Traveling to Yellowstone from Seattle and Back: World War II

Since my father and his older brother had been Hellcat Biplane gunners in the Marine Corp reserves from 1934 until 1937 (4 years) and both of them were married during World War II and my Dad's older brother had a child they sent them to the shipyards in Seattle near where they lived to do the electrical wiring on Liberty Ships during World War II instead. I think it was called a "needed trade" here at home or something like that since they were both trained Electricians by their father who was an Electrical Contractor since about 1910 or so. So, when they got leave to get time off they decided to convert an old LaSalle Touring car to Home Heating fuel on weekends so they could drive to Yellowstone and back from Seattle. There were no gas rationing coupons needed for fuel oil for home heating but there was a gas ration for gas and diesel.

So, on weekends they converted their huge La Salle Touring car and welded or bolted a platform on the back sticking out to hold several 50 gallon drums of home heating oil for the trip there and back. My father said that big blue circles of smoke came out the back of the car as they drove down the road and that those circles got bigger over time looking back at them all the way to Yellowstone and back.

However, you have to remember that smoke and soot was visible then from literally every car or truck before about 1970. There were not catalytic converters or any kinds of smog devices yet and there was also lead in Gasoline which often retarded children in big city areas where a lot of cars were driven. Sometimes today you can smell what it smelled like then when antique cars before about 1972 or so have to add lead to their gasoline so it doesn't destroy their older engines from before 1970 to 1972 or so. In fact, some vehicles that were old and burning oil and in disrepair would drive down the freeway and no one could even see to drive behind them for miles still in the 1950s and 1960s.

This body style is likely something like what they had: