Shortly after getting back from California, I hit the road again with this Blue Dino. This car has been at my shop for ages when it initially came in for some sorting. The ignition system needed upgrading, and the carbs needed tuning, but when I got it running well, COVID hit and sending the car to Canada where the owner lived became a whole lot harder. Originally, I was going to drive it to the border and hand the car over so the owner could drive it home to Montreal, but with the border closed, and unknown travel restrictions, we decided to keep the car safely stored at my shop in NY. I had the pleasure of driving this car on a regular basis over the past couple of years to keep the fluids moving and even won an award at a car show, but with everything returning to normal, it was time to send this car home!

The cost and amount of paperwork to get a car across the border was worse than if we stuck to the original plan to simply drive the car across. My shop is 3-1/2 hours south of the border town of Plattsburgh NY, so I reserved a rental car at the Plattsburgh airport to drive home, and took the Dino north to meet the owner. His drive would only be an hour north home, and taking his car that was registered in his name across the border wouldn’t be a problem. The cost of the rental car, my time, and fuel was still cheaper than shipping the car. We would also complete a last shake down drive, and the owner and I could go over the car together in Plattsburgh.

I had a choice of routes north from country roads to interstate cruising, both of which this car did really well. I’m not surprised how these cars continue to do well in the marketplace as it really is a perfect combination of beauty, performance, and use-ability. It cruises fine at 80 mph up the interstate, and loves the twisty back roads. I’m going to miss this car!

The extra mileage I put on the car helped me sort one more thing on this Dino and I broke out the tool kit to fix it on at a rest stop! The side view mirror kept going out of alignment any time I exceeded 75 mph because the clamp for the ball socket inside the mirror needed tightening. I don’t know if the owner will drive that fast in his Dino, but I know he can and not have the mirror go out of adjustment!