Red and white road trip

Freedom on wheels rolled through IU's campus Tuesday when IU alumnus Harry Wunsch from Sacramento, Calf., stopped by to show off a 1977 Chrysler New Yorker that he and his son, Tyler, had transformed into "America's Car." \nFrom July 24 to Aug. 12, the duo drove cross country from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Atlantic Coast. The purpose: to visit the World Trade Centers, Pentagon and Flight 93 site.\nThey decided to take the trip Sept. 12, 2001, and since Wunsch is an independent entrepreneur, he had the time and finances to make it happen. \nHis cropped white hair pokes out the side of his Port Authority cap, and his light green eyes occasionally morph to hazel when he tears up when recounting stories from their trip. His tan is set off by a navy blue 7 Engine FDNY shirt, and his left arm is significantly darker from driving with it propped on the window ledge. \nThe Chrysler has more than enough space for comfort and decoration. It's almost 20 feet long, six feet wide and weights 6,200 pounds. It gets a "fuel-efficient" 11 miles to the gallon, 12 if they were fortunate enough to be going downhill.\nWhile Wunsch already seems to have the world's largest car, he said his goal is to take that title a step further and have it be America's largest car flag.\nOn the hood is a flag drawn in permanent marker, which Wunsch intends to preserve with a clear coat of lacquer and eventually give to a museum. The blue represents the police department and the red represents both the fire department and those affected by Sept. 11, and both sections are signed by corresponding groups. \nProfessionally-made "Let's Roll America" lettering runs across the rear. A USA decal is stuck to the hood ornament, and photos of the New York City skyline are pasted to the flip headlights.\nInside is a box of blue and red Sharpies for signing, and two Sept. 11 and Notre Dame Fire Department hats rest on the dashboard.\nFather Theodore Hesburgh, retired president of Notre Dame, gave the two a blessing when they passed through the University. He blessed their car, its drivers, passengers and the sand, dirt and water they were carrying in jugs and a plastic fruit juice container. The materials were collected from both coasts and the three disaster sites. \nThe blessing was indeed successful because save for one small accident, the trip was disaster-free and the two gained access to almost anywhere they wanted to go, Wunsch said. \nThey were even on 65 television programs, some of them international.\nWunsch is also garnering local attention from passersbys who kept craning their necks to get a better view.\nIU employee Mike McAnally is one of the uninhibited few who walk right up to it, dropping his sunglasses a notch to peer at the decorations strategically placed around the car.\n"The car's great," McAnally said. "It's a nice, non-violent act that supports the victims of Sept. 11. It isn't putting anyone down or offending anyone … except the ones who did this, of course."\nTyler, a freshman at Chico University, is already back in school and recouping from the trip, but Harry is taking his sweet, publicity-filled time making his way home.\nA map of Bloomington is spread across his passenger seat with giant, $2 spectacles lying across the top so Wunsch can read and navigate better "in his old, 50-something age." \nBut he could probably do fine in Bloomington without the map or glasses, since he graduated from IU in 1974.\nWunsch said he would probably head down to Kirkwood Avenue and get a stromboli from Nick's English Hut, and that he's not too concerned about finding a legal place to park because he parks wherever he pleases.\n"Officers have never given me a ticket," Wunsch said. "I mean, they signed the car -- what are they gonna do? Kick me out? Yell at me?"\nWunsch has designs to park creatively and drive across the country again next year, only this time with his 23-year-old son, Ryan, who missed the 2002 Tour for Freedom because he had to work two jobs.\nWunsch said the trip is by far one of the most emotional experiences he's had, and he would recommend it to anyone because it helped him develop a comprehension and new perspective on Sept. 11 and its effect on the country.\n"There's nothing like going on the road and touching and feeling people's hearts -- to get to the heart of America"