The 1972 Trans-International Reliability Tour, Montreal to Tijuana
/Written by Judith Henry, Photos by Howard Henry. Originally published in The Bulb Horn, 1972, Volume XXXIII No. 5
Millard Newman’s 1911 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost
Montreal - Just Starting the tour
The longest antique car trek of all time is now history. The twenty-one entrants plus our Tour Marshall, Fred Kelly, have all completed the course. Believe it or not, in spite of every conceivable problem, all the cars survived the grueling heat, cold, rain, hail, and tornado, until we felt like living examples of the postman’s motto. But there was always the satisfaction of knowing that no matter how miserable the day, or how hopeless the breakdown, it would be appreciated by the editors as good copy.
Some two years ago, a group of the 1968 Trans-Continental tourists met with the Tour Director, Millard Newman, and asked him to run a 1972 tour. It was decided that he should pick the route and that Canada to Mexico would add glamour and an international flavor. The 1968 tour was “prescribed” in that it duplicated the course of the 1908 Great Race and ran through many major cities. The 1972 route was selected for its beautiful scenery and friendly small towns. Who can ever forget the wonderful North Bay Canadians who helped fix our cars, or the hospitable warmth of Sid Strong’s Atwater, Minn., the parade and rodeo of Livingston, Montana?
Dick Hovey, our number one man, spent hours with his committee in Montreal, checking wheels, brakes and steering, to insure safety on the road. We never could figure out how Dick could drive that husky Fiat all day and then dance all night! Dick’s congenial riding mate was Dr. Harold Belf who ministered unto the sick and ailing and was successful in preventing nervous collapse, a disease closely related to the performance, or more accurately, the non-performance of a tourist’s car. Can you imagine the horror that went through the three Newcomers’ minds, while riding through the Northern Ontario boondocks in their two-seated Buick roadster, when the crankshaft broke in half? Or Whitney Snyder’s mental anguish over his clutch (until he dreamt up a solution – a viscous mixture of molydisulphide, No. 10 SAE oil and Jergens lotion)? His running mate, “factory representative” John Benz, will be remembered as the human fog horn. Actually Whitney’s troubles were all over when his wife, Jean, joined him in Minneapolis and explained how to run the Mercedes.
ernie Gill 1912 Packard, Howard Henry 1913 Packard, W. Snyder 1909 Mercedes
Ask the men who own them and you will get the reply that the two Maryland Packards, piloted by Ernie Gill and Howard Henry, completed the tour. There the similarity ends. Ernie’s old reliable 1912 Runabout hot-rodded all the way and the Henrys’ newly restored 1913 Touring sported a new electric system every few days. Althea Gill and guests, Ruth Franklin Sommerlad and Mary Browne, all took turns riding in different cards, especially with the good guy in the white hat, Jerry Durham. Jerry’s 1914 Cadillac had a few standard ailments and in Montana, Jerry was forced to change his head. (We’re glad his white hat still fitted). Had there been a trophy for the longest distance driven, Jerry certainly would have won it. He drove from the state of Washington to Montreal, covered the 3800 mile tour and was still 2,000 miles from home when he reached Tijuana!
The Grundy Group was great! There was absolutely no competition for the hard luck trophy, but just to make doubly certain, John threw a second rod in Yosemite. His “Best” day was in Minnesota, when he ground up the clutch plates in thumb sized pieces, blew the top off a valve, and broke the fan which then went through the radiator. It is impossible to describe the courage and ingenuity the Grundys used in completed the tour. John’s remark was unforgettable when asked what kind of a day he had had, and he cheerfully replied: “Best day yet – only broke down six times.” Can you picture John, Diane and the four children cutting and filing clutch plates out of the back of an old washer-drier in Roscoe, Minn. (pop. 40)?
newman, Hovey & Henry at yosemite
The “Wolseley Boys”, Tom and Jerry, provided an international flavor to the tour, Jerry Rolph and his cousin, Tom Brofeldt, from Sweden were always in the action and provided exceptional Swedish gourmet cooking along the way. They, too, had more than their share of car problems, and when the fuel pump stopped, Tom stood on the running board pouring gas into the carburetor for the last ten miles up to the checkpoint in Yellowstone.
MIllard newman’s 1911 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost
The reliable ones were the two great Model T’s. Mahlon Martin admitted to adding a quart of water on the 28th day, and Jess Brammer heroically towed the monster Lozier, when it refused to start in the near freezing temperatures of Yellowstone.
The Summers – all three generations of them, including the twins, Scott and Steve plus Lorie – managed their E.M.F. (the second oldest car) and the 1913 Overland smoothly across the continent. Karl Sr. confessed that he poured a new bearing at one point, but it was done under cover of darkness, and no one ever saw him working on the car. The early-bird, B.C. Hartline, who terms himself the “original shade tree mechanic”, blew his cheerful exhaust whistle across the country.
Mr. Steam himself, Tom Marshall, methodically plotted the route and then wrote the postmasters in towns every fifty miles apart regarding a soft water supply for his 1912 Stanley Steamer. Needing a gallon of water per mile and special pilot fuel, Tom surmounted the incredible problem of driving a steam car some 4,500 miles. Every evening as he de-steamed the car for the night, Tom put on a show which rivaled Old Faithful (in a horizontal sort of way). He was ably assisted by his guests, Jules Reiver, Jim Johnson, and the Weldin Stumpfs.
The “Basket Case” (1911 Napier) of the Bayard Sheldons was the eye-catcher. Its graceful wicker body and wooden fenders left only the hood made of metal. The Sheldon crowd, with their friends and relations coming and going, were certainly a rugged group. They had no windshield and practically no top, but survived the cold, rain, and blistering heat without a complaint. The Curt Blake 1913 Rolls purred over the roads and up the mountains in spite of being a very fresh restoration. Its pilot, Curt Blake and co-pilots Harold Davenport and Frank Cook, all combined to make the passage a success.
Howard henry’s 1913 Packard
The oldest car was a rare 1907 Grand Rapids, Michigan Austin, owned by Joel Pettingill. Joel experienced bushing problems and sported the only water-cooled rear on the trip. His 1700 score won him the top award, a Sterling silver wine cooler, donated by the Harrah Collection.
The powerful and throaty 1914 American built Fiat, driven by the Hecht group from Tom’s River, New Jersey chugged along at a fast clip and did the Fiat team proud. Jean rigged a front end showerbath that cooled the car very efficiently through the desert.
Gill, henry, and hovey at tioga pass
Of all the outstanding tour cars, Millard Newman’s 1911 Rolls-Royce has to be on the top of the heap. Because of phone calls and tour obligations, Millard and Lillian were usually the last to leave, and more often than not, early arrivers. Tour Director’s car carried Quaker State personnel, children from broken down cars, baggage, and with a patient smile, Millard would always arrange room for one more of anything. We were always amazed at Millard’s capacity for organization, his understanding of every tourist’s problems and his ability to foresee a route that included the wilderness of Northern Canada, the Great Lake panorama, the forests of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the wheat farms of the Dakotas, the Big Sky Montana country, the geysers of Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons of Wyoming, the Sun Valley scenic area, the arid deserts of Idaho and Nevada, the spectacular trip up Tioga Pass and through Yosemite, the horrible 120 degree heat of the San Joaquin Valley, free tickets to Disneyland, the lovely and cool Pacific Coast and our final day in Tijuana. What more could a Tour Director provide?
The answer to the above is a host of activities, parties and coffee breaks along the way. The first day out, the tourists stopped at the Kavanaugh farm in Van Kleek Hill, Ontario, where all the ladies received pretty gold maple leaf pins and the cars a handsome plaque, both appropriate mementos of Canada. A similar stop in Minden, Nevada with Ted Bacon as host, provided a display of rare automobiles including a 12 cylinder Haynes, a Liberty, and a World War I staff car, as well as coffee and doughnuts. Chambers of Commerce in the “Soo”, Michigan, Aberdeen, South Dakota, Columbus, Montana, Livingstone, Montana, Ketcham, Idaho and Fresno, California gave us free coffee and doughnuts in various surroundings, ranging from hotels to gas stations to local parks.
Any readers who may have had friends on the tour, have surely heard about the days in Minnesota. A tour of the Minneapolis Lake District, topped off by an old-fashioned “ice cream social”, was hosted by the Minneapolis Region and the Central Chapter of AACA. The following day, the cars congregated in Sidney Strong’s hometown of Atwater, Minnesota (pop. 900). What a reception! A letter awaited each driver at the local postoffice (thoughtfully posted with commemorative stamps) and contained coupons for all sorts of useful items donated by the local merchants. The Girl Scouts in Willmar, Minnesota treated us to homemade sandwiches for lunch, and the City of Benson, a few miles further west, provided a huge cake and lemonade for dessert.
Ken and Louise Pearson celebrated their 31st wedding anniversary in Aberdeen, South Dakota and hosted a gay restoration hour. The “Wolseley Boys” gave a party in Reno for the whole group, complete with Tom and Jerry cocktails (there was a 5¢ penalty for any other drink) and Swedish meatballs, Whitney Snyder’s “39th” birthday party, with cake and cocktails and coke and dancing, was enjoyed by all in Fresno, California. Numerous room parties were held along the way, so there was no lack of social activities.
The 1972 tour had an innovation in that a weekly “rag” was written and published by co-editors Lillian Newman and Judy Henry. It didn’t matter what happened to the people or the cars, it always seemed to get into the print. The newspaper was aptly named “The Searing Wheel” and the final edition appears at the end of this article.
It is difficult to find words to describe the feelings of the tourists at the Awards Banquet in San Diego. Nobody really wanted to see the tour end. The days of cooperation, exchanging of parts, and camaraderie were memories cherished by all. Millard thanked Quaker State for their enormous generosity in providing the quantity and quality of the oils and grease that the cars required. The cars, in his words “had undergone the hardest punishment any antique cars had ever experienced. In a recent sports car rally, a group of new sports car enthusiasts had lost six of their number driving through Yosemite.” He pointed out that this tour had demonstrated to all car collectors that the brass era automobiles are reliable and roadworthy.
Judy Henry, preferring actions to words, presented Millard with a big kiss, which translated meant an enormous “thank-you” from all. Then Louise Pearson, with appropriate comments, gave Millard his real gift, a silver picture frame containing the signatures of all the participants of the tour.
The awards were handed out by our technical chairman, Dick Hovey, and the award section looked like the silver department of Tiffany’s jewelry store. Millard had arranged for trophies for every participant. All were beautiful and useful. As he received his trophy, each tourist had a few words to say. Several praised the well-behaved children, who added so much to the trip. There was more than one request for our “Leader” to plan a future tour (he was non-commital), and all agreed that this was the best tour ever.
Group Photo of tour PARTICIPANTS at Yellowstone National Park
These old articles are just fantastic and we’d love to know more about the 1972 Trans-Con from Montreal to Tijuana. If you have any stories, photographs or know the model numbers of the vehicles pictured, be sure to leave a comment below.