there was a time, before the Vietnam War, when people could do about anything, business was booming, everything was made in the USA, mom n pop businesses thrived, drive ins and put put golf was hip, and if you felt like an adventure, it wouldn't cost much at all... like this one

On June 21, 1955 Sam Gray, David Rutford and Fred Hallberg begin their cruise down the Mississippi river from St Paul Minnesota on a homemade raft. 

The raft was built of barrels and planks and they drove the propeller with a 1939 Chevy with 172,000 miles, they bought for $15.

The rear wheels were fixed exactly over a junkyard rear end, with a prop mounted to it's drive shaft.

 The car’s steering wheel turned the raft’s rudder.

 In St Louis Missouri the engine needed a valve job, and outside of Memphis a bearing on the driveshaft under the raft spinning the propeller, burned out.  

The men ran low on food as they discovered a stowaway was eating their food. The stowaway was a rat. The men tried fishing for food but caught nothing the entire trip. 

Other problems encountered included mosquitoes, driftwood in the river and backwash from passing barges. 

On July 25 1955 the trio reached New Orleans, then drove the Chevy back to Minnesota, making it back to St Paul in 49 hours. The car used five gallons of oil for the return drive

Found on the blog with a new daily dose of interesting things, the Daily Timewaster Blog. 

https://dailytimewaster.blogspot.com/2026/04/when-guys-have-too-much-time-on-their.html

I bet they drank a lot of beer.