Adamsville resident John O'Keefe, who joined members of the Space City T's club during their visit to the Hostess House, displays the Model T he purchased from Henry Langford and restored. The car features several 1926 Model T pickup parts on a 1923 Touring frame. At 40 miles per hour or less, the drive from Killeen took awhile. Space City T's members savored every minute of the trek to Lampasas, though, as they celebrated America's first mainstream automobile.

About 150 Ford Model T enthusiasts, representing six states, recently drove to the Hostess House as part of the 31st annual Texas T Party, a car tour organized by the Space City T's, the Houston chapter of the Model T Ford Club of America.

The Model T chapter held its annual four-day celebration in Killeen this year and drove to various communities within a 50- mile radius to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Model T's release. Henry Ford, who introduced the Model T in 1908, adapted the assembly line process to car manufacturing and made Model T's affordable for middleclass Americans by dropping the price of a basic car to $260.

PHOTOS BY DAVID LOWE Pete and Audi Reinthaler, clad in early-1900s garb, chat with Don Adcock as he sits in his 1912 Ford Model T Touring car during a recent stop at the Hostess House by the Space City T's group. The Reinthalers, residents of Washington state, joined about 150 participants representing six states in the 31st annual Texas T Party tour, which commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Model T's release in 1908. "It's obviously known as the car that put Americans on the road," Texas T Party chairman Dennis Irvine said.

Before museum and courthouse tours and a winery trip, T Party participants stopped in Kempner and then visited Regal Nursing & Rehabilitation and Hanna Springs Intermediate School.

"We do like to show the cars off," Irvine said.

Stops along the group's 105- mile route in the Lampasas area gave older spectators a chance to reminisce about driving in Model T's and exposed students to vehicles many never have seen, Irvine said.

"We also like to introduce the young people to these cars," he said. "Any organization is concerned about bringing in young people to replace those older ones at the top."

Pete Reinthaler, who has riden in all 31 Texas T Party gatherings, displays a ribbon full of attendance pins. Driving at an average speed of 30 mph -- Model T's usually cannot exceed 40 mph even when going downhill -- T Party participants Pete and Audi Reinthaler of Leavenworth, Wash., enjoyed the scenery and warm weather.

"They're just so much fun to ride in, because you sit so much higher," Mrs. Reinthaler said.

Her husband bought his first Model T, a 1924 Touring model, at the age of 12 and kept the vehicle for 18 years. Reinthaler learned to crank the car by hand, because in 1924 a starter -- which cost $75, compared with a total price of $290 for a basic Model T -- was considered an "accessory."

While many Model T features, including wooden wheels and gas tanks under the front seat in pre- 1926 models, evoke nostalgia, the cars' designs also caused some mechanical problems for drivers when the Texas T Party began in 1978. Although the Space City T's now allow as many as 100 cars per tour, the group initially capped entries at 75 because at least one vehicle broke down about every five miles, Reinthaler said.

"Seventy-five cars is all I can fix in one weekend," said Reinthaler, who has driven in all 31 Texas T Party gatherings.

Benbrook resident Russell Grunewald, president of the Model T Ford Club of America, drove to Lampasas in his 1926 Touring car. A cooker box that clamps down over the exhaust manifold reminded the Model T enthusiast of decades past, before the advent of fast-food restaurants, when motorists often heated their own food after a day's drive.

"These are so much more fun to drive -- not practical, but fun," Grunewald said.

John O'Keefe joined Houston club members at their lunchtime gathering at the Hostess House, driving from his home near Adamsville in a Model T he purchased from Henry Langford and then restored.

"[Langford] had to take a chainsaw to get it out," O'Keefe said of the car, which Langford believed had been sitting in the brush behind his barn for about 50 years.

O'Keefe faced broken valves and a rusted engine and flywheel on the Model T, which contained some 1926 pickup parts on a 1923 Touring frame. Before title and license requirements, vehicles often sported an eclectic assortment of parts from different years, he said.

"It was not unusual to have a car registered as a '23 that was really a '26," said O'Keefe.

O'Keefe and his brother drove the restored car when his brother visited from Iowa. The time together evoked memories of childhood hunting and fishing trips, when the boys traveled in Model T's, O'Keefe said.

The Adamsville resident is not finished his work either, as he plans to replace the fiberglass rear fenders with steel to match the front.

Classic car enthusiasts' restoration efforts -- and time spent on the road displaying their work -- reflect a desire to preserve the Model T heritage, Irvine said.

"We all kind of feel like a museum curator trying to keep the car alive and introduce it to the public," he said. "And of course, we love the heck out of them."