Sea to sea in a 'T'

Story by John Lee; Photos courtesy of Museum of American Speed

At least one 100-year-old Model T Ford can still “go the distance,” but the fourth time crossing the American continent required considerable assistance.

In 1924, the 10-millionth Model T that Ford Motor Co. had built since the model’s introduction in 1909 rolled off the assembly line and, to publicize the company’s engineering proficiency, Ford employees drove it across the United States on the Lincoln Highway, one of the first transcontinental motor routes.

As the year 2024 dawned, the family that now owns that very 10-millionth Model T Ford opened a “What if …” conversation about the possibility of repeating that cross-country trek. They conveyed the idea to the Museum of American Speed, where the touring car, still wearing the “Ten Millionth New York to San Francisco” graphics, was on display on a three-year loan. Tim Matthews, the museum curator, and one of its volunteers, Model T expert Mike Vaughn, were immediately on board with the prospect of taking the car on the road.

Dr. Alan Hathaway of Davenport, Iowa, had added the Model T to his auto collection many years ago. He had reenacted the Ford’s cross-country drive in 1979 for the 50th anniversary and then again in 1999 to mark the 75th year. Hathaway died in 2016 at the age of 86. His son, Ted, had made the 1999 trip with his father at age 14. He and a brother, Chuck, and sister, Anne McAtee, had loaned the car to the museum on the campus of Speedway Motors in Lincoln, Neb.

The Model T was moved into a shop at the museum and Vaughn directed a thorough inspection of all mechanical components. After some repairs and replacements, he declared the car ready for the trip, and plans moved forward.

“This has been a lifelong bucket list dream of mine,” said Vaughn, of Lincoln, designated as the main driver. “It’s a fantastic way of seeing the U.S. and an opportunity to spend time with the Model T.” 

Fellow Model T fan Mike Bender of Tulsa, Okla., would share time behind the wheel, and Ted Hathaway would also help with some driving while going along for the ride. Speedway Motors provided a support truck and trailer, which was driven by museum volunteer Bill Vocasek.

The American Automobile Association signed on as the travel service sponsor and mapped out the transcontinental route following the original Lincoln Highway route as closely as possible. When dedicated in 1913, the Lincoln Highway ran from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco. Most of the route became U.S. Hwy. 30 after the numbered highway system was established in 1926, and with the interstate system in the 1950s, many segments from Wyoming west were realigned with Interstate 80.

AAA planned stops at their offices along the way where the public could catch a look at the 100-year-old vehicle. The Model T Ford Club of America, of which Vaughn and Bender are members, used electronic media to keep track of the tour’s progress and inform members where they could meet up to cheer on the travelers and even drive some miles along with them.

The tour, dubbed “Sea to Sea in a Model T,” left the Lincoln Highway eastern terminus at Times Square on June 2 to retrace the transcontinental tour Ford Motor Co. made in 1924. Through the news media and a network of Model T and Model A club members, the public was invited to meet the tour group at specific stops along U.S. Hwy. 30, although the difficulty of sticking to a precise schedule while traveling at a maximum speed of 45 mph would soon become apparent.

At an early stop in Pennsylvania, no fewer than six 100-year-old residents of a retirement village were able to get up close to a touring car as old as they are. The next evening the Model T and crew attended a reception arranged by a Rotary Club in suburban Pittsburgh and were driving back to their motel when the car “started making strange noises.” The next morning, they discovered serious engine problems, and it appeared as if the trip might be suspended while the old Ford was trailered back to Nebraska for repairs.

Instead, the Model T network went to work locating parts and antique car specialists. The T wound up in Carlton’s Service, a machine shop in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, where “They dropped everything to do the work we needed done,” Vaughn said. “Bill and Nellie Howell shipped us a new crankshaft and rods overnight from Arkansas,” he added, and Snyder’s Antique Auto Parts and individuals supplied other needed parts.

“We did a complete engine, transmission and rear end overhaul in 2 1/2 days,” Vaughn concluded. “We just did what the Ford guys would have done back in 1924.”

Back on the road, the sea-to-sea tour continued westward on a revised schedule. Anne McAtee, Chuck Hathaway and other family members joined the caravan as it followed the Lincoln Highway through Iowa and on to the midway point in Lincoln. While there, the family announced that when the it completed its fourth trip across the country, the 10-millionth Model T Ford would become a permanent resident of the Museum of American Speed.

As the drive continued, the Model T drove a three-mile stretch just west of Omaha that is the best-maintained original brick paving on the Lincoln Highway. U.S. Hwy. 30 closely follows its original route through much of Nebraska, including Grand Island where a stop was made for fuel and food at Bosselman’s Pump & Pantry. The company contributed the fuel for both the Model T and the support truck.

The addition of an overdrive unit was one concession that allowed the 1924 Model T to travel a steady 45 mph and not seriously impede traffic on two-lane roadways. An alternator was also installed to keep up the supply of electricity, but it was threatening to fail as the tour tackled the Colorado Rockies. The AAA office in Steamboat Springs assisted in securing overnight delivery of a new charging unit.

Many Ford Model T and Model A enthusiasts turned out along the route. Vocasek related that “Ed and Karen Archer from Hayward, California, met us at Lake Tahoe with their 1915 T racer and drove along to Sacramento.”

Delays and the uncertainty of 45-mph travel in a 100-year-old touring is probably responsible for the subdued ceremony when Vaughn and Bender drove the Model T into San Francisco’s Lincoln Park on June 25 and pulled up at the western end of the historic roadway. No crowd was on hand to welcome the travelers. Furthermore, they couldn’t even see the marker designating the western terminus of the Lincoln Highway.

Noticing their confusion, “a homeless man showed us where the marker was — behind the bus stop,” related Vocasek. “He told us it had been moved some years ago, because someone wanted to put another monument where it had been.” 

When the visitors arrived, a city bus at the stop had blocked the marker from their view.

Still, after traveling 3,300 miles over three weeks, Vaughn summed up the odyssey as, “Half the speed and twice the fun!”

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