How to Drive A Model T Ford Part 2

When we left off last time the car was running. To review the previous installment click here:

How To Drive A Model T Ford Part 1

When the Model T was being sold and driven as a new car most Americans lived outside of cities on farms. There would seldom be any other car on the road. Meeting another car would be at a minimum an occasion to wave and honk. Perhaps you might even stop to exchange pleasantries, and to view the other driver’s machine.

Today most of us are faced with the challenge of operating our Model T on the same road as other modern cars with their not – so – attentive drivers. You and your Model T need to be on your game to stay safe out there.

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A visit to The Henry Ford Museum

Recently we had a trip to The Benson Ford archive to work on some documentation. One day it seemed like time to go for a walk through the museum. As a matter of fact it is always a great time for that. The Henry Ford Museum and the adjacent Greenfield Village complex and farm are one of the many great things that resulted from the genius and vision of Henry Ford and the industrial greatness that is typical of of Detroit. Let’s take a trip through the museum and see the exhibits this month.

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The Competition – The Model T Ford in the Marketplace Part Two – 1915

Ford had been producing the Model T as its only model since the fall off 1908. Introduced as a 1909 model year car, the Model T went on to dominate the marketplace in its first year. This was no surprise to Ford’s competitors as the plucky Ford Model N – R – S had dominated in the years prior. By 1915 one would think that the rest of the industry would have figured out how to make a better and less expensive car than Ford. As we shall see, that was not how things worked out.

Above, the “new” 1915 Model T was simply an updated 1914 with less brass on the cowl lamps. Most 1915 Model T Fords looked just like the car in the photo above.

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How To Drive A Model T Ford

 

There is no comparison to the feeling you get from driving your Model T surrounded by a group of other Model T’s. Suddenly you and your car are transported back in time. Everything is simpler. The air is fresher. You stop worrying about unimportant things.

The Model T Ford does not drive like a modern car. The controls, other than the steering wheel and the brake pedal, do not operate anything like a modern car. In this article we will seek to inform the first time T owner / driver so that we can enjoy these cars the way they were meant to be enjoyed – out on the road, with the wind rushing by.

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The Competition – The Model T Ford in the Marketplace Part 1

The Model T Ford today is unique among collectible automobiles. There are several national club organizations that accept the Model T, and there are local Model T clubs in nearly every major city in the United States. When the Model T was new, the cars that it competed with never sold nearly as well. Nowadays we hardly even think of the fact that there were other cars competing with the Model T for market share and profitability. There are few car clubs for  the cars that shared the automotive market with the Model T Ford back then. Let’s take a look at who the competition were back then, and see how they stacked up.

This article is the first in a series. The Model T Ford was very popular for a long period of time. In this article we will look at the competition that existed in the early years of the Model T.

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