Argue all you want, but it was the Ford Model T that put the world on wheels. Before that you had to be a prince or a potentate to get a car. Henry Ford’s assembly line gave the world mass production, which in turn lowered prices to previously unheard-of levels. For a generation or more, everyone was a Ford Man.
To celebrate that global upheaval, we have car clubs, in this case, the Model T Club of Long Beach, California. The Long Beach Model T Club was founded in 1954, and by 1957 held its first hill climb. Routed up the challenging, 1/10th-mile, appropriately named Hill Street bordering Long Beach and Signal Hill, the Ts conquered the hill’s 22-percent grade with aplomb. The event ran for the next 23 years, until the cost of liability insurance, combined with squabbling from property owners, meant the end of the line in 1979.
But wait, there’s more! To commemorate the City of Signal Hill’s 100th anniversary, the city asked the club to do it again two years ago. Then they did it this year to commemorate the 250th celebration of the United States. So who knows? Maybe they’ll do it again next year?…