A Birthday Road Trip for a 100-Year-Old Car
- Abigail Muniz-Garcia
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
(This article was written by Abigail Muniz Garcia and was featured in the April 2026 issue of Explore Harlingen Magazine.)
Moses Mendoza carefully unfolds his Texas map and lays it out on his desk in his garage. A route, highlighted in yellow, indicates the state-long journey he is about to embark on. Green circles drawn along the route show the possible rest stops Mendoza has planned out. His journey will take him from Texhoma, Texas, a twin city divided by the Oklahoma-Texas state line, to the Brownsville & Matamoros International Bridge. The plan for such a journey began to take shape about seven months ago, when Mendoza started planning a birthday celebration with his family. Only this celebration wasn’t going to be for a person but for a car. A car that is turning 100 years old this year: Mendoza’s 1926 Ford Model T.
“It’s a ragtop, the only convertible I’ve owned in my life. Most of the time I keep it up. It came into our life around 2010,” Mendoza, who is a car collector, said. “The reason I’m doing this… it’s 100 years old this year. I want to prove that the car can mechanically still go on long drives.”
Mendoza’s love for cars began many years ago. He says his passion began “a good 25 years ago or longer” as he started attending car shows and hanging around with “good people” in the Rio Grande Valley (the “Valley”). He also still owns the first vehicle he bought with his wife, Claudia, in 1978 – a black 1954 Chevrolet Bel Air that he later restored and modernized. He owns a few others, and it is apparent that the retired educator and veteran has a deep appreciation for antique vehicles and the process of restoring and bringing them back to life. He’s involved with the Antique Automobile Club of America Rio Grande Valley Chapter and bought the Model T from one of the members.
The sleek, black, four-cylinder, which seats two, has a long journey ahead. Mendoza will begin the drive from Texhoma on Monday, April 6, having first driven from Harlingen to Texhoma in his Dodge Ram, which will pull an enclosed trailer with the Model T in it. The trailer will be a travel mechanic’s garage. He plans on covering about 220 miles a day, roughly five to six hours a day. The Model T will travel at about 38 miles an hour through country roads. By Friday afternoon, April 10, Mendoza hopes to be “somewhere in the Valley.”
“I will be, according to my map,” Mendoza says with confidence.
Saturday morning, April 11, he will travel the last leg of the journey to the bridge before returning home for a celebration in honor of the feat the centenarian (car) undertook.
He has planned for the trip by making sure he has extra tires, tubes, water hoses, and will carry extra fuel since the Model T holds 10 gallons, among other preparations.
“I am not a mechanic. I’ve just learned by putting my hands on that engine,” Mendoza said of the time he worked on the Model T when he first bought it. “I’m looking at all kinds of angles just using my experience of going on different car tours.”
Mendoza has previously driven the Model T 600 miles in five days. That was two years ago. Since then, he has learned from vehicle breakdowns it has had and arranged to have equipment on hand that he may need for repairs.
“And also, (I’ve) prepared myself mentally,” he said.
Bad weather is something that they may experience, but he says they are ready, come what may.
“I have a windshield wiper, one – and it goes as fast as my wife can turn the handle,” he said, chuckling as he jokes about possibly being caught in the rain with his travel companion, his wife. “Yes, we have been caught in thunderstorms and yes, we have long rain jackets. We’ve learned our lesson.”
But that won’t discourage the car enthusiast who has drafted the plans, prepared himself, his century-old car, and patiently awaits the day he will hand-crank and rev the engine for its birthday journey.
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