The Cranfords bought a 1927 Model T Ford Roadster several years ago and restored it for the 1998 Model T tour of Europe, which including stops in France, Holland and Germany. They've also taken their "T" on a trip from California to Alaska. Their current 19 day journey had only one major mishap, a broken rear axle and wheel which took seven hours to repair.
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| John and Lois Cranford don't seem to mind the rain too much after their nine day long cross-country trip in a Model T caravan from California to Dearborn, Mich., for the Ford Centennial festival. (Photo: Joseph Cabadas, Canadian Auto Press) |
"There were two or three cars in our group that had blown engines and they had to be repaired overnight," Cranford said, adding that the caravan was paced by three trailer trucks, ready to assist the Model T motorists that broke down.
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| In celebration of Ford Motor Company's centennial, more than 100 Ford Model T enthusiasts, on a cross-country trek to Dearborn, Michigan, staged a recreation of a 1912 photo taken in Minnesota. (Photo: Ford Motor Company) |
While they enjoyed their trip out, the Cranfords will send their Tin Lizzie back on a trailer and fly home instead of retracing their 2,850 mile trip--a distance that they knew precisely because they had a portable GPS unit on hand, a piece of equipment that hardly could have been conceived some 70 years ago.
Of course, some of the Model T caravan participants faced a different problem once they were on the grounds of the Glass House. The fleet of Ford minivans that were supposed to shuttle them to their hotels didn't have their keys readily available, forcing the motorists to wait longer in the rain.