He described it as a "genuine adventure into the unknown" with "close shaves in the wilderness, over punga [sic] bridges, and on narrow tracks, crowded by slips to the edge of precipices".
Halfway into the adventure the trusty Model T became so hopelessly bogged in Matiere that they had to call on a nearby farmer for his horses to help. It took four horses to pull the Model T out of the mud.
Eight days and 13 hours after it left Wellington, the "battered, mud-stained Model T, with its weary, unkempt voyagers ran down Queen Street, crowded with staring people just off work, and pulled up at the GPO".
The car then made a "racing run home to Wellington" via a more conventional route in a record two-and-a-half days. Chorlton said it was years before the record was beaten or the pioneering journey through the King Country repeated.
Mr Gardner said at a rough estimate there was probably 2000 Model T Fords still running, and another 4000 lying forgotten in sheds.
"It's hard to know, half the cars in New Zealand were Model Ts in 1920."
The going price for a Model T today varied from $15,000 to $50,000.
"It depends on their age, the brass ones are worth more."
Mr Gardner said the Model T he was driving was a 1915 Roadster model that had been lent by Southward Car Museum.
Coincidentally, it was the same car that was lent by the museum for a re-enactment of the journey in 1970 - which was in time to catch some of the pioneers in the King Country who had helped with the original trip.
"One guy was 100, and he died two weeks after the event," Mr Gardner said.
The cars travel at 50-60km/h, although some of the later models can manage 80km/h, Mr Gardner said.
The convoy also has three mechanics taking part, and includes recovery vehicles and trailers, "just in case".
Mr Gardner said the convoy would stop at schools along the way - who were using the event as a fundraiser.
"Everyone gets a touch of living history."
Mr Gardner said he had worked with the Ford and Colonial motor companies since 1960, first as a dealer in Waipukurau, and then as the national secretary of the Ford dealers' council.
He retired after serving 50 years with the company.
Mr Gardner also wrote a concise 540 A4-page history of the Colonial Motor Co, published in 2005.
The convoy leaves Capital City Ford in Wellington this morning, heading via Marton, Taihape, Taumarunui, Te Kuiti, and is due to arrive in Auckland on Wednesday.
