Ever Driven a Model T? 1920 Ford Model T
One of the great regrets of my life was never taking up an offer to drive a Ford Model T. A dear friend who was also my attorney at the time was a big-time Model T collector. I was invited to come out to his place and drive one of these famous cars anytime I pleased. Sadly, I never found the time and he has since passed. If I want to achieve this goal, it looks like I will have to purchase an example like this 1920 Ford Model T for sale on eBay in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. This slick little runabout appears to also be from the same sale as the 1927 Cadillac we showcased previously, and it too needs a new home due to the owner’s illness. With bidding currently sitting at $6,101, is this the right time to make a bid on one of the most popular cars in American history?
Why do I want to learn how to drive a Model T Ford? The biggest reason is that I fancy myself as a bit of an automobile historian despite my ham-handed writing style and unorthodox approach to many of the cars I profile here. Henry Ford’s role in turning America into a nation on wheels cannot be overstated and the Model T’s importance to the development of America is also colossal. If Ford hadn’t pursued his unorthodox design methods to make the car simple to mass produce and easy to own, America wouldn’t have developed into a mobile society as quickly. His ruthlessness in finding ways to cut costs and pursue manufacturing efficiencies was also crucial in putting a Model T under the rear of as many Americans as possible. In short, learning about a Model T is crucial for understanding America’s automotive century.
Another reason for my Model T fascination would be to learn the idiosyncrasies of driving a vehicle built for an America that had relatively few miles of paved roads. Ford designed the Model T to ford streams, trundle down bumpy and dusty dirt roads, and wallow its way through mudholes that would beach a modern SUV. It was a car for its time and place. Learning to master the Model T would also be a challenge for anyone who wasn’t well-versed on the car’s various controls. Throttle, timing advance, choosing between magneto and battery, three pedals that don’t do what three pedals normally do, a choke, and a hand crank would all become part of both your vocabulary and your checklist. When you consider that a Model T was the first car for untold millions of Americans, the importance of understanding one takes on greater gravity.
While my opportunity has passed, I still hold on to the hope that I will get a chance to get behind the wheel of a Model T. If I ever get a garage built, win the lottery two weeks in a row, and hire someone to handle all those annoying life obstacles that relentlessly pop up, I will consider purchasing one. Given my conversations with my lawyer friend, that may not be so easy. We make fun of folks who are wrapped around the wheel about matching numbers and their links to the value of a car. Model T folks can also get quite particular about which parts belong on a car. With their abnormally long production run and ubiquitousness for decades, a Model T that still has all of the parts it rolled off the assembly line with is quite the rarity and the price reflects that.
I wish we knew more about the 1920 Model T you see here. Other than the pictures and the sad mention that it and the Cadillac are being sold for health reasons, we are told very little. The seller wrote that it was a nice Model T, that it was part of a collection, it was well maintained, and “nbsp.” I am unsure what that means but hope that someone can clue in in the comments. Regardless, the pictures reveal a car that may be partially original. The paint has some wear, the engine compartment looks well used, but the upholstery and top look flawless. It also appears that there are some upgrades under the hood. Perhaps a reader more educated in the intricacies of Model T ownership can decipher the clues in the picture above and fill us in on the modifications made.
In all, if I were in the market right now, this would be a car on my radar. The price is right, the car looks like it would be a reliable runner, and it is certainly presentable. Hopefully, one of our readers will pick up this Model T and give it a good home.
Have you ever driven a Model T Ford? What do you remember about the experience? Please let us know what it was like in the comments.
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Comments
This is a great write up!!!. Im the same way, always wanted to drive a Model T. Just to experience it. Hopefully one day, we both can get that wonderful opportunity. Hope this goes to a good home and that the new owner enjoys driving it.
There’s a sight in the 1st pic, a Model T and what, a Bentley? The Caddy is the same one featured earlier, the Al Capone clone. Sadly, looks like someone throwing in the classic car towel. The author only scratched the surface on Model Ts. I read by 1920, HALF of all the cars in the world were Fords. I thought this may also be a doctors car, but they generally didn’t go for the roadster. To be honest, I’m not sure who this cars buyers were. I suppose, you know those old vintage street scenes that look like utter chaos plugged with cars? Big city folks. With rural roads non-existent, few ventured far. And that’s another thing, when roads(?) were nothing more than muddy cow paths, look what they drove, compared to today, we have paved 6 lane interstates and huge AWD trucks,,,go figure. Driving one is one thing, but ironically, a trailer and that huge AWD truck will be needed to go anywhere except a parade. Even then, it seems old cars are vanishing from parades. On a recent local parade, July 4th, I think, not ONE classic car, OR the restored Kissel fire engine. Told me something.
I don’t see a reason that you’d need a huge truck to tow this. I towed a U-Haul from the Adirondacks to Minnesota with a 4-cylinder Toyota pickup twenty years ago, and a car trailer with a Model T aboard can’t be much heavier. It could probably be towed with a mid size crossover or an old Malibu or Cutlass.
Hi Andy, that’s true, however, in case you’ve never been, where I live, central CO., is truck dually central, for the most mundane of jobs, I might add. I read, a Model T like this weighs around 1300 pounds. Heck, we hauled more dirt in bushel baskets in the old mans Rambler American wagon, on one of his wacky projects.
Maybe someone who actually knows something about Ts can tell us whether this car’s distributor-and-coil ignition was a period accessory (I doubt it), or part of a later (Model A, perhaps) engine. All the Ts I’ve seen, heard of or read about had magnetos.
I’d love to drive one. It’s certainly higher on my “to-do” list than learning how to operate all the electronic, well, stuff on modern cars!
And, for Howard A, I’m guessing the car parked next to the T in the first photo is a Rolls-Royce. Seems to be a Flying Lady, not a Winged B, atop the radiator shell.
This T has a distributor conversion. They were make back then by Atwater-Kent among others. A later conversion, but still going back around 50 years, was for a common VW Bosch distributor. This appears to have the Bosch setup.
This T has a distributor conversion. They were made back then by Atwater-Kent among others. A later conversion, but still going back around 50 years, was for a common VW Bosch distributor. This appears to have the Bosch setup.
When I picture a Model T, I think of this.
Crank it up to “wuh-oh”,,, just past 10 on the master volume.
An amp company with a band named after it…
Valves!
Good write-up Jeff. Before you hop in a Model T to take a spin around the block…. I recently read an article about great and important automotive innovations. One I had not given much thought to was— the standardization of the components one uses to operate the vehicle. Without googling I can’t tell you what pedals and levers did what in a Model T, but I know it isn’t what we are all used to today (and take for granted).
For those of you who’d like to drive a Model T, the museum where I volunteer has also has Model T driving classes. (The California Automobile Museum)
The pedals work like this, on the left out is high, low is in, middle is neutral. On the middle pedal, out is forward, in is reverse. The lever on the right of the wheel is the throttle, on the left is the spark advance.
Also, I have a Model A class. At least the pedals are in the familiar order.
You can actually drive a Model T at the Lemay Collections at Marymount in Tacoma, WA. I took the half day class a few years ago. They offer the experience several times a year. Best $100 (then) I ever spent.
First you get the classroom experience about the T and Henry Ford and all the history about the car. I was very impressed, and it was taught by some retired Ford employees. Then you had a few hours in the field to experience the car firsthand. If you can drive a stick the pedals will confuse the heck out of you at first. Everything is different from what you know. If you never drove a manual, it would probably be easier to grasp. It took me a bit to get used to it, but I highly recommended the experience.
My father had a Model T. I have a model of every car my father had. He only had 8 cars his whole life time.
He is right in stating that most people would not know how to drive one. Most people would never be able to get it started. When I was in high school automotive class I had to pick a subject to do an essay on and I chose the Model T. I wish I could remember more about it but it was 45 years ago. I do remember that it had a planetary transmission with 3 pedals to operate forward, reverse and brakes. Spark advance and throttle on the steering column and not much else. No, I have never driven or started one either, but if I had to I could probably make it happen
I have driven a Model T. When in high school I worked afternoons at the MG/ Jaguar dealership. He had his own car collection which included a ’48 MGC, ’32 Ruxten roadster (all 18 1/2 feet of it) and a Model T 3 door convertible sedan.
We got to use the T in parades, football game half time events, and all sorts of fun things. Weird but fun to drive.
Make that MGTC….
Let me plug the Model T Museum in Richmond, IN.
I was rewarded with a ride in a T there many years ago.
It seems like driving a John Deere A model tractor was closer to driving that T than anything I can think of.
I’ve driven a T and an old John Deere (mine was a B) and I found the tractor a lot easier to drive than the T.
I ran an old B, that hand crank was fun
The Gilmore Museum offers Model T driving classes with classroom and driving around their grounds in Hickory Corners Michigan.
I learned to drive in a ‘23 Roadster that my father restored in 1961. I had a little trouble transitioning to a “3 on the tree”.
I had a 24 for many years. Use to drive it regularly. Very simple to operate once you get use to it. Kinda like driving an old tractor. Right peddle is the transmission brake, center peddle is reverse and the left peddle is for high and low speeds. Gas is on the right side lever and the spark advance is the left lever. If you get in a bind just press any two peddles and it kills the motor.
The personal touch of this excellent write-up make it fresh and interesting. There have been many Model T’s listed on BF and I hesitate to keep repeating my same experience on them, I have owned/restored three.
But since you ask, this should be something you should be able to cross off of your bucket list and an example like this is an ideal entry point. Model T prices are depressed and one as nice as this a few years ago would be 10-15K, it is currently at 7K. It is so low that I might consider it myself.
I got bit by the Model T bug for many of the same reasons you describe, except they were more expensive then, and so all I could afford were fixers. I wanted to experience the transition from horses to understanding how to drive and maintain them. It was a very fun journey, they are imminently reparable at modest cost, on your own. Now there are youtube videos on every component, including pouring your own babbet for a crank repair. They are astonishing cross country transportation. I mean literally to turn off the road and go across open fields. Slow speed, high ground clearance, a very flexible frame and light weight made dirt roads a breeze.
You could own this for many years and spend just a fraction of the purchase price on repairs, something few if any, cars can boast.
BUT, AND I MEAN WITH A CAPITAL BUT, the big issue is taking them on any kind of modern road. Speeds are so high, drivers are so distracted, and cars are lethally heavy. These do not accelerate well, brake poorly and need careful planning to stop. At my house I cannot avoid a modern road. The arrogance and impatience of modern drivers manifests itself in ways that every drive became a nerve wracking experience. My wife would not go for a Sunday drive anymore. Even roads with posted 40 mph speeds has lifted pickups doing 70 and rolling coal as they pass your fully exposed flivver. Finally I just stopped driving them and it was time to sell.
However, if you live on a back road and can toodle around a nice Model T like this, it is a wonderful and affordable reminder of the times past that I personally wish would return.
Good luck with your dream, I strongly encourage you to follow up..
I have never driven a Model T, but I did get the opportunity to ride in one that was owned by a family friend in Arizona. It was definitely an experience.
If you are in the Mid-Atlantic region the AACA museum in Hershey PA offers a Model T driving experience during the warmer months. I was fortunate enough to do this. Classroom instruction and then we cycled through four (4) very different Model T vehicles, driving each in turn. Highly recommend this!
I think I’ve mentioned it here in other comments over the years, but I had a wonderful opportunity to drive a Model T a little over 20 years ago. The Model T club here in Phoenix offered a driving event where you could pay $20 and learn how to drive one (briefly). They used a semi-abandoned mall parking lot on a Saturday morning where we had no threats from other traffic. After some basic instructions, we were able to try our hand piloting club owners’ cars around the lot.
A lot of fun but I didn’t spend enough time driving to really get the hang of it. It did serve as a nice damper on my “I can drive anything” attitude that I may or may not have had at the time :).
Someday I’d love to have another chance at driving one for a little longer period of time to really try and get the hang of it.
I will say that if most modern drivers’ transportation depended on their ability to drive something like a Model T, there would be a lot fewer drivers on the road!
Sold for $7300.00, a very sweet car at a great price.
My dad’s service manager from the 1950s into the 1980s had his dad’s 1923 T runabout purchased new. As a kid it was a marvel to watch him start it even with an electric starter. Choke, spark, throttle and of course checking gas with a stick. He still had it lovingly in a garage when he passed in 2008. It had been restored after surviving a garage fire in 1970. I remember him being careful about taking corners too sharply as the old wooden spokes were prone to breaking. I still hope to drive one some day. Ironically, people used to riding horses may have had an easier time learning the T than modern drivers ingrained with our typical layout.