For John Smith, driving his 1930 Ford Model A Roadster is like music.
“It’s got a very musical sound, the exhaust,” said the retired teacher and school principal. “It’s characteristic of Model A Fords, the way the muffler is shaped, when they go down the road.
“Well, they’re not playing in tune,” said the Oro-Medonte Township man. “It’s just not like raw exhaust sound.”
Smith’s Roadster is among over 80 cars showcased this weekend at the first Canadian Festival of Old Cars at the Simcoe County Museum in Springwater Township, just north of Barrie.
The vehicles are all from before 1940 and hail from Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and even Port Carling.
Smith’s Roadster accommodates both a driver and a passenger while offering a rumble seat for two more people.
Built in Toronto by the Ford Motor Company of Canada, it features black fenders and trim with a creamy yellow body.
“In all honesty, Ford never built a yellow Model A Roadster,” Smith said. “My mother chose these colours in 1957.”
He added that this Roadster isn’t really made for racing.
“Comfortably, it’s a 42-mile-an-hour car. It will go faster – it will go 50 miles per hour – but it kind of likes about 42,” Smith said, noting it has regular license plates and insurance.
“It’s sort of my summer transportation on nice days,” he explained. “Obviously, I stay off any of the 400-series highways. I prefer paved secondary roads.
“I think it handles really well. It’s fun to drive; as fun as heck,” Smith said. “It’s stick shift, and so that’s always fun.”
Smith also brought along a 1913 Mc Laughlin and a 1913 Ford Model T to the car festival.
The event featured other classics too-like a Cadillac Model K, an REO T6, an EMF Model 30, a 1914 Overland 79R, a 1928 Ford Model A Sport Coupe, a 1931 Essex Super Six, a 1927 Austin Seven Saloon and a 1936 Chevrolet Standard-not to mention an Adams earth grader and roller from the Buffalo-Springfield Roller Company.
This Saturday also included the Canadian Model T Assembly Team putting together a 1927 Ford chassis in six minutes and 37 seconds before crank-starting it to drive backward then forward for everyone watching.
The Canadian Festival of Old Cars continues Saturday and Sunday from 10 a. m. until 4 p. m. at the Simcoe County Museum.
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