Excitement builds for ‘Ben Bronze’
EXPERTS from an Edinburgh foundry were in Fort William last week to inspect the site for the town’s new life-size bronze replica of a legendary Model T Ford car driven up Ben Nevis in 1911.
The team from Powderhall Bronze lifted several of the flagstones in Cameron Square to check that the concrete base underneath is of sufficient depth to take the special supports that the three-ton bronze car will rest on when it is installed in just over week.
The unveiling of ‘the Ben Bronze’ on May 19 will take place 107 years after Henry Alexander set off from Cameron Square to drive his own Model T Ford to the summit of Britain’s highest peak.
Powderhall Bronze is casting the bronze car, which is an exact replica of the Model T carried up Ben Nevis in sections in 2011 to mark the 100th anniversary of the original ascent.
The bronze figure of Henry Alexander will be sitting in the driving seat and the statue will be completed by bronze footprints and tyre tracks to the rear of the car, along with the names of all the people who have helped gather money for the project.
And this month’s unveiling will be marked by a grand parade of more than 50 Model T cars along Fort William High Street.
A total of £89,000 has been raised by local group, the Ben Nevis Model T Ford Committee, over the past four years to fund the project.
One possible hurdle – acquiring permission from Ford to use its iconic logo on the bronze Model T – was overcome thanks to the involvement in the project of Ayrshire-born international designer Mark Stoddart.
Mr Stoddart has been acquainted with Scottish motor racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart for a number of years due to their mutual involvement with Dyslexia Scotland.
As a result, it was Sir Jackie who was able to use his connections with the Ford company stretching back more than 40 years to obtain permission from Ford USA, along with help from the chief executive of Ford Europe and William Clay Ford Jr, to be able to use the famous Ford badge. ‘Hopefully, this will be a visitor attraction for not just Fort William, but the Highlands generally, for generations to come,’ Mr Stoddart told us while in Fort William last week.
And committee chairman Chris Robinson said it is fantastic to be so close now to seeing the artwork finally installed, adding: ‘It has been a lot of effort by a lot of people over the past few years, so it will be great to see it finally installed here in Fort William.’