Frank Meredith’s Model T Ford and Model A Ford will be on display at the Elmwood Park Home Tour and Centennial April 9.

Heads turn wherever Frank Meredith drives or parks his vintage Fords.

He and other antique car owners will display their collectibles on Chester Street, between Lincoln and Park streets, Saturday during Elmwood Park’s centennial celebration and home tour.

Meredith has restored both a Model T Ford, produced from 1909 to 1927, and a Model A Ford, manufactured between 1928 and 1931. The retired attorney poured his own sweat equity in both restorations, working primarily in his Lake Katherine garage.

He took both projects as far as he could, then outsourced specialty work such as chroming, engine rebuildling, and painting.

“Although the T is black, just like Ford made them, it’s just an old wives’ tale that they were all black.” One look at his Model A, gleaming in its originally–specified colors, niagra blue dark, niagra blue light, and dutchess blue, attest to what Meredith means when he repeats the quote attributed to Ford: “You can order your Ford in any color you want, but we’ll produce it in black.”

Getting the cars back to the way Ford intended them has been a decade–long challenge in which Meredith has delighted. He described his first vintage car as a “bucket of rust,” discovered in a Hopkins garage more than 10 years ago. He bought it from the estate of the original owner, had it moved to Shady Lane, and the odyssey began.

“I have an engineering background, so I could do a good bit of the work myself,” he said. Driving the icon that starts with a hand throttle, has a stick shift, and a middle pedal for reverse comes easily for an Iowa farm boy like Meredith.

There is no driver’s side door on the Model T and the emergency brake comes out of the floor board, so the only entrance is from the shotgun side. When raised, the convertible top of the black car is higher than the entrance into Meredith’s garage, so it stays down most of the time.

As an active member in area vintage car clubs, Meredith has ample opportunities to drive his vintage cars to sanctioned and spontaneously– planned events. He is a member of the Model T Ford Club of America, Antique Auto Club of America, the Model A Club of American, and the Model A Restorers Club that awards the MARC of Excellence during “Oscar”–type events.

Meredith, along with other drivers, displayed vehicles at last fall’s Pig on the Ridge in Ridgeway, and in March had a rally at Saluda Shoals Park.

While some owners trailer their vehicles to the gathering areas, Meredith drives the distance, putting an average of 10,000 miles a year on his Model A. Driving down to Elmwood Park will be a breeze.