with a drag coefficient of just 0.26.
The most noticeable exterior change is the Nissan signature
V-Motion grille, which pushes the V-bars to the outside of the grille face, which in turn, imparts a much larger and Euro-like look.
Altima is considered a mid-size sedan and, to tell you the truth, it approaches full-size in the flesh. And in Platinum trim, it is closer to a luxury car than a family hauler.
If one thing or place called out to the once glory of Route 66, it was Amboy, just west of Needles, CA, and the lonesome Roy’s Motel and Cafe.
The town, if you can call it that now, was once owned lock, stock and barrel by Herman “Buster” Burris, who spent more than 50 years trying to build a Route 66 attraction in the high desert northeast of Palm Springs, CA.
There were many false stops and starts to turning Roy’s back into a full-fledged waypoint, but they all failed because people preferred the I40 freeway.
But standing outside the closed motel with empty tourist cabins with doors swinging in the all-pervasive wind gave me a chill.
Another stop was the Bagdad Cafe, of movie fame, where we were to find the original cafe and town are today little more than dust.
Because the real town was gone, the German moviemakers found a location down the road in Newberry Springs, CA where they stuck a sign on the building and completed the cult classic.
The property owners just let the sign stay up and reap the visitor results to this day.
Then it was the long and featureless run to Santa Monica, CA, and the acknowledged terminus at Mel’s Diner, where the spirit of everything Route 66 is celebrated from unchanged architecture of the building to the huge platters of food and milkshakes and malts.
Sitting in a 1960s setting, it seemed incongruous that I’d be returning at 39,000 ft on a jetliner that would take five hours to do what motorists needed days to do during the height of Route 66.
And in closing all I can say is: