The Hille’s restored 1963 Volvo P1800. Photos by Tim Hille, unless otherwise noted.
You and your son have just completed a six-year restoration of your cherished 1963 Volvo P1800. QUICK! What do you do next?
A) Put a cover on it and don’t let anyone touch anything without cotton gloves, because, as we all know, oil from your hands simply destroys a vehicle’s various finishes.
B) Trailer the car to numerous shows and collect as many trophies as possible. With no unnecessary movement of the odometer. Or any other moving parts.
C) Take nearly a month to drive it across, and around, the contiguous 48 states—plus a couple of stops in Canada—and let your son, a junior in high school, share driving duties. Whenever possible, avoid interstates and take two-lane roads, Blue Highways style. All told, we’re talking 8,000 miles here, give or take.
Tim and Joe Hille at Hemmings Motor News on June 12. Photo by Mark McCourt.
For Tim and Joe Hille, of Stow, Massachusetts, the correct answer was C, and their first waypoint was Hemmings Motor News, in beautiful downtown Bennington, Vermont—just long enough for lunch and a quick snapshot. Along the way they plan to visit a whole mapful of family-related venues and scenic destinations, state and national parks, museums, roadside attractions, side trips and one big bluegrass festival.
Tony Hille and friends in 1962.
Apparently, long-distance driving is a genetic predisposition for those Hille boys: Back in 1962, Tim’s father, Tony, traveled with two of his friends from Tucson, Arizona, to Seattle, Washington, and back in what looks to be a 1953 Pontiac Chieftain De Luxe two-door sedan, suitably modified for the occasion. Being young and adventurous—and wisely looking to eliminate unnecessary lodging expenses—they designed and constructed their own version of a pop-up camper, and carefully balanced the wood-and-fabric contraption on the car’s rigid-but-rounded turret top roof. But look closely: It features stabilizing cables at each corner. (Tim reports that his father admitted that at one point the creation “came loose en route, flew up in the air and landed on the side of the highway. They stopped, picked it up, bolted it back on and continued—not even a dent or a crack.”) What could be more practical? Besides, they were already towing a pair of early ’60s Vespa motor scooters from what was likely a hand-crafted hitch.
A portion of Tim and Joe’s journey will trace the route taken by Tony 53 years earlier. Sadly, Tony passed away last year, but our father-and-son team will employ the use of period road maps to keep them on many of the same roadways. Minus the camper attachment.
Joe Hille and the Volvo, early in the resto process.
Tearing the car down.
Pulling the engine on New Year’s Eve 2011.
Painted, with the engine reinstalled.
The P1800 restoration has been an ongoing and successful project, as has been the transformation of Joe from an elementary schoolboy to a young man ready to see the country from behind the wheel of a handsome and sporting automobile that he had a major hand in bringing back to life.
That this father-and-son team should take on an effort of this magnitude and find themselves driving together on Father’s Day, June 21, adds a mighty nice touch to the whole adventure. We hope that other sons and fathers will take the opportunity to make plans now to spend some time together on the road—if only briefly—and join our featured duo, at least in the spirit of the day.
Tim and Joe have created a daily blog to document their most excellent rolling adventure, and they invite all interested parties to track their progress and share their thoughts. We’ll follow their exploits as well, and present an end-of-trip review in early July.
Gentlemen, have a memorable and safe journey.
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