'The car caught on fire': Sask. man takes uncle on epic road trip in a 1930s Ford

A man from Unity, Sask. is wrapping up the trip of a lifetime after taking a nearly century-old car across four U.S. states with his uncle.

After nearly losing his uncle to cancer, and having close calls himself, Kelly McLellan decided it was time for an adventure.

As car buffs often do, McLellan was browsing the online marketplace when he found a 1930 Ford Model A for sale. That was the start of an epic adventure.

“We bought it in Des Moines, Iowa about four months ago, sight unseen,” said McLellan. “It was a Facebook deal, we sent a bunch of money through the mail and hoped we got a car in the end.”

McLellan travelled to Iowa where he would pick up the car and meet his uncle Phil in Nebraska.

Together they cruised back to Unity, stopping to see the sights along the way. But getting the car running was an adventure in itself.

 “The car caught on fire the first 5 minutes we’d seen it,” McLellan told CTV News. “We spent about 5 hours cleaning rust and junk, about two pounds worth, out of the gas tank.”

Once it was running safely, keeping the 93-year old machine running was an adventure in itself.

“We welded the fender with a rusty fly swatter in the middle of some hick town in North Dakota,” he said. “The people were incredible, and we still got the fly swatter.”

With no shortage of onlookers as they made the six-day trip, the pair made their way through the U.S. heartland.

From Iowa to Nebraska, South and North Dakota, then it was across the border and up through Saskatchewan.

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“You couldn’t stop anywhere without people coming over to admire the car and talk to you,” said Phil Michalowski, McLellan’s uncle and the co-pilot of the adventure. “They’d honk at you, take videos on the road, it was fantastic.”

Michalowski, who lives in British Columbia, says all the sights were memorable, but he enjoyed South Dakota most.

“Probably Deadwood, the Needles Highway, that was the most fantastic,” he said.

McLellan says his favourite was the Iron Mountain Road.

“Three-hundred-fourteen curves in 17 miles,” said McLellan. “Three pigtails, 14 switchbacks, three one-way tunnels and four presidents.”

But after six long days in the summer heat with no air conditioning, the pair say the car will sit and rest for a while before bringing it back out on the roads.

“We’d like to do a couple of car shows, but I really don’t want to drive it for a few days,” McLellan said. “I really don’t want to see it for a few days. It’s a beautiful car, I love it, I’ve always wanted a two-door sedan but I’m sick of riding in a Model A for a few days.”

Despite the highs and lows, quick fixes and sights, the two say it was worth it for the adventure.

 “Every mile’s a memory, that’s all you can say,” said McLellan. “It’s been a wonderful memory.”

“There’s trips, and there’s trips with Kelly,” said Michalowski. “He makes them pretty interesting.”