Brancaccio, Krafcik Complete 900-Mile Route 66 Trip as Highway Marks 100 Years
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · May 23
Brancaccio, Krafcik Complete 900-Mile Route 66 Trip as Highway Marks 100 Years
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 23
A four-day, nearly 900-mile drive from Santa Monica to Albuquerque retraced part of Route 66 with David Brancaccio, John Krafcik and the author in four vehicles spanning automotive eras.
The centennial journey framed the road as a moving museum of American car culture, using cars of the past, present and future to mirror Route 66’s own evolution.
Route 66 once stretched 2,448 miles across eight states from Chicago to Santa Monica, but jet travel and the 1956 interstate buildout drained traffic and accelerated decades of neglect.
Congress called the highway a symbol of Americans’ heritage of travel in 1990, and its 100th anniversary now highlights both its faded commercial role and its enduring pull as an icon of freedom and westward migration.
A century later, can the 'Mother Road' offer more than just nostalgia to survive its next chapter?
As Route 66 turns 100, is its romanticized myth overshadowing a more complex and sometimes painful history?