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The Sound of Self-Reliance

Gregg Carnes
/
Gregg Carnes Photography

These Model Ts aren't just for show — they're for driving, too. Exactly as Henry Ford would have wanted

LIKE A LOT of people, on a typical Saturday morning Tom Collins meets his friends for breakfast. But unlike most, he gets there in a 1915 Ford Model T. His vintage beauty isn’t for display, Collins says; it’s for driving. He does about 60-100 miles a week around town. “I love the way the Model T sounds,” says Collins (who is not the former Clark County commissioner, incidentally). “That’s what drew me and my wife in.”

Collins is the president of the Southern Nevada Model T Club, or SNMTC. I met him last spring outside Peg’s Glorified Ham n Eggs on West Sahara. Every Saturday morning, Collins and other club members take their Ts for a drive and have breakfast somewhere in the valley. Anyone is welcome to join them, whether they own a Model T or not. I’d glimpsed them as I drove by, and then made an impromptu U-turn to go back and get a closer look.

I parked near Collins’ car. As I got closer, I read the engraving on the side: “Southern Nevada Model T Club.” My jaw dropped. Henry Ford’s Model T? A fan of auto history, I could hardly contain my excitement. I remembered learning Ford’s response when he was told producing the V-8 engine was impossible: “Do it anyway.” The Model T turned out to be an extremely popular vehicle, a major contributor to the growth and development of cities in the West. It changed how people viewed transportation and travel. And I was standing in front of one now.

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Collins, who wore a jean jacket, jeans, and Nike shoes, was talking to an older gentleman. While I waited to meet him, I chatted with Judy Orr, SNMTC’s membership co-chair. I asked if I could take pictures of the car, and she said: “I’ll take a picture of you inside it.” It defied the “look, but don’t touch” I usually encounter at car shows.

Judy snapped photos of me as I climbed into the 108-year-old piece of history. I sat in the driver’s seat, imagining what it would feel like to gun the motor and take it for a spin. Only the passenger side of the car could open, and it was a tight fit inside. I lightly grasped the steering wheel, overcome with awe.

Collins gave me a 360-degree tour of the car. He noted that 1915 was the last year of brass accents and the first year of the electric headlight, following the switch from headlamps lit by dangerous acetylene gas. This Model T operates on three foot pedals: the brake, high and low gear clutch, and reverse. It looks complex but, Collins says, you get used to it before too long.

Initially, cars in general weren’t popular in the Western U.S., says Donald LaCombe, automotive historian and exhibits chairman at Detroit’s Ford Piquette Avenue Plant, a nonprofit museum dedicated to preserving the Model T. Attitudes shifted following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, LaCombe explains. While thousands of people were trapped, unable to be rescued by horse, many more were saved by autos. Understanding the advantages, people started to buy more cars.

Ford introduced the Model T on October 1, 1908, and it succeeded for several reasons, LaCombe says: “They were economical to operate, good on gas (mileage), reliable, and could climb hills and mountains.” And perhaps most importantly, “People discovered they could go any place they wanted.”

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Gregg Carnes
/
Gregg Carnes Photography
Tom Collins in his 1915 Model T

Ford mass-produced more than 15 million Model Ts from 1909 to 1927. Known also as the Tin Lizzie or Flivver, it comes in various body styles, such as the Roadster, Coupe, Touring, and Sedan. It boasts a 2.9-liter, four-cylinder, 20-horsepower engine that can travel at a top speed of 40-45 miles per hour, getting 25-30 miles per gallon of gas.

“They were really America’s practical car,” LaCombe says.

This practicality was put to the test during the Dust Bowl of the ’30s, when many families escaped the manmade climate disaster in their Model Ts and spent weeks traveling west in them — even sleeping in tents attached to the sides of the cars. Given the relatively great distances between cities in the West, the Model T’s reliability and economy were crucial advantages.

I feel a connection to this history almost 100 years later, when Collins offers to take me for a ride. “These cars are in museums, and most people don’t drive them,” he said. “But the club is all about using them.” As we tool around the strip mall, passersby honk. I see what he means about the sound; after a while, my body syncs up with its soothing rhythm.

Harold Mann founded the Model T Ford Club of America’s Southern Nevada chapter in 1992. Mann is 94 and an active club member who still drives his Model T. Collins has been president of the club for three years. In June, he plans to tow his Model T to Manhattan, Kansas, where the MTFCA’s national tour is being held this year. Enthusiasts from all over the country will spend four days driving scenic routes and visiting landmarks in their Model Ts.

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The local club also has its own annual tradition, a drive down the Las Vegas Strip on New Year’s Day. This year’s took place in a cold, wet rain, sending the group to Vickie’s Diner to warm up with coffee and hot cocoa afterward. Last year’s festivities included a journey back in time with a display at the Clark County Museum and a 35-mile trek to Nelson Ghost Town near Searchlight. This year, the club is planning a picnic at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park and other activities throughout the year.

After my ride around the parking lot ends, I thank Collins, and get into my car to leave. I look in the rearview mirror, and Collins is trailing me in his Model T. Soon, I outpace the antique as it plods along in the right lane. I merge to the left and head home. Φ