Regional Model A Ford Meet at Eastside Cannery
About 60 octogenarians will meet this weekend at Eastside Cannery, 5255 Boulder Highway, for car judging, gymkhana games, scale-model races, a poker run and an era fashion show. Most events will take place on Friday, March 22 and Saturday, March 23.
But we’re not talking about human 80-year-olds. These are Model A Fords. Just listen for the “ahooga,” the distinct sound that only a Model A horn makes.
The Las Vegas Valley Model A Ford Club and Pomona Valley Model A Ford Club are hosting some 200 Model A enthusiasts from Nevada, California, Arizona and Utah representing 15 Model A clubs for this annual get-together that traditionally meets in Laughlin, Nev.
Among the weekend activities, the public is welcome to view these iconic antiques while they are being judged in a car show between 8 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Saturday, March 23.
For the gymkhana between 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. in the south end of the parking lot, drivers will test their skills in four fun competitions: lining up medallions with bumpers, leaning out the car window to hang clothes on a line and identifying Model A car parts by feel.
But the most difficult gymkhana test is the teeter-totter. Who will be the quickest to drive onto and stabilize the Model A for five seconds without rocking back and forth? When you have three pedals – gas, clutch and brake – and only two feet, it can be tricky!
You may never see Model A’s barreling down the highway in an elimination heat, but from 1:30 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. about 50 participants will race – with antique scale models! – in the Hubley Derby. The contest will be held in the Casablanca ballroom on the second floor.
Named after the company that for years made accurate metal replicas of Model A’s and other cars, the Hubley Derby is a gravity race using die cast 1/24 scale models, similar to the Pinewood Derby run by Cub Scouts. LVVMAFC will set up the 40-foot-long pine and birch track at a regulation 21-degree downward angle. A laser light at the bottom of the track notes the winner of each heat.
LVVMAFC has custom-made more than 35 trophies using old Model A Ford parts mounted on wood bases to be awarded for all the contests held during the weekend meet.
The Las Vegas Valley and Pomona Valley Model A clubs are members of the Model A Ford Club of America, a non-profit national historical society dedicated to the restoration, preservation and enjoyment of Model A Fords as manufactured from 1928 through 1931. It is the largest club in the world devoted to one make of automobile. Of the more than 4.8 million Model A’s built, several hundred thousand are still on the road.
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