Enjoying the Driftless in Century-Old ‘A’

ROOT RIVER VALLEY—Had you been in the right place as the right time on this crisp September morning, you would have spied some 25 Model A Ford vehicles, their drivers and guests parading through the Root River Valley. 

Owners of these Model A Fords work hard to keep their cars in tip-top, polished condition. (Photo by Nancy North)

Members of the Central Iowa Model A Ford Club wheeled into extreme southeastern Minnesota as part of their 2025 Great Annual Model A Ride Around Iowa (GAMARAI).

This year’s five-day trek into Northeast Iowa, Southeast Minnesota and Southwest Wisconsin, was the club’s 29th running of the event.

“This year’s tour takes us to the rugged northeast part of the state, known as the Driftless Area,” according to the club’s website, “a unique section of the [Upper Midwest] continuously missed by glacial ice leaving the dramatic landscape we now know as Driftless.” 

Model A Fords shimmer in the morning sunshine on this September day at the Fillmore County History Center in Fountain. (Photo by John Gaddo)

In part, it is the area’s Driftless landscape – the valley, rivers and blufflands – that made this a very scenic drive for the club; but also attractive are the communities, the immigrant culture and, in at least one remarkable instance, the special historic connection Model A Ford’s have with Southeast Minnesota. 

Fillmore County – Cherry Grove, specifically – was home to Bernard Pietenpol, the inventor of the Pietenpol Air Camper. Pietenpol is often acknowledged as the “Grandfather of the Experimental Aircraft” – his earliest planes, built nearly a century ago, were mostly powered by Model A automobile engines. 

The Fillmore County History Center, in Fountain, has a rather extensive Pietenpol exhibition displaying drawings, equipment and tools, and is home to two Pietenpol-designed planes, including a 1932 Model “T” Sky Scout built by Pietenpol himself.

Clearly, this was a ‘must-do’ stop for these Model A enthusiasts!

Visitors check out the 1932 Model “T” Sky Scout built by Bernard Pietenpol on display at the Fillmore County History Center. A Model A engine provides the thrust to propel the plane. (Photo by John Gaddo)

Just a few of the 25 vehicles on a 2025 Great Annual Model A Ride traveling the Historic Bluff Country National Scenic Byway (Hwy 16) toward Lanesboro and Rushford; see video below. (Photo by Joe Goetzke, Lanesboro Area Chamber of Commerce)

Read more about the exhibit and watch video of the touring Model A vehicles, below.

From Fountain, the tour traveled through Lanesboro, along the Root River to Rushford, south through Mabel, and finally to Harmony, before heading back to Decorah where members spent several nights at the Hotel Winneshiek. 

To learn more about the club, visit the Central Iowa Model A Ford Club website; for more about its 2025 tour, check out the GAMARAI XXIX website.