From Model Ts to mom-and-pop shops, Route 66 evokes nostalgia. But America’s favorite roadway took a futuristic turn this week as two muscle car fans drove from Santa Monica to Chicago in a candy-apple red 1966 GTO that has been converted to run on compressed natural gas (CNG).
Keith Barfield and Mark McConville christened their 2,450-mile journey the “Drive to Inspire.” Their purpose is to win converts to the cause of using CNG as a vehicle fuel here in America. Although CNG is widely used as a transportation fuel in many countries, it has yet to be popularized in the U.S.
An estimated 10 million natural gas vehicles are in operation worldwide, but only 1.3 percent of them – 130,000 – can be found on American roadways. Yet domestic natural gas reserves are without equal worldwide. Both men are adamant about seeing our country make better use of this cleaner burning fuel:
President Barack Obama “said he wants to unleash American innovation. That’s just what we’ve brought here today,” McConville said after a stop at Pops, a Route 66 restaurant featuring a 66-foot-tall sculptural rendition of a pop bottle with a straw. “If natural gas can be used in American muscle cars … then you can certainly use it in today’s higher-technology cars.
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