Hey guys. Last year I posted about how much of a blast it was to drive my dad's 1910 Model T Touring car in the "Lowland Tour" portion of the Speedster Run. A few people wished they would have known about it earlier, so this year I am posting it a couple of months in advance.

What: Speedster Run and Lowland Tour
When: June 9 Tech Inspection - June 10 Endurance Run and Lowland Tour

The Tech Inspection is really a great time to see A LOT of early cars. There are mostly Ford T Speedsters in the run, but a few other "higher dollar" cars as well. Last year a nice Bugatti ran pretty well. The inspection is held at the Bertolotti Garage in Santa Clara. The Bertolotti's have a very, very, very impressive collection of antique cars and motorcycles.

The Lowland Tour is the complementary tour of standard touring cars of the era. Everyone watches the Speedsters leave the starting line then hops in their old car and drives in a procession to the designated lunch spot. Once there, everyone eats lunch and watches the Speedsters come in. After they leave, then the lowland tour goes to the finish line (last year was also at the Bertolotti garage) and watch them finish.

Here's a pic from last years Tech Inspection. All 50 or so cars participating in the Speedster Run have to pass the inspection.



Here's a couple of pics from the Bertolotti collection. You know. The usual stuff like an unrestored Thomas Flyer.

 

Wow, that looks like a cool time. I'll have to check with the boss and see if it is a do-able event for me. Kinda far away, but the last Northern Cal Chapter meet was such a blast, meeting up with some great folks and checking out some really neat old metal, I might just have to make a strong effort to make this one.
Thanks for the early heads up.
Cheers, T

 

Wow, those cars are in excellent shape for being unrestored. Wonder if they would pass smog?

 

Sure. I think the requirements for that era are that you don't suffocate yourself to death.


Here's a link to the main page of the Model T club. There are links to the Endurance Run and Lowland Tours.

http://www.scvmtfc.org/

 

What a lovely bunch of cars - to bad they could not afford to restore the Thomas Flyer

jk, that one must be worth a fortune. I have to make do with a reproduction of a Radio Flyer Wagon!

Santa Clara? Maybe I can get Liz to go to this sort of function - she loves antiques! If so, I can see a picnic with checkered table cloths - and some of the best German Potato Salad and real Southern Fried Chicken!

It ought to be a law that only girls born in the south can fry chicken!

 

Yeah, maybe he's saving his pennies to have it restored. I think it's worth somewhere north of a mil. Anyway, the event is this weekend. Seeing all the speedsters take off in downtown San Jose is pretty cool.

 

Allot of things taste like chicken, so they say. But nothing tastes as good as "real southern fried chicken". WillyB, are you saying that you've got a solid southern connection? When's the picnic?

I wish I could make it this weekend. The wife and I have been traveling so much lately, for unavoidable business, that I don't have the heart to even think about asking her if she wants to head over the Sierras for a car show. I think we're gonna stay home and catch up on some yard work. The neighbors are probably thinking we're white trash...

 

I prefer the term "blanco basura" myself. LOL.

I'll take some pictures and post them after the event. My mom says lunch is near the coast, probably in Half Moon Bay or Pescadero. Should be fun driving a 97 year old car over the coastal mountain range!

 

Here are some pics from the event. I shot a couple of cool videos on my Sony camera that I'll try to get on YouTube and linked here for you guys.

STARTING AREA



MODEL T ROADSTER PICKUP (one of my favorites)



MODEL A ROADSTER PICKUPS



AND THE 1924 AND 1910 MODEL T FORDS WE DROVE (both are my dad's cars)
Dad drove the '24 and I drove the '10 in the "Lowland Tour." That's funny, I remember having to downshift into low range to climb some of the roads. We ended up driving about 150 miles at about 30mph. The '24 has a pretty bad lean in the rear spring for some reason. It looked pretty funny going down the road, unless the road was tilted badly then it looked just fine.

 

Wow, nice shots. Looks like a good time. Was anyone from Northern Cal Chapter able to make it?

 

I'm not sure. It was pretty crowded down there. Maybe someone will chime in.

For me, the event almost didn't happen. My mom was riding with me in the '10 and my dad in the '24. We went and got gas for the '10 (somehow forgetting to fuel up the '24...) and then went to the doughnut shop. It's early Sunday morning so there is no one there and I pull across a couple of spots so I wouldn't have to back out. Dad pulls straight in a spot. I'm sitting there zoning out when I hear a plastic scraping sound. I look up to see a woman straddling the curb that seperates two areas of the parking lot (at a height differential of about 9 inches I'd say) with a late model Buick. I jog over to see if I could help but by then the old lady had gunned it out of the situation. Laughing, I walk over to ask Dad if he saw it. Nope. OK here comes Mom with the doughnuts. We hop in and are about to swing around the lot a little and then head out to the expressway when I notice my dad has backed out and is quickly heading for the nearest exit.

So then it happened.

When I hastily decided to do a U-turn and follow him I experienced a feeling of out-of-controllness that only a driver of an early Model T and possibly someone who has lost a steering wheel in their hands has felt. It was out of control at 5mph. Now, normally I'd just push my left foot on the clutch and stop. In a Model T you press the clutch in for low gear. The real issue which caused me to lose control is that you can go "past center" on the steering and SUDDENLY you are turning the other way. This is quite a hair raising experience and the instinct is to turn it the other way to correct, but you're really turning the wrong way. I don't know if there is a right way to get out of it other than stopping and straightening the wheels. When all was said and done, after my mom screaming at me to stop and me trying to turn the wheel the other way (pointless), pushing in the clutch (just went faster), and eventually jumping up that curb and sitting in the planter not far from the old lady in the Buick's adventure, I was stalled and less than an inch from jamming that nice enamel painted fender into a concrete pillar holding a light pole...

It's confirmed. You can jump a wooden spoked wheel on a 97 year old Ford up a curb nearly sideways and it won't even need an alignment. The only damage was a 3/4" scratch on the rim.

Later in the day we:

Ran the '24 out of gas
Had to clean all the spark plug wires and coils for the '24
Had to clean the timer for the '10
Had to add oil to both cars twice. They sure do drip!

As my mom put it, "I'm not sure if this is a treat, or treatment."

 

Sounds like you may have had to clean off the drivers seat as well.

 

That does sound like quite a ride, even if only going 5mph

Does look like a fun way to spend a day, driving one that is.

 

I think my **** pretty much swallowed it up...

 

OK. One of the video's I shot is up on YouTube. Click on the link below. This is all the speedsters arriving to the starting area, led by the old fire truck! It's loud.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCj-LBPmGho