Driving a Model A

The Lobsters and Lighthouses Tour begins in under just three weeks. I'm eager to get on the road and although the distance I'll drive isn't terribly long, maybe 450 miles from home in Ithaca, NY, in 1977 I would have had to be drugged and dragged into a Model A to drive 1% that distance. I bought my first "A" in 1977, a Special Coupe, and I wasn't a car guy and the car was in pieces. I bought it from my Model A Guy father who had two A's simply to build a relationship with him. I learned what the parts were by asking dad but also by looking in a Snyder's and a Rick's catalog. By 1982 I had the car running and on the road, but every drive made my knuckles white, made my anxiety high, and made my fear of either crashing or stalling a mile from home almost unbearable. I never felt comfortable driving the Special. Fast forward to 2004 when I restored the Special and then to 2015 with two more As in the garage including Henrietta and many driven miles behind me (99.999999% trouble free). I wonder how many other Model A owners like me were afraid to drive their As to the corner convenience store (in '82 I'd leave the Special running while I went inside to get a Sunday paper, feared if it stalled I'd be stranded and die) during their newbie years.
Practice makes repetition and fear disappears when you face it. I'm eager to drive to Maine to see the beautiful sights and activities Maine has to offer and have no worries about Henrietta. I want to drive the Molly Stark Highway (VT route 9) and the Franklin Pierce Highway (NH route 9) to Kennebunkport in the old '31 and feel only excitement about the adventure. By golly I'm going to do that.
Below are a couple photos of the Special. The young guys are my two sons, Kevin and Scott, and my father. They didn't know how anxious I was!

c1977

1982