NEW LONDON, Minn. — We live in turbo-charged, 0-to-60, mile-a-minute times.
But if speed is the need you feed, a parking lot in New London, Minnesota is the wrong place to visit.
“Safe travels,” New London Mayor John Dahl shouts to a driver who putters off, leaving Dahl in a thick, gray cloud of exhaust.
This is not someone's slow-motion notion of a mosquito-control device, but the start of the anti-Indy 500: the New London to New Brighton Antique Car Run.
In all, 40 antique cars and their drivers get their sendoffs from the mayor.
Among them, is Todd Asche of Spicer.
“A lot of people ask me what it's like to do the run and I kinda tell them it's like getting on your lawnmower and going 25 miles an hour all the way to Minneapolis and hoping you get there,” says Asche, the proud owner of a 1910 Maxwell.
Some vehicles struggle to exceed 30 miles per hour.
“You are in a 1904 Ford Model A,” Tim Wiggins says from the driver’s seat of his 119-year-old ride.
His 10 horsepower Ford is among the pack of horseless carriages traversing the rural roads east of New London.
“Hang on,” Tim tells KARE photographer Mitchell Yehl who does all he can to remain in the open car as it rounds a tight corner.
Most of the vehicles in the run were built before 1909.
Exceptions are made for cars powered by one-cylinder or two-cylinder engines, but only those built before 1916.
“It's kind of cool to see something 112 years old cruising down the road,” says Rickey Diffley, seated in a lawn chair near the road, waving to drivers with his dad and brother as antique cars drive past.
The 120-plus mile jaunt through the Minnesota countryside was inspired by a 127-year-old car run from London to Brighton, England.
Seizing on the conveniently similar names 37 years ago, a group of American antique car enthusiasts started their own antique car run from New London to New Brighton.
After sending off the drivers, Mayor Dahl hops into the passenger seat of Bruce Van Sloun’s 1907 Ford.
“It's been really nice hovering around 27, 30, miles an hour this whole way,” Dahl says.
Van Sloun, who serves as the event's president, says he likes the feeling of driving a part of American history, especially given the distance. “Back in the day, that would have been a very, very special deal to have gone 125 miles.”
Turns out, for good reason.
“We ran out of gas,” Julie Denton says as she stands roadside next to an idled 1907 Ford Model K.
Easy to do, when the gas gauge is a stick.
Maintenance stops are essential. Belts are tightened and spark plugs adjusted. Driving tens of thousands of miles between tune-ups was unthinkable in the first decade of the 20th century.
“We're just getting the pilot lit here,” a driver says as grabs a torch and climbs beneath his car.
If you're getting the feeling that driving cars built before WWI can be a pain in the dash, their drivers will tell you: You’re getting it wrong.
“We're sitting up high like on an old horse-drawn carriage, there's no windshield, wind in our face, and you're going slow enough that you can enjoy the scenery,” Tim Wiggins says.
Slow, yes, but the run is proof you needn’t come in first to win the day.
As the drivers reach their New Brighton destination, scores of cheering people line the roadway to extend a welcome.
Children wave checkered flags, not just for the winner, but anyone who finishes.
“This is the highlight, getting across the finish line is the goal,” Van Sloan says.
So, not exactly a dash to the finish.
More of a walk back in time.
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