Barnesville will have a unique opportunity for those who like antique cars — 100 of them will be driven to Barnesville for lunch on Saturday, May 19. The occasion is the 17th annual Social Security Run sponsored by the Horseless Carriage Club of Atlanta, according to George Bugg of Athens. Bugg, who drives a 1931 Model A Ford, is a native of Barnesville who attended Gordon High and Gordon Military in the 1950s. He says most of the cars will be Model A or Model T Fords but occasionally other rarely seen vehicles will show up on the runs. Bugg said Ford Motor Company made five million of the 20-horsepower Model Ts between 1909-27. The company made 15 million Model As with 40 horsepower from 1928 to 1931. No car in the run can be ‘younger’ than 1942. The run starts in Athens, goes to LaGrange and then to Barnesville. The old roadsters generally go touring out for about 200 miles from a starting point, said Bugg. Each has been professionally restored to working order and can travel more than 45 miles per hour but they never use interstate highways. ’We take the back roads — lots of good scenery for us and a lot safer,’ Bugg said. The name of the event implies there are many senior citizens who own and drive the cars, but young people, ‘men, women and children,’ will be among the participants. At two or more people per car, he noted, there will be more than 200 diners on May 19 at the Garden Patch. Most will come from the southeastern states. ‘We’ll be in Barnesville about noonish,’ said Bugg. ’Come out and see the cars — you don’t very often see that many old cars in running order in one place at one time.’
Be First to Comment