Thank you America!
Those were the words of a group of 10 Germans driving Model T’s across of the United States when they made an overnight stop in Kalona Friday evening, June 17.
The group stopped at the Kalona Coffee House for coffee and ice tea around 4 p.m. to plan their next segment of travel. After enjoying their drinks at the coffee shop, they decided to spend the night at Dutch County Inn before embarking on there next stop in Central Iowa with a goal of stopping in Lincoln, NE to visit the Speed Museum on Sunday.
The group are all members of the Alpen Chapter Model T Club of Bavaria and Austria. All live in southern Germany, according to Reiner Wilhelm.
“We purchased 5 Model T’s in Milford, PA,” Wilhelm said. “We started our trek across American in New York City with a goal of San Francisco.” The group is averaging 155 to 232 miles a day driving at 30 mph.
Asked about their impression of America, Wilhelm said, “The trees are terrible. There just aren’t very many of them along the roadways, especially in the Midwest.”
“The people are very friendly,” he said, “We want to Thank America for making possible for us to make this trip in a Model T’s,” he added.
Each member of the club have a couple to as many as 9 Model T’s, according to Wilhelm.

“When we finish our trip in San Francisco we are going to ship the Model T’s we bough here home,” Wilhelm said. “By then they will be part of the family.”
Other stops along the way include Mount Rushmore in South Dakota and Lake Tahoe in California/Nevada.