In 1929, on the day Bill Barlow was born, he came home from the hospital in a Model A Ford. It was the family car until Barlow was about 9.

“I grew up in a Model A,” the 72-year-old said.

Later, one day in 1984, when Barlow owned a cabinet shop, he hired a guy who showed up for work in a 1926 Model T Ford, the Model A’s predecessor.

“I said, ‘Where did you get that? I’ve got to have one,’” Barlow recalled.

The employee suggested that Barlow check the newspaper classified ads, and sure enough, there was one for sale. Barlow bought it, triggering a lifetime passion of buying, restoring, collecting and selling old cars.

Soon, his focus narrowed specifically to the Model As. (They go a little faster than the Model Ts.)

Turns out, there are plenty of others who have a similarly precise passion. Hundreds of them are gathering in Bend starting in about a week. The 2013 Northwest Regional Meet of the Model A Ford Club of America is happening Sept. 3-8 at the Riverhouse Hotel and Convention Center in Bend.

The national organization is dedicated to the restoration, preservation and enjoyment of the Model A Fords as manufactured from 1928 through 1931.

When Bill started collecting the cars years ago, his wife Annie Barlow went along with it, she said. At least when Bill spent money on his hobby, he had something to show for it at the end of the day, she laughed.

And, “we wives know they’re in the garage, not down at a bar,” Annie said.

Bill and Annie founded the local chapter of the Model A Ford Club of America, called the High Desert A’s, with 15 families in 1988, Annie said. It now has more than 75 families.

Annie is organizing the upcoming regional event, which includes educational seminars and social festivities, complete with some era-appropriate fashion.

The meet is for members only, but Bend residents will get to see the old cars as they descend on area breweries, museums, and when about 250 Model As go on a grand tour Sept. 6, from the Riverhouse, along Mount Washington Drive, up Century Drive, past Mount Bachelor and around the Cascade lakes.

Touring is a big part of what clubs do together.

The local club, over the years, has toured to all sorts of destinations, from Victoria, British Columbia, to the redwoods in California, Annie said.

When it was Bill’s turn to choose a spot, he led the group to Wallowa Lake in northeast Oregon. He grew up in Elgin, and he wanted his friends to see the lake where he’d spent so many years. Annie, who is 73 and has lived in Oregon all her life, said because of the club she’s been to places she would not otherwise have gone. Annie also loves the camaraderie that comes with the club, and the fact that the husbands and the wives all seem equally engaged.

The members are generally in their 70s and 80s, in part, Bill speculates, because it’s an expensive and time consuming hobby. But also, he said, because of the nostalgia: “We were small kids in these cars.”

The Northwest region, for which the upcoming event is intended, comprises 29 chapters from British Columbia, Alberta, Washington, western Montana, western Idaho and Oregon. Some clubs from California, Nevada, and Arizona are also attending the upcoming regional meet, Annie said, and it’s expected to draw about 500 Model A enthusiasts.

The Model A Ford, according to several websites, followed Henry Ford’s famous Model T. It came with a new three-speed transmission, hydraulic shocks and four-wheel mechanical breaks. It had an electric starter, water pump, speedometer and safety glass. Over its four years of production, it was offered in a variety of styles.

Right now, the Barlows have six of the cars, all drivable. They plan to leave one to each of their six grandchildren, Bill said.

But the grandkids shouldn’t get too anxious about the unique inheritance. Bill said the joy of having the cars, plus the physical and mental stimulation restoring them provides, is going to keep him alive longer.

Model As

The Model A Ford Club of America: www .mafca.com

The High Desert A’s of Central Oregon is a chapter of the national organization: www.high desertas.org