MODEL T RACE A BIT OF LIVING HISTORY
Throwback event promises high-speed thrills and fun for the whole family
Time marches on, but hotrod and vintage auto enthusiast Matt Hotte and friends are determined to shift the clock into reverse.
In a small town just northeast of Edmonton, Hotte’s group is rolling back the calendar to the last Lions Club Model T Race, held in Edmonton in 1951.
As though the event continued in 1952, Hotte and his wife Cassie, together with Pat and Carlene McTague, Bill Graham, Bob Pilkie, Jim Koladich and Ray Fowler, are hosting the Model T Ford Races on Saturday at the Bruderheim Ag Grounds. The group is promising “high-speed thrills and fun for the whole family.”
“We want this to be as period correct as possible,” says the 28-year old Hotte. “There seems to be an interest in nostalgia racing, with all kinds of different events happening across North America.”
Hotte mentioned specifically The Race of Gentlemen, an event that started in 2012. The organizers bill the race as a living history event, with old cars and motorcycles drag racing on the beach in Wildwood, N.J. Hotte’s Model T Ford races in Bruderheim are nowhere near the New Jersey shore, but he’s planning on bringing renewed racing excitement to the Alberta prairie.
“We all got tired of static car shows,” Hotte explains. “What got us into cars in the first place was seeing them, and then hearing them. It’s really fun to see them do what they were made to do — and that’s move.”
Hotte is passionate about Canada’s automotive and motorcycle history. He was aware of old-time dirt racing events that occurred on tracks across Canada, and was excited last year when southern Alberta Model T enthusiasts set out to re-create some vintage action. Known as the Alberta Fairground T Racers, the group hosted its inaugural time trials and demonstration races in 2016 at the High River Agricultural Society Race Track. The event was well received.
“The first time I heard about what they were doing, I wanted to find a Model T to race,” Hotte says. “I also knew those guys were looking for a place up north to race their own cars. I’ve heard that many of them are planning on attending our event in Bruderheim.”
Hotte is a trained panel beater and repairs damaged vintage automotive sheet metal, bringing body panels back in line using a variety of different tools. He is currently setting up an automotive restoration shop in a 6,000 sq. ft. garage built in the 1930s on Main Street in Bruderheim.
“The building, with its cool old trusses and front showroom, had been pretty much unused for 25 years and it’s been a big job bringing it back to life,” he says.
The doors aren’t quite ready to open, but when they are, Hotte will have his metal working equipment in back and a museum up front. He’s spent plenty of time visiting with old racers and car enthusiasts, gathering their stories and in many cases, photos and other memorabilia.
“For a long time, I’ve been avidly interested in Alberta’s motorsports history, including drag racing. I always enjoy meeting the old-timers,” Hotte says.
“At first, I was heavily into V-8 hotrods and stuff from the 1950s, but now it’s prewar hotrods and Model Ts.”
That’s how Hotte came to build his own racing Model T. It’s a homage to the No. 25 car raced by J.A. (Duke) Foster of Edmonton and is based on Model T parts and pieces collected from different sources. The chassis is from 1918, the engine from 1923 and the wheels from a 1926 Model T.
“It’s all Model T and it looks like it was just dragged out of a barn,” Hotte says. “We used all old techniques to build it, including gas welding and brazing (instead of MIG and TIG welding).”
While Model T racing is the main event on Saturday, Hotte wants to see as many old vehicles as possible, including motorcycles and trucks, at the track. Vendors will be on site, and rough camping spots are available. Gates open at 10 a.m., admission is $15 (cash only). Time trials begin at 11:30 a.m., with racing to follow.
“We’re pulling together as much old-time automotive stuff as we can muster,” Hotte says. “We just want people to have a good time at the races.”