26th Annual Orphan Car Tour

June 6 - June 6, 2015

W Friendship, MD


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Dozens of antique cars will journey to Howard County, Maryland on Saturday, June 6, for the 26th annual Orphan Car Tour. This year's event has been dubbed “The Howard County Haycation”. The yearly tour offers owners of antique “orphans” – discontinued-make cars and trucks – a chance to exercise their cars on scenic rural roads, pause at various points of interest along the way, and end their afternoon by dining with fellow participants. The 2015 tour, however, incorporates important changes from previous years, starting with the assembly time.

Drivers will gather at the Howard County Fairgrounds in West Friendship at 9:00 A.M., an earlier assembly time than in previous years. At 10:00 A.M. vehicles will begin departing, one by one, with drivers being given printed directions for the route which they may travel at their own pace. This year, pre-registration is required for the driving portion of the tour, unlike previous years in which drivers could sign up at the tour.

During the day, participants will visit a private collection of American and foreign cars, the Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum, the Howard County Living Farm Heritage Museum, a vintage auto restoration shop, and an Alpaca farm. An ice cream stop is also included along the route.

Dinner is scheduled for 2:00 P.M. this year, back at the Fairgrounds. Meal reservations must be made in advance. May 30 is the cutoff date for both vehicle registration and meal reservations. The event will be held rain or shine. More about this year’s tour, and about past tours as well, can be found at the website www.orphancartour.org .

The public is welcome to view the cars at the Fairgrounds before they depart (10:00 AM) or after they return (about 1:30 PM)

The Tour’s purpose is to promote the driving enjoyment of antique “orphan cars” – vehicles at least 25 years old which were produced either by defunct manufacturers or the discontinued divisions of still-existing automakers. The Orphan Tour moves to a different part of the Baltimore-Washington region each year, and each tour is unique. In recent years yearly participation has hovered at around 60 cars. Over the years the Tour has attracted “orphans” dating from 1912 to the 1980’s, bearing nameplates ranging from the dimly-remembered (Moline-Knight, Hupmobile, REO) to the familiar (Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Mercury).

The Orphan Tour is sponsored by six chapters of national “orphan” car clubs. This year's event is being organized by one of those sponsors, the DeSoto Owners Club of Maryland. Other sponsors include Mid-Atlantic Packards (a region of the Packard Club), the Potomac Chapter of the Studebaker Drivers Club, the Potomac Ramblers chapter of the AMC Rambler Club, the Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the Hudson-Essex-Terraplane Club, and the Keystone Region Chapter of the Studebaker Drivers Club.