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| Ever since 1972 when I bought my first 1934 Ford, Ive loved to drive them. Even during the restoration process I would fire it up and take around the block just to stoke up my enthusiasm. Lack of fenders or interior was no deterrent to driving. |
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Article and Photos by Paul Dobbin
Ever since 1972 when I bought my first 1934 Ford, I’ve loved to drive them. Even during the restoration process I would fire it up and take around the block just to stoke up my enthusiasm. Lack of fenders or interior was no deterrent to driving. Fortunately this hobby has many other participants who share the thrill of driving their restorations. History shows the first automobile tours being demonstrations of the reliability of the “Horseless Carriage”, like the original Glidden Tour and the 1908 Great Race. They set the format long before the roads existed to make it easier, touring became an American tradition that continues to this day.
Local clubs, like PinMAR have lots of short tours and occasional overnighters, but the big tours are mainly sponsored by the AACA and the VMCCA. We are regulars in the Glidden Tour for automobiles 1910-1942 and the Sentimental Tour for vehicles 1928 -1958. These tours usually involve a weeklong event of about 500-700 miles that is hosted in a different place every time. Usually beginning with a kick off party on Sunday evening followed by the five days of touring out in all directions from the host hotel, it’s a wonderful way to see other parts of the country.
We just returned from the 2010 Sentimental Tour (For mid-century vehicles) in Kerrville Texas, with our 1934 Ford Fordor V8 behind us on a trailer. The host hotel was 1300 miles of Interstate highways from our home in Florida. Located in the hill country of central Texas about 100 miles west of Austin, the Y.O. Ranch Hotel & Convention Center was our home for the fun week of seeing what old car people in that part of the world enjoy on their local car club tours. There were 88 antique cars on the tour with our 1934 Ford Fordor was the oldest Ford V8 although there was a 32 Pontiac V8 and a 32 Cadillac V12. Again, the Model A’s (4 years of production) out numbered the Early V8’s (21 years of production) Could that be because all the V8 cars were used up in early stock car races? (Yep, they were all fast) Included in the 88 cars were 5 cars and 14 people from the PinMAR Antique Car Club right here in Pinellas County, our 34 Ford V9 and 4 Model A Fords.
We kicked off the week with a cowboy banquet, which gave us a chance to don our cowboy boots & hats and dance a bit. (Not the Texas two step) We visited the 40,000-acre Y.O. Ranch via its 8-mile entrance driveway. That road of patches helped us understand how Bonnie & Clyde wore out the suspension on a car like ours in their short 8000-mile possession of it. At one time after its inception the ranch had been a half million acres, but now divided among the heirs, the ranch we saw raised exotic game animals available to great white hunters at a big price. They also had a large herd of Texas Long Horns foraging in the rough country. The ranch owner selected the 1948 Ford Woody Wagon as the Y.O. Ranch favorite. We watched rodeo training, had a cow chip-hurling contest then had a great BBQ in the Show Barn.
Next we visited some scenic points of interest like the Enchanted Rock (Smaller than Stone Mountain in GA) the Willow City Loop to see the early Blue Bonnets bloom then on to Luckenbach TX for BBQ and a little music. We visited the largest wildflower seed farm in the country and finished a nice day with wine tasting in the local wineries.
Wednesday was designated as shopping Day in German settlement of Fredericksburg TX where we enjoyed the German food, the Admiral Nimitz National Museum of the Pacific War, Street Dreams Car Collection and shopping. Back at the hotel we had a 40’s Banquet with a 19 piece Sentimental Journey Orchestra playing big band tunes of the 30’s, 40’s & 50’s. We learned that old car people can dance too.
Thursday we followed the Guadalupe River Valley into the hills to the “Swiss Alps of Texas” and criss-crossed the Frio & Nueces Rivers on crooked mountain roads that occasionally required the use of 2nd gear, even in a V8. Good antique and junk stores to seek treasures. With lunch and good junk shopping, life is good at 45 MPH.
Friday we went to Bandera “The Cowboy Capital of the World” and visited the Frontier, Times Museum. About half the Harley’s in Texas were there in Bandera too, but I did buy an old yellow porcelain Ford sign for $31.00 (Could that be Tractor Colors?) Many stops to see and shop made us almost late for the closing banquet that included a slide show of the week’s activities, an entertaining speaker and a few awards, then we all headed our separate ways.
The official mileage for the 2010 Sentimental Tour was 540, we drove 624 miles in an effort to see all and do everything the Tour offered. It was a well-planned tour hosted by the “Road Relic’s” Region of AACA. We enjoyed seeing parts of Texas that we would never have found on our own. Most of the cars preformed flawlessly, although we did push start one with a broken bendix spring and saw a few guys tightening nuts and bolts in the evenings. Only one car dropped out, a 56 Packard with a dash fire. All the Car Show bowling trophies with an old car affixed to the top are no substitute to hitting the open road in an antique car. We made some new friends and visited with old ones along the way and enjoyed a rolling car show for the entire week, and got to wear our cowboy boots & hats! We hope to see these folks and more on future tours.
We’ve always thought that if you own antique cars and don’t drive them, maybe you should collect stamps.
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