At the 2024 Hot July Nights, no vehicle came from further away than the 1929 Ford Model As belonging to Fabiano Remor and Cristian De La Porte.
The two men, along with Remor's wife Miriam Amoretti, were on their way to Alaska when they found out about the car show by chance during a stop in Clinton. De La Porte originally set out from San Miguel de Tucumán Argentina in 2019 while Remor began his travels in his home of Curitiba, Brazil in 2020. Both are avid collectors of vintage cars and were excited to visit the show.
"We said 'perhaps we are going to arrive late' but we are coming from Argentina and Brazil and we have the opportunity to be there," De La Porte said. "These cars give everybody a lot of happiness. They love them and for us, we're very happy to see everybody laughing (and welcoming us)."
De La Porte, who is a hotelier in Argentina, loves the Ford Model A series. Back home in Argentina, he owns several vintage Fords including a Model T 1924, a Model A 1928, a Model A 1929, a Model A 1930, a Model A 1931, a Model A 1939 and a 1914 Model T. The first Ford he ever got was another 1929 Ford Model A, that originally belonged to his older sister, which he has been driving since he was 16.
When he first started his trip back in 2019 De La Porte set out with his own wife Mirta Sanna travelling through Ecuador, Colombia, across the Panam Canal and up to Cancun, Mexico for the Rally Maya México. Over the course of five days, they travelled 1,200 kilometres and came in first for their age category.
They resumed their travel in January of 2020 and made it as far as Daytona Beach, where his son lives. Their trip was brought to a halt, however, as La Porte's mother passed away and the COVID-19 Pandemic brought the world to a standstill.
"I started a new part of the trip this September from Daytona to Washington, Philadelphia, New York, Niagra Falls, Chicago, Detroit and Route 66 to Los Angeles," De La Porte said.
Remor and Amoretti, meanwhile, own and manage a restaurant in Curitiba and are currently on a one-year sabbatical. They have been driving through South America and Central America for the last few years since 2020, passing through 14 countries. They share a love for old things, with Remor learning mechanics to be able to fix their vintage cars.
Remor and De La Porte first met at a car show in Cordoba, Argentina six years ago and bonded over their mutual love for Model As.
"Our cars are like our sons, so they have names. My car's name is La Aventura, the Adventure. Fabiano's car is named Valente, Brave," De La Porte said.
In the fall of 2023 De La Porte went to Remor's son, a mechanic based in Los Angeles, to fix up his vehicle. He and Remor discussed their mutual dream to drive up in their Model As to Alaska and agreed to make the trip together this summer.
The two set out earlier this month from LA on July 12 and have spent the last few days driving up the Pacific coast and enjoying the beauty of North America. Remor remarked it's a long trip so they have a lot of good moments along the way.
"Every morning we drink coffee at seven o'clock and we begin the travel. Normally we don't stop for anything because we need a lot of time in the car," De La Porte said. "Their top speed is 75 kilometres. In the afternoon we look for a hotel, we have lunch and we repair some things."
When asked was the most challenging and enjoyable aspects of the trip have been, Remor and De La Porte shared a laugh as they described patching their tires on the side of the road. Already De La Porte has had to patch the inner tube of his tires eight times, finding the break and sealing them each time.
"It's very hard in the sun but sometimes it's funny. We laugh and we laugh because you can laugh or you can cry," De La Porte chuckled, recalling how the day before they came to 100 Mile House they had to patch one tire four times.
When asked what inspired them to make the trip to Alaska, De La Porte explained it's to prove that you can do things with your vintage cars. They think that travel is an important thing for people to do whether it's by foot, vintage car or bicycle.
"We can travel with a motorcycle, by plane, by bus, by anything. The world is beautiful, its wonderful. It doesn't finish at Canada, it doesn't finish at the United States or Brazil and Argentina," De La Porte said. "There's a lot of places to know in the world and it's very important to know them and how the people (who live there) are."
