Touring with a Model A ?

ivoryjohn

ivoryjohn

Senior Member
My dream and the reason behind all the work I have done and had done on my Model A is that I want to tour in the car. To my mind there is a reason that these old babies got to their ripe old age an it is that they were tough dependable cars meant to be driven. Didn't people drive their cars long distances if they wanted to go somewhere? I don't mean touring like the Judd family in the Grapes of Wrath where the folks were making a desperate exodus with Grandma strapped to a rocker on the roof of the truck. I just want to drive not trailer my car.

If I have trouble I intend to fix it, depend on the kindness of strangers, call a tow truck or pick a like solution when and if that time comes. It is an adventure right?

I am getting small flack from a nay sayer who in all fairness may be looking out for my own good. I have some health problems with breathing and my young mind says I can do things my old body can't hold up.I should also mention that I am single and will be solo on my tours. Perhaps my friend sees what he thinks I can't and is afraid I will get into trouble health wise while out driving alone in my car far from home. To me that is a chance I am willing to take.

The alternative he wants me to take is to trailer my car to the tour start and run around with all the others, sight see, eat, run around some more, sight see, eat, and trailer my car home after the tour. I want to play in the deep end of the pool and drive my car to the tour start 375 miles away, enjoy touring and sight seeing with my friends and then knock around a bit seeing other stuff and friends on the way home. I had a wonderful 1000 mile trip doing just that last spring.

My question is: Are the wonderful pieces of machinery we so lovingly restore and whose life we are prolonging meant to be driven long distance and return? I cast no shadow on trailering a car for any number of reasons but is driving them 2000 miles on a cruise too much to expect of them?

I would like to hear from those that drive the wheels off their cars and those that trailer and their reasons for doing so.
 
I understand the concern that your friends have but, at 75. I also know how you are driven to enjoy the results of your efforts. It is a terrific dream to execute as you live it out. Having the same dreams and sometimes daunting health limitations, I have used my Model A for solo tours with my wife, mostly short, but a few exceeding several thousand miles. I do carry a cell phone as well as a number of spare parts, mostly electrical.

We also have enjoyed group tours with several local clubs. What I find interesting is that, most of the time my "spares" have been used, they have come home on another Model A.

I would say "Go for it" ! Gar Williams
 
ivoryjohn said:
My question is: Are the wonderful pieces of machinery we so lovingly restore and whose life we are prolonging meant to be driven long distance and return? I cast no shadow on trailering a car for any number of reasons but is driving them 2000 miles on a cruise too much to expect of them?

I would like to hear from those that drive the wheels off their cars and those that trailer and their reasons for doing so.
Click to expand...

While this ain't the same car, I think it will establish a baseline to answer what you are asking. Next Wednesday, my wife & I are going to drive 300 miles up the Blue Ridge Parkway (...and then on the Skyline Parkway) to Luray, VA in a 1915 Model-T. The technology advances are huge between a T and an A, so if it can be done in a T, then doing the same in an A should be as easy and just as rewarding.

Like Paul said, a AAA card in the wallet will be a great insurance plan if you need to tow but before that, my suggestion is to drive a sensible speed where you and the vehicle don't feel 'pressure'. If something does break, find a safe place to pull over and take the time to properly assess the entire situation. Haste also creates stress in this area too. The 3rd thing that I think makes all the world of difference is "knowing" your car. You have indicated you have been working on the car which I am assuming means you have been inspecting and repairing items that are sub-standard. That is good because you then have the ability to diagnose and troubleshoot many items just going down the road using your eyes, your ears, your nose, ...and your brain. Sounds like you are up to the challenge in my view. My answer to the naysayers is "Our life is not measured by the amount of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away!" If you never take the chance, you will never experience the 'experience'!! ;)

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Here is my two cents worth as I am single too. Not knowing your health issues, have you thought of trying to do some short tours so you can sort things out before a long tour? I mean, how is my body holding up at X number of miles and can I go further that day or should I stop and relax? The car will pull its own, but the driver that is another story.

I am planning an over night tour and while I can make the destination in shot without stopping, the club members I am going with can't. So just load the spare parts up and get going!

Mike
 
Ivoryjohn,

The way i look at it is , you only live once , do everything and anything you want to do.
For those who try to discourage you, well ,they come and go. I am 49 and i hope to be
like you one day.
 
At my age (67) 375 miles has become a long drive in an A. My health is good but my body just isn't a flexible as it once was, so I try to keep driving to about 200 miles per day, with frequent stops to stretch. The cars themselves are certainly capable of long distances. Join the national clubs and get their rosters so if you break down somewhere you can find someonce close to come help —and they will come help, believe me. Some short shakedown drives will give you confidence and resolve any minor issues. Then, I say, Hit the Road!

PS: Ask your skeptical friend to join you on some of your short drives so he gets an understanding of how much you enjoy your car. You might even change his mind!
 
The responses to my question are great but I need to mention I have a fair amount of Model A experience. I belong to MARC and MAFCA, have a pocket full of credit cards, a cell phone, a complete list of spare parts, tools, belong to AAA and have Hagerty Insurance with towing. That said; complete strangers have been wonderful to me every time I needed assistance with small to large problems. Last spring I took a ten day cruise around Mississippi and clocked a thousand miles. I consider myself capable and ready to continue touring when I get my car back together. New engine and complete new brakes. Also, I carry as many tools and spares as I might need.

With this last bit of work now being done the only thing that I don't have is overdrive. The rest of the car has been rebuilt buy a very capable and painstaking club guru. The front end, steering, new engine, flywheel clutch, transmission, rear end, wheel bearings and Flathead Ted brakes and cast iron drums are all new as a spotted puppy.

Perhaps I am wrong but I believe my nay saying friend is basing his opinion that I should trailer my car to events on his personal belief that the cars we both love so much and I are due a long restful retirement being put out to pasture all polished up. Then we should only trot them out to go on twice annual tours and local rides to visit bee keepers on weekends. (no offence to bee keepers)

To me, getting there is as much fun as where we get!

At what point does driving the cars turn into abusing the cars?
 
I'm one of the youngsters here (70), but I agree with Ivory John completely. My truck is there to drive. It really pains me to have to sit out driving it while it is in the "hospital" but when it comes out, it's gonna be driven!
 
"Maybe the bullets exit the gun faster??"

Stupid as it may sound, Mythbusters tried to test that theory.
Wasted time.
 
The Model A was built to be driven! A well restored Model A driven at reasonable speeds should make almost any trip you can plan. Pack up and go...we are not getting any younger! Just let us know how much you enjoyed the trip when you return.
 
We drive our unmodified Model A's constantly and have put on 6,000, to over 10,000 miles per season.

We abuse our modern iron simply by letting them sit in the summer.

Most of our vacations our centered on driving the A's, sometimes 2,000 miles a trip.

We prepare for every emergency that we can think of, but so far, there have not been any.

It's worth the long drive when people ask, "Where ya from?" And then, "you drove all the way here in that?" :eek:

Go for it!
 
the drive is the adventure.. Bring spare parts, a few tools, a phone and a map. worst thing is that you might get to ride in one of those new shiny tow trucks :)

We drive ours all the time, and went to the oregon coast last year.. Take your time and enjoy the drive and stay alert.. The driver all cocooned in ther modern rig is often less aware and careful as us folks putting around in our 'a's. I have driven the route we took in a modern car before, but really have few memories of the trip, as compared to the miles spent behind a flat windshield.
 
Brent,

I've been "touring" in my 1929 Phaeton and using my roadtrips as a way to vette out problems in the car. It has been a lot of fun.... and the car has issues that still need LOTS of attention. Don't let ANYONE tell you that the car is too old to drive. Drive it.... just make certain you have the correct insurance and bring some parts with you. I've made certain that on all my tours I am never more than 100 miles from home or a Model A shop. Why? This is because AAA has a 100 mile tow and my Model A has already once turned into a "Model AAA".

My last two trips were put on hold due to rain and scheduling issues. As the weather cools and when I finally paint a few primer patches, I am not even letting some percipitation stop me.

Seth
 
If you need to use a nebulizer for breathing problems, those little cigarette lighter air compressors work great as a portable air pump on the road.

Now, won't that make people wonder, when they look over and see someone driving down the road in a Model A while wearing a nebulizer mask?:eek::D
 
A stock car is just as drivable as a modified car. When my car was stock, I would have had no problem driving it to Colorado or California if I wanted to, but when it's modified it doesn't take as long.
 
I find it very taxing to load and unload a Model A on a trailer and get it tied down properly; and towing a loaded trailer very stressful. I arrive much more rested and much more relaxed if I drive my Model A rather than trailer it. (I only trailer it when it breaks down anyway--I guess that might contribute to the stress.) I used to drive a furniture straight truck daily, so I'm use to driving a large vehicle, but I still find it exhuasting.

W. Michael
 
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