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Community Corner

Norm Haley to Drive His Model T on 2,000-Mile Tour

Norm Haley's love of restoration will lead him on a 2,000 mile long adventure in September.

Norm Haley is passionate about rehabilitation and practices it by restoring buildings, fixing up antique cars and even rescuing unusual injured animals.

On Labor Day this September, his hobby will lead him on a three week adventure called the High Peaks Canadian Rockies tour, in which he will cover 2,000 miles from Montana to Canada in a 1927 Ford Model T Doctor's Coupe.

Haley grew up in Pasadena and enjoyed working on his first car, a 1947 jeep, as a teenager. His father, who had also been a ship fitter during World War II, influenced his love of fixing things.

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"He was pretty handy, you know. We were always doing projects in the garage when I was a kid," he said.

Haley is a full-time real estate agent who works out of his home and at his office in Monrovia. His work often leads to projects where he can restore older properties and retrofit their foundations to meet earthquake safety standards.

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A notable event from his childhood was watching the relocation of an apartment building that his parents and grandparents owned in Pasadena. He has posted several 1950s era pictures of himself and the jacked-up apartment building on his website, www.normshomes.com.

As a young man, Haley joined the Navy. After serving in Vietnam, he attended school on the G.I. Bill and worked as a fish and game warden for seven years.

Haley became a full-time real estate broker in 1976. He often works from home in the mornings and cares for his 16 rescue animals—which include four dogs, five parrots, doves, pigeons and tortoises—and then comes to his office in Monrovia in the afternoon.

He has about 35 years of experience working with properties in Monrovia, including the 1885 Victorian William R. on Magnolia, several early 20th century Craftsman homes and the 1920s bungalows at Harding Court, which were originally built for families of patients at the .

Landmark

Harding Court is a historic landmark that was featured in the 2004 . With his partners Brad and Valerie Palfrey, Haley restored the 1922 property with the aid of an old brochure and two vintage postcards. Coincidentally, Haley found out that the original builder of the Harding Court property also operated a car dealership at the same address where he currently has his office on 135 West Foothill.

"It was fun to fix it up and figure out some of the history," he said.

Haley also has a growing collection of about 3,000 vintage postcards from throughout the San Gabriel Valley, and many of them are from Monrovia.

Haley first became interested in antique cars around 1980 when a friend’s wife wouldn’t agree to sell a house unless her husband got rid of the old cars that had been sitting in the garage. Haley was intrigued by a Model-T, and traded part of his commission for it.

"The rest is history," he said.

He’s only been touring for the past ten years, because when he was younger he was usually too busy working to take the time off to do the tours.

"Better get out there and make it happen while I can still do it," he said.

Labor Day Start

A group of 12-15 cars will start the High Peaks tour on Labor Day, in Great Falls, Montana. They will travel to Glacier Park, Montana and then to various locales in Alberta, Canada, including Pincher Creek, Bamff, Lake Louise, and Jasper. They will finish the tour in British Columbia.

"Every time they tour they try to do it somewhere in the mountains, so the Canadian Rockies is a natural for these guys," Haley said. "I truly believe this tour is some of the most spectacular scenery they will have ever seen."

In part, the remote areas can seem to last longer because they are driving at about 35 mph. Haley said that when he’s driving up hill, his car might go no faster than 15 mph. The antique cars on the tour don’t have front breaks, but most of them have been modified with "Rocky Mountain brakes," or back breaks.

"Very few people except for Southern Californians get impatient with these cars," he said. He remembered that on a trip to New York City, he was amazed by the positive reactions of the public. "Everybody was high fiving, waving. The cabbies, the cops, everybody. They thought it was great!" he said.

There are some challenges that drivers must face on the tours. Without air-conditioning, a road trip can get very hot in the summer. Haley was once part of a 50-car tour that went from New York to Seattle. A Model T parts dealer brought four extra engines along on the tour. In the first week, they had to use all four engines. Then they had to stop and rebuild some engines. In spite of these troubles, every car finished the trip.

The September trip is limited to 15 cars because the smaller the group, the less potential for problems. The cars are relatively simple to fix, but you can’t just stop anywhere to get a part.

"There’s always something happening to someone’s car," he said. "I personally carry about 200 pounds of spare parts. About the only thing you can’t fix is a broken crankshaft."

He said his 1927 Model T is often the newest car on the tour, even though it’s more than 80 years old. He recalled a trip in the Italian Alps when the tour hit four days of steady rains. Only a few cars were equipped to insulate their passengers.

"The reason I always take that coupe is you can roll up the windows and lock the doors, and it’s got a huge trunk," he said.

He said that on almost every trip someone will try to sell him a car or parts for a car.

"This lady came up to me in a parking lot in Fairbanks, Alaska at 11 o’clock at night and said ‘Hey, you wanna buy some fenders for this car?’" he said. "She said, ‘They’re brand new, they’re still in the paper.’"

"She had a whole barn full of stuff. I bought anything I could haul back," he said.

As much as he likes traveling to see other places, Haley said he also loves the small town atmosphere of Monrovia.

"I think it’s the place to be, the place to live, the place to own real estate. Monrovia is an especially nice place to do business," he said. "I truly believe that Monrovia is one of the best secrets in the San Gabriel Valley."

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