Route 66 speed limits in 1950's?

[Philip H]

How fast would one have to go to get one's kicks?

I guess it depends on who's in the car . . . . 

[C855B]

How fast would one have to go to get one's kicks?

Also depends on the car, which must be a '60 to '64 Corvette convertible.

[wm3798]

If you ever plan to motor west, travel my way, take the highway that's the best!

[C855B]

[Nato]

        As a kid during the late 1950's early 60's Taking family vacation trips by car across the west ,Utah, AZ, Calf. The posted top speed limit on nice two lane highways,with some passing lanes on grades,was 60. Everyone I knew my dad included usually did 65. There were speed signgs posted at curves to slow motorists down . Yes some states had no limits like Nevada,but I remember they had posted signs again at bad curves. All the small towns had speed zones with signs to slow you down just before you entered the towns. I still recieved a ticket coming back from Las Vegas (1966) , in college with two buds in my 641/2 Mustang in the town of Panguitch,Utah (native american name) eventhough I slowed to the required 35,because I did not look up and note the flashing school zone sign slow to 20MPH through a small part of the town. This was before Interstate 15 completely bypassed the small towns,it was finished between them,but sent you off through them. Nate Goodman (Nato).

[Bremner]

Bingo. Memory jog. AZ also had the day/night thing, at least in '62. I clearly recall Needles to Kingman signed as 65/55, with the same reflective characteristics for the "55" portion of the sign. Vivid memories of that childhood trip in a '58 Merc wagon outfitted for camping in the car. Only problem... was it actually I-40 in the summer of '62, or still US66? I somewhat recall this stretch was already a divided highway by then, but other portions were still under construction five years later, with the full highway traffic on gravel.

actually, it depends on where you were at the time. Williams was the last town to have its section of Route 66 bypassed, due to lawsuits that kept the last section of Interstate 40 in Arizona from being built around the town. After settlements called for the state to build three Williams exits, the suits were dropped and I-40 was completed. On October 13, 1984, Interstate 40 was opened around the town and newspapers the next day reported the essential end of US 66. The following year, Route 66 was decommissioned.

[pnolan48]

Loren,

I did a lot of photo research on the mid-fifties highways many years ago. In Arizona, in places where Rt. 66 was smooth and well-shouldered, I think it was 70. But through Gallup, NM and Winslow and Flagstaff, where the road was a bit windy and narrower, I think it was 45, with one stretch at 35. I did travel as a young tyke with my grandparents, and that 49 Buick easily hit 80, and the 52 Buick at least 100 without trouble. I do remember wondering why he pulled into gas stations that offered only 19.9 MPG, rather than the ones that offered 22.9 MPG--so my recollections may be a bit skewed. Aside from the Interstates, I think the US and state highways weren't all that different (in rural areas) than today.

Hint: if you want to travel relatively fast between Flagstaff and Gallup in mid-50s conditions, try the route through the reservations just north of I-40. Just enjoy the scenery. Or be able to drive without headlights on a full moon night. I think that route is probably closer to the 1950s Rt. 66 experience than any other stretch.

[GimpLizard]

"...gas stations that offered only 19.9 MPG, rather than the ones that offered 22.9 MPG..."

Huh? MPG? Now how could a gas station have any affect on "Miles-Per-Gallon"? Unless you meant the price. 19.9 cents per gallon (regular), verses 22.9 cents (premium).

19.9 cents per gallon. Oh, remember the day. 

[pnolan48]

I was five or six years old at the time. I thought gas stations were rated by MPG, not price. Yes, I understood MPG at that age--I could read, do multiplication and division--and was a bit precocious.

[Bremner]

Hint: if you want to travel relatively fast between Flagstaff and Gallup in mid-50s conditions, try the route through the reservations just north of I-40. Just enjoy the scenery. Or be able to drive without headlights on a full moon night. I think that route is probably closer to the 1950s Rt. 66 experience than any other stretch.

um, make that 1mph UNDER the speed limit...res cops are mean...because they could not get a job at any other police department (I know a few)

[pnolan48]

um, make that 1mph UNDER the speed limit...res cops are mean...because they could not get a job at any other police department (I know a few)

I was very careful in my phrasing. Relatively fast did not refer to the speed of light. On these roads you can see for miles ahead, and traffic is sparse, if not non-existent. I never drive faster than my sightline, which sometimes means way under speed limits, and sometimes way overt. Yes, there are speedtraps, but usually in obvious places. And you do pay at least twice for a speeding ticket on a res: one to the tribe, one to the state. I never got one, so that may be urban (er, rural) legend.

My grandpa Mueller enjoyed a powerful car, as did my dad before he died early, and my stepdad until he passed at 87. My mom was a notorious leadfoot, and piled up warning upon warning in my hometown--no one actually ticketed old Gracie. The Interstates have a design standard of 85 MPH for heavy trucks, per Eisenhower's admiration of the German autobahns. In a national emergency they were to be cleared for military movements.

[highway70]

Speed Study on Rt 66 in Arizona,  1964

[C855B]

Oh, that's funny. I love engineering studies like this (I'm in the biz). Painfully obvious there was saturation enforcement in June.