Ten Thousand Miles in a Septuagenarian Tudor
By Richard Parrish
A lot of interest was expressed at the January meeting in long distance MAFCA patches. More and more Model A members are now taking longer tours. Many have toured the entire USA . Some Alaska , Baja and even Europe and Australia .
Year 2000 was our year of the Model A. Meetings, seminars, swap meets and shows are great but the real fun starts about 100 miles from home in a sweet running Model A. Groups of 2, 3, 10 or alone, it's thumbs up and just plain down home friendliness from tourists and natives alike. Nobody doesn't like Model A's. As long as you use good road manners.
Orange County Model A Club tours furnished most all the miles we accumulated and a "tagalong" tour with Harbor MARC through put us over the 10,000 mark.
We took the short country roads tour 55 miles and the poker run 75 miles which is a good start but you aren't going to reach 5,000 at that rate.
We went to Laughlin NV 340 miles, Oak Glen 195 miles, Bates Nut farm 255 miles and Palm Springs 225 miles and Santa Barbara was 366 miles. Now that is the area where you start to have confidence in your car and the miles start to add up.
The Central California Regional Meet at 775 miles, The Death Valley tour at 960 miles and the summer tour through Utah at 1590 miles were magnificent. This is where you spend several days with your fellow club members and really get to appreciate them, your car and our beautiful country. It's still early in the year and we have 4,806 miles.
The national meet in Kansas City Mo. With a side trip to Lincoln NB. and Pikes Peak Co. added 4,000 miles. 8,806 miles of all OCMAFCA tours.
The "tagalong" Arizona "train" tour we and the Riggs took with Harbor MARC was as well planned, beautiful and fun as our tours and we made some fine new friends. Drain Marshall the president of Harbor MARC and his wife Doris are now members of our club too so you can see what I mean. 1,310 miles that trip made a total of 10,116 for the year.
Can you do it? Yes! Can your Model A do it? Yes! Do you need an overdrive? If you travel with others probably, Yes. If you travel alone, No. You just travel slower. What if you have car trouble? We fix it right then and there. What if it can't be fixed on the road? Tow it to a safe and secure place. Call a MAFCA member who lives in that area. Evaluate the problem: 1. Fix it 2. Store it and hitch a ride home. 3. Rent a truck and take it home. 4. Do what you would do if your modern car broke down but use local Model A resources instead of new car dealers. How do you get started? Drive it!!!!! Then what? Drive it some more!!!! Where do you drive it? How about all the club tours including CCRG and Santa Barbara. Then join me in June driving to the Colorado meet in Breckenridge with several other interesting side attractions. Check this publication for additional opportunities. Should you do it? Absolutely. All us drivers need travel companions.
Added Note: At the recent December 2008 OCMAFC Installation Banquet, Jeanne and Richard Received their 60,000 Mile Award Pin and Gerry and Larry McKinney their 55,000 Mile Award Pin. Now that is Mileage for you!! In 2000 Jeanne and Richard turned 10,000 Miles and in eight (8) more years did and additional 50,000+ Miles. That is greater than 6,250 miles a year average. Some other High Mileage folks are Gwen and John Riggs, Sally and Don Miller, Gerry and Larry McKinney, Sharron and Glenn Johnson, and I am sure several others that don't come to mind at present.
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