About a century before notorious blowhard Elon Musk put out the Model S and took to mouthing around on Twitter, notorious blowhard Henry Ford put out the Model T and, in a 1909 meeting, said any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants, so long as it is black. Sticking to one paint colour would be an economy measure on its own, plus black paint was the cheapest, most durable, and –fastest-drying– (Update: I’m informed that last one isn’t true), so goes the explanation.
But Ford’s black-only policy didn’t take effect until 1914, so none of that matters to this what I saw parked—just like any and every other car—at the actual, real curbside a few days before Halloween this past. It antedates all but my most basic automotive expertise by about fifty years, so I only knew I was photographing a very old, highly excellent Ford.
This Ford is painted not-black. Almost all 1911 Fords were painted blue, but official records are dependably said to note a number of red open runabouts and green town cars built in early April, 1911. So I guess this is one of those, and/or that description of those records doesn’t apply to other-than-U.S. markets. Now, I can’t claim to have seen very many cars this old up close—Fords or any others—but for me this car looks absolutely right in this red.
With heaps of brass…
…gas headlamps that run on acetylene piped in from a “generator” consisting of an enclosed pan of calcium carbide with water drizzled on it…
(matter o’ fact, these are brass Ford headlamps of the beast!)
There’s an oil-wick lantern on either side of the cowl. Windowpanes front and outboard, and a jewelled red lens to the rear…
…and another oil lantern at the back of the car. Rear lamps of that time used red and green light, like the nautical navigation lamps and railway priority signals whence they sprang. A red lens faced rear; a colourless lens faced right (to show the licence plate)…
…and a blue lens, to make the yellow oil flame look green, faced to the left—the idea being to advertise the vehicle’s direction of travel:
Unlike the railway and nautical lighting conventions, there were no uniform standards for car lighting. This from the March 1902 ‘Motor Review’ publication gives a glimpse of the extreme regionality of early vehicle lighting practice:
This ’11 T has nifty details everywhere. There’s a Moto Meter temperature gauge built into the radiator cap…
…and a Stewart (forebear of Stewart-Warner?) speedometer-odometer. Trip, I get. Season? And, um, 60?
There’s a surprisingly prominent clock on the dashboard.
Here’s where to switch between battery and magneto ignition (or neither):
Four pedals and two levers. Let’s see here: one of the levers is a kind of brake-and-clutch stick, and Paul N informs me the lever with the round knob is for the optional Ruckstell 2-speed rear axle. Brake pedal, reversing pedal, and…uh…uncle. This page explains the controls, but I’m still clueless after reading through it; I’d do a better learning job by watching from the passenger seat. That left pedal is a sort of gearchange, but I (still) don’t know what that small pedal nearest the seat is.
There’s a squeeze-bulb horn that sounds remarkably cowlike (no, I didn’t touch it, let alone squeeze it):
This is classy, not like those hosey “Body by Fisher” sill plates GM were still putting on cars in the 1980s:
Speaking of plates, here’s this car’s ID plate. It’s on the dashboard below another mystery-to-me lever:
This is a Canadian Ford, bearing the name of a town that’s now, if I’m not mistaken, part of Windsor:
The dashboard is…a board!
I do not understand these cogworks inboard of the right front wheel…
…with no counterpart on the left:
Firestone Gum-Dipped tires, in something called an ex-size of 30 × 3½ (will there be an ex-size tax, then?):
Just as I took the last of these pictures, the owner returned from his errands. He handled the small crowd round his car with good humour, and patiently answered questions—that’s how I know this is a 1911. He explained the pedals, but I forget the explanation. I apologise for having held my phone vertically to shoot this movie; I know I should’ve turned it horizontally. Nevertheless, here’s what I got. Once again I invoke the Consumer Reports of the past; the engine started immediately and ran flawlessly:
If the movie doesn’t load/play for you, see it Here.
(it only just now occurred to me, but…Any Colour You Like…? H’m.)
Nice find! I remember reading about how the Model T pedals worked long before I could drive and thinking it was, perhaps not complicated, as millions of people mastered it, but not intuitive compared to 2 or 3 pedal modern cars. The current meme of the manual transmission as a millennial anti theft device suggests that the Model T setup is a boomer anti theft device. By the way, Foxconn just revealed an electric transit bus they’re calling the Model T. I wonder if Ford will object.
The gear on the right front wheel is the drive for the speedometer.
I’ve never gotten the chance to drive a Model T, but have had the privilege of driving a couple different brass cars, both with conventional sliding gear transmissions. Betting I could get behind the wheel of a Model T and drive it, though. This one would probably be more pleasant with that Ruckstell, as the stock T came with just a 4:1 low gear, and a 1:1 high. Have been around cars of this age just enough to know that every trip, no matter how mundane, becomes an adventure!
I hadn’t realized before just how strong a debt early vehicle lighting had to the railway marker lights that were already well-established at the time.
IIRC, the green marker lights on the ends of cabooses were turned to face the rear if a train was occupying a siding clear of the main track. I wonder if the rear oil lantern on this car was intended to be manipulated similarly when, for instance, the vehicle was parked and idling off the main road?
Anyway, thanks for sharing! Your articles are always a treat to read, especially when you dig into depth on the parts that glow in the dark.
Thanks, Andrew. I’m pretty sure the rear lamp had a fixed mount, not a rotating one—red always to the rear of the car, no matter which way it was facing, and white always on the licence plate.
The speedometer is marked up to 60 because it’s measuring Kilometers Per Hour. 60 kph is 37.2 mph. Even the aftermarket speedo gear and gauge seems to be of high quality. Suck on that, J.C.Whitney!
Oh, and you call it a dash because you dash your head upon it if you have a wreck!
Canada used miles until about six decades and half after this car was built.
Also, there’s no way they would have built a speedometer to be used in a variety of cars that topped out at 37.2 mph. Even the T can go faster than that.
1977 was the first year for km/h speedos in Canada.
Almost every single component can be rebuilt. Now that is amazing, and for some reason
Gives me an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.
Me too. It’s infinitely recyclable then, so long as the skills survive.
After 1918 the pedal under the driver’s heel would have been the electric starter. Unless it was retrofitted, it shouldn’t be there on a 1911. Muffler cutout?
Muffler cutout! Yes, thank you; now you mention it I recall the owner saying so.
I did some research into exhaust cutouts for T cars, and yes, the oval flat plate on the floor, and the notch in the shaft below the pedal, allowed the cut-out to be kept open. It’s certainly an exhaust cut-out.
Rear lamps of that time used red and green light
This BMW has the white, red, and green lenses. Of course, the cover was missing, exposing the odd shade of green.
I will let Daniel Stern explain why this modern taillamp has green lens as he’s much most qualified.
That green inner lens gets a pink (or “rose-red”, as at least one lamp manufacturer used to say) outer lens. It’s subtractive filtration; the stackup of a green filter and a pink filter gives amber light. This allowed automakers to provide an all-red(dish) appearance—as you can see from this intact lamp of the same design—while still complying with the completely unreasonable requirement, in force everywhere else in the stupid rest of the world, that turn signals look different from brake lights. Not like on the American regulatory island where rear turn signals can be red, like it says in the Bible.
This double-filtration has an efficiency cost; you get less light than if you just used an amber filter (either in the lens or on the bulb), but the completely unreasonable American requirement that rear turn signals be bright enough to actually see does not apply in the rest of the world, where they’re allowed to be as dim as parking lights. There’s more than plenty of stupidity to go around; it’s not found only in the American regs.
…
The small pedal near the seat base is likely a “Bermuda Bell”. The Bermuda Bell for automobiles and horse drawn carts typically had a round brass bell about 6″ in diameter. They were sometimes called a Trolleybus Bell, because electric trolleys often require the use of 2 hands for operation, one hand on the brake lever, and the other hand operating the speed controller. Since trolley operators always stood, it was easier to step on the bell’s pedal.
The bell was used to signal pedestrians the trolley or automobile was moving. It also let people getting on or off the trolley know it was going to start moving. Most cities required the trolley operator to step on the pedal twice as they started moving forward. Using the foot to operate the trolley’s brass bell [often 12″ to 16″ in diameter] meant they could really stomp on the pedal hard and create a very loud clanging sound. That sharp clang was far more effective compared to the bleat of a reed operated rubber bulb horn. The ringing of the bell was often the only sound an electric vehicle made as it began moving!
I am quite familiar with trolley operation, as I was granted my operator’s permit in the late 1970s at the National Capitol Trolley Museum located only a couple of miles from my home. I volunteered at the NCTM until my restoration shop became more important. I highly suggest anyone visiting Washington DC consider a visit to the museum.
https://www.dctrolley.org/index.html
Muffler cutout, actually, I’m reminded.
The lore that black paint dried faster than other colors at the time of the Model T is indeed lore – which is on the same factual level as Paul Bunyan’s blue ox. The Japan black or black Japan enamel did not dry any faster than any other oven-dry paints of the time. BUT – it was cheaper (carbon was the pigment), it was durable (no fading, etc), it streamlined production (parts could be brushed/dipped and baked at multiple locations and assembled without regard to color) and it reduced labor in preparation of parts for painting (because any oils on the surfaces of unpainted parts would absorb into the resins of the paint in the baking ovens).
Your lead photo confirms that this car was set up with the old-style carbide generator on the running board. There are some Model T guys who will go to the effort of making those systems functional. I would imagine that this kind of system would be much easier to deal with today than the Prest O Lite systems.
On so many cars, you make one trip around it and run out of details to photograph. A car like this, where do you stop taking pictures? I think the little pedal in front of the seat may be a starter button. This car shouldn’t have one, but I’ll bet many owners have added them.
Muffler cutout, it is. Thanks for the paint education; I’ve amended the text accordingly.
Today I learned about black paint!
I found an interesting article “ALL MODEL Ts WERE BLACK” by Trent Boggess, which confirms J.P.’s comments:
https://mtfca.com/encyclo/P-R.htm#paint4
it streamlined production (parts could be brushed/dipped and baked at multiple locations and assembled without regard to color)
I heard that one in recent years too. Bodies and fenders came down different paint lines, so making them all the same color removed a bottleneck in the process.
Experience in aircraft and rail industries suggest that theory is fine; the achievement is practice is harder, as there are inevitable shade variations between places and dates.
But also believable is that Henry accepted the possibility and didn’t/wouldn’t hear any complaints.
“Clang, Clang, Clang went the Trolley” – Judy Garland, 1944. from “See you in St. Louis”.
Nooooooooooo. Now I’ve got that ghastly ‘song’ in my head!
Just wonderful to see this being used on an errand and running sweetly over 100 years after it was manufactured!
Thank you for such a great, detailed description and the owner for using it and not consigning it to a museum.
A true CC!
Seeing a T on the street in traffic is a real treat now finding one parked and well accessorized is a real find, I have been passenger in one but forget exactly what pedal does what I was told by the driver the reverse pedal was the most effective brake the car had column levers are spark advance/retard and throttle, no starter as such fitted but switching to magneto would often fire up the engine from rest, the magneto is in the flywheel.
Just amazing. Much thankage, Daniel, for taking so many excellent photos. I wouldn’t have known where to stop! And for the video footage of the driver starting it. I’d guess he has that tuned within a hairsbreadth of perfection for it to start so easily. Anecdotally it wasn’t always so back in the day.
Speaking of anecdotes, my dad learnt to drive on one of these. He grew up in an orphanage up in the country, and it was his job to drive their T into town daily to collect the mail. Apparently nobody saw anything wrong with a young teen doing this back in twenties rural Australia. From what he said, ‘his’ ride didn’t start so easily, ever!
Isn’t it wonderful to see a 110 year old car still out on the street?
The charms of the T are immortal. Thanks for sharing this nice early brass T, which really embodies its qualities a bit better than the late ones. They seemed a bit anachronistic by the 1920s.
“early brass T, which really embodies its qualities”
So true. I have seen it argued that when it came out in 1908 the Model T was the overall best car on the market regardless of price. Others may have been bigger or faster, but none of them used the high quality metals in the mechanical parts or were anywhere near as durable. That status was probably gone by even 1912 or so, given the quickly improving state of the art at the time. Of course, the design mostly stood still over the next 19 years and the car became known as being backwards, but cheap and plentiful.
I recall seeing the Ford Model T from Ford UK’s fleet at a car show in the UK some years. Early May, and a completely wet day with wall to wall rain, yet Ford brought their Model T and a chap in oilskins moved it off the covered trailer for all to see.
But he kept the hood up. Still, 100 years old…..
Found a Klaxon horn in my grandfather’s garage that could be operated with a small pedal as shown. Also a couple of small carbide lights that looked to be the ones he had removed when he converted his “T” to electrics. No car to go with it though.
Left pedal is high/low gear. Stomp it down for low, let it up for high (direct). Parking brake lever all the way back sets the brake, halfway forward releases the brake and allows low band and neutral operation only. All the way forward allows both gears. Reverse is center pedal used in conjunction with the left pedal in low. Right pedal is the brake band. Levers behind the steering wheel are for throttle and spark advance. The transmission is planetary like a modernish automatic minus the hydraulic controls and torque converter. Nice example you found there.
What a lovely example of a brass era Model T. Quite a street find! Amazing how these vintage units ooze quality.
This has been said before on Curbside Classic but since I find it so interesting I am going to repeat it. The Model T and later Model A had a huge part to play in America winning WWII. Practically every young man knew how to drive and many were adept at working on cars. So, very little training was needed for truck, Jeep, tank, half track, etc. drivers. And the mechanical skills mentioned readily into working on vehicles and aircraft engines and diesel engines in ships and submarines as well. No other country had anything like the reserve of pre trained talent that we did.
Someone may have said it here before, but it wasn’t me.
Germany had no problem finding (or training) plenty of drivers (or mechanics) for its vehicles. I really don’t think this was a factor in why the Allies (and it was the Allies, not just America) that won WW2. There were many more important factors.
What was really important is that the US had the production capacity to build so many vehicles, planes, etc. And that applies to the Russians too, once they got their factories up to speed. It was the huge numbers of Russian T34 tanks that were such a vital ingredient in turning back the Germans on the Eastern Front.
Germany’s auto industry in 1939 was miniscule compared to that of the USA. Car ownership in Europe at the time was very rare. It was the norm in North America by 1939. Even if Germany had had a large auto industry to equip its armies, it didn’t have the fuel to drive them.
You are right, I left out a very important part of the story. We can say that the Model T put america on wheels, really started Americas love affair with the car, and introduced successful large scale mass production. Car production exploded throughout the 1920s and survived during the Depression in the 30s. By 1941 the manufacturing base was very large and it was supported by large scale coal and iron ore mining, copper and glass production, crude oil production and refining, and much more. Also, mass production techniques had been continuously improved. This huge industrial establishment could be and was quickly put to work on waretime material.
Car and Driver explains it better: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a31994388/us-auto-industry-medical-war-production-history/
Yes, USA and volume production were crucial; you could quickly train someone to drive a Jeep or similar.
You do realise the comment “America winning WWII” is absolutely hated by British, Commonwealth and Allied countries, right?
Your point is well taken and I do apologize.
The knob sticking out of the dashboard is probably the manual choke. I believe there is a 2nd choke control near the bottom corner of the radiator on the passenger side that can be adjusted when cranking.
The Ford plant was located along the Detroit river a little bit east of the Hiram Walker distillery & the passenger rail station.
I’ve seen this parked around town, but it was great to see it running. And it’s clear the owner sometimes just uses it for errands. Amazing.
Does anyone know what the letters/numbers on the pedals mean? I won’t show my ignorance by even guessing.
Cogworks inboard of RF wheel looks to be gears for driving the speedometer. The cable they are attached to appears to be the same as that showing under the speedometer head.
I’ll take a wild guess at the speedometer’s Season indicator: Did it possibly measure some sort of maintenance interval? For example, when the Season indicator reached a certain mileage, then the owner knew it was time to change the engine oil?
Incidentally, the oldest random curbside classic that I’ve come across was also from 1911 – in my case a Franklin, parked at a shopping center. I took this picture below, and later sort of kicked myself that I didn’t park my Honda Odyssey next to it, so I could have a picture of two silver vehicles 100 years apart in age. Oh well, next time I come across a centenarian car, I guess…
Very few people drove in the winter back then; A very high percentage of private cars were garaged and had their radiators drained. So the number of miles driven per season was more important than the cumulative total, which was actually somewhat irrelevant. There was such a constant stream of necessary service that total mileage was not much of an issue.
I realize that seems a bit odd to us nowadays, but the times were different then.
Recommended oil change intervals for the T was 750 miles. Model Ts in commercial use racked up mileage very quickly. Frequent service was part of the reality back then. Heads had to be removed to decarbonize the combustion chamber fairly often. Valves had to be cleaned an lapped, Etc..
Thanks — that makes perfect sense now that I think about it.
I wonder when the modern cumulative odometer became common?
Wow, the T is loaded!
Be nice if the owner could top it off with one of the era’s turn-by-turn mechanical navigation systems. lol Roadguide?
Recently I saw a “black era” T wearing claimed original maroon paint.
The car was well documented.
As I recall, purported to be one of eleven in a paint study and then gifted (possibly by Henry himself?) to the original owner.
Thanx for the great photos Daniel .
The mystery knob right of the dash mounted battery box is the carburator mixture control and by leaning it out at speed in second gear a ‘T’ Model Ford *might* go 45 MPH .
The Ruckstell two speed rear end is a great option, most also added wheel brakes as the single brake band inside the planetary transmission wasn’t all that good ~ using the reverse pedal indeed stopped the car quicker but wore the reverse band out *much* faster .
The looped bit of wire sticking out of the radiator was indeed the choke .
‘T’ models were notorious widow makers because the tranny bands were rarely in proper adjustment so the car would creep forward, pinning the person starting it against the garage wall or whatever was in front of the car .
The rear bakes were the parking brake .
You should have asked for a ride .
-Nate
A workaround to keep the T from “nuzzling” the startor against the garage wall was to jack up a drive wheel if drag was expected when cranking the engine, such as when cold.
I do not approve.
Tall, slim, brassy, big headlamps, a perfectly-padded seat clad in leather quite clearly on display, dressed in some skimpy outfit in Sizzle-Me scarlett, easy to get purring and giving any starers the big horn, it is a public disgrace.
I beg your pardon, whatever is on WHO’S mind?
I ground-level wanted one of these until my dad and I got to drive one at Gilmore Car Museum; it was a fun day, but there is little legroom for a six-footer. It would, however, be fun to get used to the controls by driving one regularly. They are nearly impossible to stall, and although they’re not intuitive if you’re accustomed to a more modern car with a manual transmission, you’re usually not going fast enough to get in over your head. Just remember, always return the throttle to idle when you move the pedal from low to high (or high to low). 🙂
I ground-level wanted one of these until my dad and I got to drive one at Gilmore Car Museum;
I enjoyed meeting you and your dad that day. Did you write up that adventure for CC?
We enjoyed meeting you too, Steve. I never did write it up, and now I’m not sure if I remember enough to try! 🙂
Aaron, I only saw what happened in public. The world wonders what went on in the class room. I have a few pix, and a short video of you at the wheel.
You aren’t the only one with legroom problems in a T. I caught a speech by “Teddy Roosevelt” several years ago. The knees of the guy driving the car stick up so high, it looks like he’s in a kiddy car.
Fantastic find and wonderful detail photos! Is this the oldest car ever profiled here that was captured legitimately curbside?
Thanks kindly. As I was shooting it I was thinking it would at least be pretty close!
Great post, thank you Dan.
I lived just a few blocks S/W of that liquor store. 3rd/Commercial Dr. Little Italy.