Automotive Centenarian Displayed for Transportation Students

Students in Penn College's School of Transportation Technology had the rare opportunity Tuesday to touch a piece of automotive history: a 1908 Ford Model K 6-40 "Gentleman's Roadster," which paid a visit to main campus on its return trip to the Antique Automobile Club of America Museum in Hershey. Separated by 102 years (and about 6 feet) from the newest member of the school's instructional vehicle fleet a 2011 Ford Mustang convertible the Model K was displayed in the Ford ASSET lab in the Parkes Automotive Technology Center and in the collision repair area of College Avenue Labs. The automobile, estimated to draw $400,000 in today's market, sold for $2,800 in its day and was "guaranteed" to reach a speed of 60 mph. The visit is just the latest fruit of a beneficial relationship with AACA; students last year restored a 1965 Mustang for display at the museum and, this year, are working on a 1978 Pontiac Firebird Esprit on loan from the facility.