I have two regrets about taking on this CC. One, I couldn’t shoot myself standing in front of it. And two, I won’t be able to do the Model T full justice in the short time available (it would take a book or two). But today is a celebration of sorts: cars for tall folks as well as the diversity of cars (and writers) that make up Curbside Classics. So let’s celebrate by honoring the most important car of all time. And one of the tallest ones ever.
Let’s consider the first aspect of this tall-boy “telephone booth” coupe first, since it’s what stuck me most viscerally upon approaching it. Being 6’4″, I really notice the fairly rare encounters with someone taller then myself. Well, that just about never happens with passenger cars. But this coupe tops me, by about two inches. That is seriously tall. These two begin give a bit of human scale to it.
The awkward height of the coupe was an unavoidable outer manifestation of the T’s decline into obsolescence. Back when the T was first designed by Henry and his little coterie, enclosed car bodies were very rare indeed, and only the purview of the very richest of buyers. The T was designed as an open car, and very much in the vein of the “horseless carriage” as this very early model makes clear. The twenty years of the Model T’s life span was an eternity in the early decades of the motor car; like still running a 386 processor IBM PC today.
In the twenties, enclosed bodies became the hot new thing, for many obvious reasons. It was a s much of a revolution as the T itself had been. But the T’s slender and sky-high frame had been designed for the primitive rutted dirt “roads” of the time. An open-bodied Model T weighed all of 1200 lbs. Meanwhile Chevrolet was nipping at the T’s tail with much more stylish and modern cars that carried their closed bodies more gracefully.
Yes, Henry hung on the the T too long, in the misconceived notion that folks would keep buying it forever. The 1929 Model A (CC here)was originally intended to supplement the T, not replace it, but when T sales crashed in 1927, Henry saw the writing on the wall and just shuttered the plant until the A was ready. And the Model A makes a nice counterpoint to the T for more than just its ability to look handsome with enclosed bodies.
The A was also an opportunity for Henry to “perfect” the T, and having just taken a close look at the Model A’s mechanical excellence in that recent CC, it was interesting to see just how crude the T comes off in comparison.
I’m not going to do a shot-by-shot comparison on each of them, and obviously this T is hardly in the pristine shape as this restored A. But except for the change to a sliding-gear transmission, the A still had all of the T’s similar configuration and mechanical design, but just taken to its highest level execution.
Everything on the T just looks so much cruder although familiar, which given the early days of the automobile when it was hatched, is of course obvious. And it was a testament to Henry’s brilliant design in its simplicity and yet high quality that it lasted as long as it did. And although the T’s components may look crude, they were made of nothing but the finest materials Ford’s forges could hammer out.
While we’re underneath the T, and believe me, it’s the easiest car to shoot from below; one can practically walk under it, let’s take another look at the rear end from the front. The torque tube design, which creates a single pivot point behind the transmission, was a Ford hallmark, and carried right through 1948. Oan it looks remarkably similar to the Peugeot 404 rear axle design, because it is, except for the springing, of course. It’s a very durable design that allows massive articulation, just the thing for America’s roads in 1908 or Africa’s roads today.
One of T’s biggest limitations were the two gears its planetary transmission afforded. A big market developed for auxiliary transmissions, and perhaps the most successful was the Ruckstell two speed rear axle, shown here. It replaced one half of the T’s rear axle, and doubled the number of gear ratios. Since it also had a higher (lower numerical) axle ratio, the Ruckstell gave a wider overall spread of gears, everything from a stump-pulling granny low, to what amounted to an overdrive high. Over a million of these were sold, and it was the only one approved by Ford to be sold and installed by its dealers.
It’s pretty well known, but just in case you missed it by actually paying attention to your fourth grade teacher instead of reading about the Model T, its transmission needed no “clutch” in the usual sense. One just pushed the “low gear” pedal, the left one, and held it in, while the T lurched off to a less-than-elegant start. Releasing it once a gait something faster than a brisk walk was attained created a second lurch into direct, or high gear. The middle pedal engages reverse. And the right one is for the brake, rear only, and not very powerful, to say the least. Gas pedal?
That’s on the steering column, along with the spark advance. Yes, one doesn’t just hop in and drive a T without a bit of orientation. It’s quite a bit like a tractor though, in regard to many of those controls, not to mention its engine qualities.
I’m not going to even try to spell out the starting routine for the T, but let’s just say that the arm-weary motorists of the world embraced the self starter more affectionately than their children. Is it the origin of the word “cranky”?
But the T motor was state of the art in 1908, developing 20 hp from its 177 cubic inch (2.9 L) side-valve four. Its redline was 1600 rpm, and it developed 83 ft. lbs of torque at 900 rpm. A chugger indeed. And the heavy loads of enclosed bodies and the higher average speeds of the mid-late twenties conspired increasingly against it. Theoretically, a T could hit 45 mph; maybe a roadster with its windshield folded down and the driver in a tucked position. Most Ts chugged along up to about 35 or so; any more for any length of time was asking too much of it, and trouble.
That’s not to say the T couldn’t be coaxed to give more. It’s basic block, crank, connecting rods and pistons were so well made for the times of the best forgings, that the sky was the limit, as long as its breathing limitations were addressed. And how they were: the T started the whole hot rod/performance industry, in the twenties already. There were numerous high performance heads, and this Rajo is one of the more ambitious, with dual overhead cams and hemispherical combustion chambers. But they all used the stock Ford block and internal components.
Back then, it wasn’t drag racing, but oval racing. Modified Ts were ubiquitous, since the real racing engines like Millers were exorbitantly expensive. Modified Ts raced at at the Indianapolis 500, and dominated (in number) the dirt tracks that every little town had back then.
One of my recurring (of hundreds) auto-lusts is for a T Speedster, which can be anything from a very crude and simple cut down Roadster like this,
to more exotic and lowered versions. Their elemental and visceral appeal keeps at me like a recurring dream. And have we ever strayed from the tall-boy coupe today. That’s why this is so much fun…nobody is telling me to stick to Geometry, or next months’ sales forecasts.
But I do have other things that need attention, so we’ll wrap up our brief visit with the T. I’m looking forward to finding one of the early brass-radiator tourers, as it was the only one I had some personal experience in. In the summer of 1971 in Iowa City, a sort of glamor-hippie started cruising downtown with one on hot summer evenings. Needless to say, it was a total chick-magnet, and I’d sit there on the square in utter jealousy as he puttered off with beautiful young things squeezed in tight with him, and overflowing out of the rear seat.
One night things must have been mighty slow, and there was room in the back for one more, so he deigned to invite me for a ride out to the Dairy Queen and a detour in the country on the way back (his imperious attitude made it obvious as to who was buying). But it was well worth it. There’s nothing like chugging down a quiet road on a hot evening in a dead Midwestern town, skin to skin. It still gives me aches today…to remember watching him drive off with them after he unceremoniously dropped me off.
No wonder I’m fixated on Ts, although now I’ll stick to two-passenger versions. But not this coupe please. If I’m going to have a vehicle that likes to cruise at 35, make it an open one. This one reminds me too much of my Xb anyway. Wonder if anybody’s converted an Xb into a T-Coupe replica?
“the brake, rear only, and not very powerful”.
One could achieve a very effective panic stop in a T by simply standing hard on all three pedals at once. I don’t know how much of this the car could stand, but it certainly stops the car!
There’s a “Rocky Mountain” brake add-on that was very popular for very obvious reasons.
I’ve seen little “helper” springs in the front suspension of later T’s , not to support the car but to reduce lateral movement of the axle ( I presume).
Ref the torque tube rear end , this lasted until ’59 on the cheapest UK Ford.
AH yes the wonderful Popular sit up and beg variety but that was a 30s design and like the model T in its dotage Ford nearly gave them away new
Before we dis on the torque tube too much, remember that Buick used one too – and into the 50s. This was why Buick passed on the Hydra Matic – the stiff (jerky?) shifts transmitted themselves all through the driveline. Buick did, however, use a more modern spring setup.
Some forget that the T only became a cheap car once mass production really took off around 1918 or 1919. Henry got the price for a 2 passenger roadster down to $265 FOB Detroit in 1925 or 26. People also forget that the T originally came in colors. The “any color you want so long as it is black” only came about because there was only one kind of paint that would dry fast enough for the Ford production lines – a particular kind of enamel that was only available in black.
When the T came out in 1908, it would have been an excellent car at double the price. The car was extremely quick when brand new. Higher speeds were not of much use because the roads were so bad. Even with only 20 horsepower (by no means an embarassing number in 1908) the low weight of the car made it a little rocket up to 25 or so. Henry Ford was one of the few proponents of light weight in cars in those early days. And as pointed out, the car was made of really high quality materials.
A touring car would be for me – if you own a car like this, you have to give people rides. When I was a kid, we went to Greenfield Village in Detroit. They would give Model T rides as one of the features of the park. The car really was a hoot to ride in on a warm summer afternoon.
The torque tube hanged around quite a bit longer – Rambler used them at least through 1962, if I’m not mistaken.
Also the T-Car, the Chevette and derivatives, used a modified torque tube that transmitted the shove to a frame crossmember halfway up the driveline. It was primarily done to keep the rear end from wrapping up, the way the Vega did; so much so that the Vega clones got a brace running from the rear end along the shaft to the tail of the transmission. The modified half-torque-tube was more elegant; even if the car wasn’t as pleasant a road-goer.
Who’s dissing torque tubes? It’s a brilliant design; it’s inherent advantages were obvious, and that’s why it stuck around so long.
The rear Salisbury-type (open) solid rear axles with leaf springs never fully overcame its limitations until multi-link coil setups properly controlled both its forward and sideways motions. That just took some more money, which hardly anyone wanted to spend.
From what I understand, the big problem with the torque tube was, not operation but maintenance – clutch replacement. I remember reading a long write-up of why a certain car, I don’t remember if it was Plymouth or Pontiac or what…why it was unpopular as a taxicab in the early 1950s.
Seems that to replace the clutch, which must have been an ongoing issue for a cab company…to replace it, the engine had to come out, FORWARD, out the nose. Transmission couldn’t be pulled back without pulling out the rear axle and torque tube. So the whole thing had to be broken down in an awkward, expensive manner.
With an open shaft and sliding yoke on the transmission tailshaft, there’s not that problem. Just two U-bolts, then pull back the transmission to break the housing open.
Very true; and good point.
I changed at least one 46-48 Ford tranny. As easy as it was to pull a flathead engine, it was easier to jack up the car, drop and pull back the rear end, and then pull the transmission. I still thought it was a pain though.
Utes with enclodsed drive shafts were good on farms no spinning shaft to pickup twine grass and other crap it was a feature not a problem
That’s true – I never thought of that. Running across a field, or on a grass-covered “road,” the torque-tube setup would be a real plus. In fact, it was probably something Old Henry intended.
Henrys farmer style engineering wasnt all bad Ive seen old adverts where Torque tubes were called an advantage
Chevy used torque tube drive but used longitudinal leaves not transverse in fact in the 1937 data book torque tube drive has a little chapter extolling its vitues one univesal joint lubricated automatically from the transmission being one.
Back in my fathers time farmers seemed to think torque tube equiped cars were much better on farms in mud feeding out they did not get stuck just mudgrip tyres on the back and off you go no such thing as 4×4
The arguement was axle location as Paul points out a torque tube provides positive axle location cheaply its already there Henrys radius arms were the rest of the eqation but that only came in a Ford it worked so well he couldnt part with it, Shame about no juice brakes in 1959 though in your new Ford Pop
Arent 21inch rims a big deal these days? model A got em stock
Enclosed carbodies did not outsell open cars until 1921. For one thing, they were more expensive. Second, most car makers, with the exception of Dodge, still used a considerable amount of wood in their bodies. It didn’t take long (maybe a week) driving on bad roads or cobblestones to loosen the body up to the point that the glazing set up a terrible racket, making the interior an unpleasant place to be. The Dodge Brothers bought their bodies from the Budd Company which used no wood, only welded steel stampings. Once buyers figured out the benefits of a carbody fabricated from all steel, they began buying closed cars. The welded steel body had another cataclysmic impact-it changed car building from a seasonal affair to a year-round business. People could actually drive their cars in the winter months with a modicum of comfort. Edward Budd was a genius and as important to the development of the automobile as Kettering with his electric starter, and Leland with interchangeable parts.
I don’t think this has been addressed yet, but the pedal on the right while indeed being the brake pedal did not connect to the rear wheels but pressed it’s own set of bands to the tranny. The mechanical brakes at the rear were actuated by the hand brake lever to the left of the driver – all the way back put the tranny in neutral and braked the rear wheels – half way down moved the clutch pedal to neutral with no brakes – all the way down allowed the clutch pedal to drop (or pop up) into high gear. I have a ’23 Touring Car in my garage.
I don’t know if it was unique to the T, but the gear reduction for the steering is a planetary set at the very top of the column. The gears are housed in a brass disk just below the steering wheel which can be removed by unscrewing the top of the disk. When I was 15, I had the pleasure of finding a tractor made from a cut down T in the barn of a friend’s grandfather. The great old guy let me get it running and drive it around. Quite a nice learning experience. He had large collection of T parts in which I found an electric starter which I installed along with a battery. The battery in combination with the reed vibrating coils would “excite” when the ignition was switched on. Once, just after the engine had been shut down for a very short time, it spontaneously started when I turned on the ignition.
I Love this the picture this 26 Model T very intertest but the T is Tin Lizzy its for everbody to buy it. Its wasn’t made for the tall people so I like to know if you got pictures for this Beautiful car my e-mail address is [email protected] please email anything about this Coupe
When I was 10 I got a ride in a 1924 Model T coupe. I thought it was one of the coolest things that had happened in my life up to that point in time…and for a ten year old kid looking down from that vantage point I might as well have been in a big rig. My dad was following in our (then new) ’73 Impala, and while it was a much more advanced car in so many ways, I loved the feeling that I was riding in a functional piece of history. The Impala rusted out and went to the junkyard…that Model T is likely still on the road.