Cross-country journey

Tom Carnegie is a guy who loves his Model T’s.

During working hours, he’s the owner of the Antique Auto Ranch, a repair and parts shop for antique cars. During his down time, he drives and races them.

He has also rebuilt a 1926 Model T Ford Coupe and, on July 2, left on a journey through 48 states in 40 days.

The idea took shape years ago when a buddy of his mentioned that a trip in a Model T from Portland, Ore., to Portland, Maine, would be a good idea.

Carnegie thought it was a good idea, but it would be a better idea to hit all the other states in between as well.

The two friends talked about doing it, but it just never happened.

In the years since then, the friend has died, but Carnegie has decided to make that idea come true.

He’s taken six years to plan the trip, which he calls the “Super T Tour.” He’s researched motels and planned routes. He’s calculated how far he can go in an eight-hour period going 40 mph or 30 mph. He’s set up a blog on MySpace.com to describe the journey for his friends back home.

And he’s rebuilt an antique car.

Carnegie has retrofitted the coupe with seat belts, brake lights, an engine temperature gauge, shock absorbers and a bicycle speedometer. There is also a battery in the trunk to hook up to his laptop for his GPS program.

“I tried to make it as close to a modern car as I could,” he said before leaving, as he flicked a turn signal that beeps like a modern-day alarm clock.

Carnegie estimates his mileage at 20 mpg, although, in a mileage contest with the Spokane Model T Club recently he got 31 mpg.

The drivers disconnected their gas tanks on a lonely stretch of highway and hooked the cars up to one-quart paint cans filled with three cups of gas. Then they all started driving until the cars died.

Carnegie’s car made it six miles.

He can get the car up to 48 mph, but thinks he’ll probably drive around 42 on the road.

“It cruises along pretty sweet at that speed,” he said.

There is no air conditioning in the coupe, but the windshield opens out to create a nice breeze.

He’ll bring a radio, but the wooden coils in the car’s engine contain transmitters that may interfere with reception.

Susan, Carnegie’s wife, has joined him and they will take a day off every five days. He’ll avoid major interstates and major cities like Washington, D.C., Baltimore, New York City and Chicago.

When asked what he’s looking forward to seeing on his journey, Carnegie shrugged.

“It’s not about the seeing it’s about the trip,” he said, emphasizing that sightseeing would be incidental.

He has also invited other Model T owners to join him along the way and is selling maps for $25. He started out from Spokane with six other Model T drivers. The other cars escorted him as far as Yakima.

According to his blog, a couple of those cars broke down along the way and one even caught fire.

“Model Ts are capricious,” he said. “They can break down on you.”

Carnegie isn’t worried about his car though.

“I can fix anything on this thing,” he said. “You can do stuff even with a modicum of tools.”

He’s scheduled to return in the middle of August, but the concept of time is a bit more flexible when riding in a Model T.

“Just the car itself is sort of a time machine,” he said.