One Salinas couple has married an antique car with libation elation.

Shortly after the Ford Model T was introduced to the world in 1908, Henry Ford was asked if the company could add more personality, to which Ford reportedly responded, “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.”

Certainly, a drink dispenser under the hood was not an option.

But Salinas residents Wayne and Leslie Earnest, who own a 1923 Model T roadster they bought in the late 2000s, decided to make the upgrade after visiting a friend in the Bay Area – also an antique car enthusiast – who had put a drink dispenser under the hood of his car. So for the last dozen-plus years, the Earnests have been attending local events to infuse a little liquid fun into the festivities.

The couple brought their car, and a lot of root beer and ice cream, to a Monterey County Historical Society fundraising event on a weekend in May, where they delighted attendees with root beer floats. They will be at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca from Thursday to Saturday, Aug. 14-17, where they’ll be serving drinks flowing from under their Model T’s hood (likely lemonade, Leslie says).

The dispensing contraption, which holds two gallons, can be removed. The Ford cannot be driven when it’s in place. Leslie says the feature dovetails with her and her husband’s hobby. The couple have been collecting antique cars for 59 years, and are active in various clubs. And Leslie says that, in the dozen-or-so years from when they copied the rolling drinks dispenser idea from their friend, “We’ve been having fun with it ever since.”