IT won’t get a message from the Queen, but Mike Povey will celebrate the 100th birthday of his Ford vintage car this year.
The Ancrum enthusiast owns one of the oldest working Model Ts in Scotland, and claims it can still take him 500 miles in a week.
Mike said: “It came from Alabama where it was in a museum and came across to this country in the early 1990s.
“I bought it in 1994 and since then I have had it up and down the whole country.”
The Model T – nicknamed Tin Lizzie – was made by Henry Ford’s company from 1908 to 1927.
It was voted the most influential car of the 20th century and there are 1,500 in the UK still roadworthy, according to Mike, a member of the Model T Register of Great Britain.
He went on: “It was the biggest-selling car in its day with 15.5million sold. Around half the number of cars on the road back then were Model Ts.
“It has a 2.9 litre engine and its power-to-weight ratio is excellent which made it such a success.
“It is very reliable because Henry Ford believed in using the highest quality steel, which means you do not need as much. The chassis is light but still strong and flexible.
“And it can deal with rough terrain as most of the roads were in poor condition.”
Mike’s love of the American motor is long standing. He drove one from John O’Groats to Land’s End in 1984 for charity and was part of a group who carried parts of the vehicle to the top of Ben Nevis to commemorate 100 years since Henry Alexander drove up Scotland’s highest peak in a Model T.
Mike still gets plenty of attention for his treasured car.
“I was at Glamis Castle for a vintage rally and I spoke to an Australian and his wife who were very interested in the Model T,” said Mike.
“He was so enthusiastic that I took them for a run in the car and when we got back it turned out he was a well-known cartoonist.
“When he got home he sent me across a cartoon he had drawn of me and him in the Model T at Glamis Castle, which was great.”