MONTAGUE, P.E.I. — Brian Dowell was browsing on the online auction website eBay about 10 years ago when his wife walked in and told him he couldn’t buy it.
He didn’t know what “it” was, but he bid on it anyway as a joke.
$12,500 later he owned his first Model T.
Today, he is the president of the Model T Ford Club International and owns three of the vehicles.
For Colin Knowles, it started at the age of four when his dad started fixing up Model Ts. Eventually, Knowles and his two brothers each had their own.
Forty-five years later, his newly licensed 16-year-old son has a Model T of his own, while Knowles is the co-tour chairman of the 63rd annual MTFCI’s tour.
While there was plenty of reverence for the first mass-produced vehicle – “The car that put the world on wheels,” said Dowell – it was this type of passing of the torch that was the most common theme among the aficionados who gathered in the Montague area for the first leg of the tour on Sunday.
The MTFCI actively tries to foster a younger membership through safety education offered to youth and an award given to every first-time driver under 19 who completes a half day of touring.
There were some 148 vehicles registered for the tour, with vehicles coming from as far as Colorado, and an estimated 360 participants.
Festivities on Sunday included optional judging of the cars, while a food truck was on site to feed car owners. Sunday evening included an ice cream social.
The tour continues across the Island throughout the week, wrapping up Friday, July 19.
MOTORING AROUND
Other stops on the Model T Ford Club International tour:
- Tuesday, July 16: P.E.I. National Park and Anne of Green Gables National Historic Site
- Wednesday July 17: Orwell Corner Historic Village, Murray Harbour, Murray River, Chapman Pond, Montague
- Thursday, July 18: Downtown Charlottetown, Confederation Centre of the Arts, Government House
- Friday, July 19: St. Peters Bay, Sally’s Beach Provincial Park, closing banquet
