Montana 500 brings Model Ts through Havre

Car enthusiasts had a chance for a thrill Tuesday at Havre's Subway, when the drivers of 16 Model T's stopped for lunch during their trip in the 2023 Montana 500.

The event takes minimally modified Model T's on a 500-mile race on Montana's roads.

Dan Lukowski of Kansas City, Missouri, said he ran his 1926 Model T Roadster, which he calls The Rattle Can, when he first bought it in 2013. He hadn't run it since, but thought he would on the 10th anniversary, for the special decade celebration of owning the car.

The other drivers on the roster list come from all over the United States, including Illinois, California, Washington, New Mexico, Kansas and Iowa as well as Montana.

The event started Sunday in Fort Benton at the Grand Union Hotel, the starting hub for this year's Montana 500, with an inspection of the cars.

Lukowski said "flaggers" keep track of the times for each racer, with the winners getting a trophy and bragging rights.

A page on The Montana 500 Endurance Run website said the event was officially started in 1961 to give Model T owners a chance to get together and share their interest in Model T's.

"This is a timed event, perhaps unique in the world, as Montana is one of the last places to allow timed events on (its) public roads," the page said. "The Model T's in this event must be stock, except they can have aluminum pistons, reground cams and the heads and blocks may be milled."

The page said that the first run started in Missoula and traveled all the way to the North Dakota border, more than 500 miles. The run proved very popular and soon had drivers from many states and Canada, including: Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Idaho, Missouri, Washington, South Dakota, Wyoming, Iowa, Ohio, North Dakota, Kentucky, California, Colorado and Alberta. Many times, over 30 cars have participated.

The first and second days are approximately 200-mile days and the third day is around 100 miles. Pit stops are made every 50 miles or so to gas up, get coffee, or eat lunch. The cars are flagged out at one-minute intervals and are soon jockeying for position. The cars are then flagged in at each pit stop and are timed out by order of arrival.

On the second day, cars are timed out in the reverse order of the First day's finish. The slowest car leaves First and the fastest car leaves last. This gives the faster car the handicap of having to pass the slower cars.

The third day the cars are timed out by their order of finish on the previous two days. Fastest cars are first and the slowest cars are last.