Museums are places where we can go to see objects displayed as they were in years past. Often the museum cannot display the item as it was found, because that would not be very interesting or informative. Many of the things that we see in museums are reconstructed, restored, or even complete reproductions. At the American Museum of Natural History as an example, we see fantastic exhibitions of dinosaurs that once dominated the earth. If we read the fine print on the signs we can see that what is on display is largely if not completely a reproduction, the original parts having vanished over the years, lost forever.
It is quite unusual to find an object that is over 106 years of age that is largely intact, and indeed well preserved, still able to operate as it did when new. Such is the case with the 1911 Model T Ford touring owned by Tom Helf. While the story of how the car was preserved over the years is not known beyond 40 or so years ago, the fact is that it was kept out of the weather for the most part. Let’s examine the car closely and enjoy what has been kept for so long by each of it’s owners in amazing condition. Not in a museum, but in each owner’s careful possession over more than a century, we can learn a lot from this amazing specimen.
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