Got your eye on a sweet classic on eBay? It’s only 500 miles away? 1000 miles? Shipping costs are roughly $1 per mile. You can fly in and drive it home for less than that, right? No. You can’t. It will always cost about as much to fly-n-drive as it will to have the vehicle shipped. If anything goes wrong and you have to rent a U-Haul and drag it home, you’ll be looking at a total cost of nearly 3 times as much as the shipping costs. So, when you are considering a fly-n-drive, it’s never but always a good idea. You will spend time and money – perhaps far more money – getting that old heap home, but you’ll never forget the experience. The fly-n-drive can make for epic stories at parties for the rest of your life. If you break down along the way, all the better. You will spend time, you will spend money, and what you will gain will be the awesome memory of that one time you did something your friends would never dare. I am a much slower learner than most, because I have now done three fly-n-drives, plus another where I accompanied an insane friend. My latest one was a relatively simple jaunt to Las Vegas to pick up a Datsun 1600 roadster. This car is fairly well sorted, and looked like it could make the journey in its sleep. Looks are not deceiving. The trusty little Datsun started right up, ran smoothly, and was generally a comfortable ride. Comfort? Well, not exactly. Las Vegas in June is not the most hospitable place. The roadster has a top, but it’s in a bag in the trunk waiting to be sewn to the framework, so this drive would be made with the top down. My partner and I left Vegas in the late afternoon to avoid the worst of the heat, which was only about 99 degrees. As we progressed northeast, the heat increased. By Mesquite, a scant 85 miles into a 420 drive, we already needed a break, so we stopped at a nice, smoky casino for a respite. There are moments in life where you really appreciate air conditioning. One positive (and negative) thing about road tripping in your new purchase is that its flaws quickly become apparent. It’s a great way to shake down your new machine. As we motored along, the sun was setting, the air was cooling, the car was running, and everything was great. Alas, at the next gas station, I glanced under the car and noticed about 20 drops of oil dripping from the center of the car. Some inspection revealed that the output shaft seal on the transmission was leaking quite a lot of oil, flinging it all over the undercarriage. This was concerning enough that we decided to not risk a seized transmission somewhere on I-15 well after dark on a Sunday night. Anyway, a cheap roadside hotel and a shower was just what the doctor ordered. The next morning, the guys at Jiffy Lube checked the oil level in the transmission, verified the leak, and topped up the gear oil. Good enough. Cloud cover for the next 300 miles meant for a very pleasant drive home. The little Datsun seemed to really enjoy being out on the highway. It averaged 29.7 MPG at a conservative 65 MPH. We arrived home around noon, tired and happy. Another story to tell and another project to tinker with.