Tin Lizzie Tour: Rocky Mountain Model T Club bases June Tour out of Lincoln

The Rocky Mountain Model T Club gave residents from Lincoln to Philipsburg a glimpse into the past and at the most ubiquitous car in history.

The club brought 11 "Tin Lizzies" to Lincoln on one of the club's two back road tours they take each year..

"We went up over Huckleberry pass, then back into Seeley Lake, came in the back side there. Then we went down to Philipsburg, went to Garnet and dropped down the back side of Garnet into Bearmouth, Drummond and on into Philipsburg. Then we come up this way today, back down to Lincoln," Club President Pat Kelly of Noxon said during a break for nine of the cars near Dalton Mountain Thursday afternoon. A couple of the cars opted for a slightly different route.

Club secretary Dave Cooley, of Kalispell said they had a couple mechanical problems the first day of the three-day excursion, but otherwise had a successful tour. He said the group covered about 340 miles, according to an odometer one member had on his car

"It went well, we had a good time," Cooley told the BVD.

The Rocky Mountain Model T Club is based in Western Montana but has an international reach.

"We've got people from Alberta, Idaho and all over western Montana here today," Kelly said. Cooley said they even have one member in Germany.

Most of the cars on the Lincoln tour were later models, from about 1926 or 1927, Cooley said. He said those model years are usually the easiest to find, due to the fact the Model A's came out in 1928, which almost instantly made the Model T's obsolete. Cooley explained that a lot of people who owned the later Model T's parked them in garages and upgraded to the newer model as soon as they could. He said those Model T's remained in good shape, while the earlier model years were pretty well worn out by the time the Model A's rolled around. Cooley said the earlier models are generally rarer and more valuable, particularly if they date to the era when Ford was using brass radiators and fittings.

Despite the fact the cars on the tour are more than 90 years old, club members aren't concerned about taking them out on the road.

"They can either be barn queens, or you can use 'em," Kelly said.

In fact, he said they make their trips on as many back roads as they can, away from the main traveled highways as possible. And the sometimes rough gravel back roads aren't really a concern.

"This is what the roads were when they were built, so they were kind of engineered for them," Kelly said, calling them "period correct" roads.

Nevertheless, steep hills can present a challenge for some Model T's built before 1926, thanks to a design peculiarity.

"Some of the older models had fuel tanks under the seats, and could get to where the carburetor was higher than the fuel. They'd starve for fuel, so you turned around and backed up the hill" Kelly said. "My Dad used to tell me stories about that all the time. On one (trip) up in Eureka, a guy had to do that."

More than 150 Model T's are expected to gather in Billings next month when the Model T Ford Club of America meets for their Rocky Mountain Fun Tour from July 16-20.

Kelly said the national club likes to host gatherings in Montana, due to the scenery and landscape variety.

Ford Motor Company built 15 million of the iconic vehicles between 1908 and 1927.

One club member said at one point they comprised 60 percent of all cars in use worldwide. In 1999, the Model T earned recognition as the most influential car of the 20th century, beating out widely used European cars including the Citroën DS and the ubiquitous VW Beetle.