Model T event begins Sunday

A total of 175 Model T Fords will drive up Big Mountain Road on Sunday to kick off the Montana Majestic Mountain T Tour at Whitefish Mountain Resort.

 The Rocky Mountain Model T Club is hosting the event, which is the Model T Ford Club of America’s only national tour planned for 2010. More than 370 guests registered, and tour director Mike Cuffe said he expects it to inject up to $500,000 into Montana’s economy.

 Visiting Model T owners are bringing cars from as far away as New Zealand, Hawaii, Alaska, Vermont and California.

One participant will have an exceptionally unusual story to tell about how he got to Montana for the tour, Cuffe said. Ben Hardeman, a Model T buff from Texas, bought a 1926 Model T touring car from a classified ad that said: “Runs great — drive it home.”

The only hitch was the Model T was located in Anchorage, Alaska, so Hardeman and his wife traveled to Alaska and are driving the antique car from Alaska to Montana for the tour, Cuffe said. Then they’ll drive it home to Texas. Learn more about their odyssey at www.texastparts.com.

The group will tour different parts of Montana in their vintage automobiles each day from Monday through Saturday, including Glacier National Park, the Tobacco Valley, Flathead Lake and Lake Koocanusa.  The group will return to Whitefish Mountain Resort at the end of each tour day.

Here’s a schedule for locals and visitors who want to catch a look at the restored cars: 

n Monday, Aug. 2 — Travel to Eureka and the Tobacco Valley, including the Lundeen Bros. Heritage Museum, Canada, Lake Koocanusa and Eureka’s historical village. 

n Tuesday, Aug. 3 — Travel Going-to-the-Sun Road, Logan Pass and Kiowa Trail in Glacier National Park before returning to Whitefish via U.S. 2.

n Wednesday, Aug. 4, — Short runs to Lake McDonald or the Conrad Mansion in Kalispell with a car show at DePratu Ford in Whitefish in the afternoon.

n Thursday, Aug. 5 — A loop around Flathead Lake with cherry stand stops and a visit to the Miracle of America Museum at Polson, then dinner at the top of Big Mountain.

n Friday, Aug. 6 — A visit to the V-8 Ford Museum at Bigfork and closing banquet at The Lodge at Whitefish Lake.

n Saturday, Aug. 7 — An extra run to the Eureka Montana Quilt Show, Lake Koocanusa and Libby Dam.

Model T’s will not be traveling in a continuous parade along the highway. Individual departures are planned with some expected to leave Whitefish Mountain Resort by 7 a.m. and others by 9:30 am.  Some will stop to shop along the way; some will stop for photos.    

Tour co-chairmen are Cuffe, of Eureka; David Cooley of Kalispell and Rick Bonebright of Florence. For more information, visit www.MontanaMajesticMountainTTour.com.