I can remember roads like this when I was a kid in the 60s here. There was a paved road about 2 miles from our house, and we would walk to the paved road to catch the school bus in the spring until the roads dried up enough to get vehicles through. We still have a mile to pavement, but with a better road base, more gravel and drier winters, it is seldom impossible to get through, but then we have 4 wheel drive vehicles too, and that helps.
Wow - that looks just like our Centerdoor !
1917 or 1918 sedan. Note the sidelamps.
We have a '19 with "not correct" sidelamps added - same car.
Side view mirrors back then?
Also, electric headlamps--perhaps magneto bulbs?
Mike,
From the 1915 model year until the last non-generator Ts were assembled, those non-generator/non-starter T's had magneto headlamps. A customer could special order a non-starter, non-demountable roadster or touring evan as late as the 1926 "loss leader" -- $290 for a touring or roadster -- bare bones. [Ref: http://www.mtfca.com/encyclo/1926.htm see the comment for ++ on the chart of the $290 open cars.] Implied by the MTFCI Judging Standards 1927 TT Truck Supplement -- it has "Sidelights: Used on trucks ordered without starter/generator." In which case they would have still had magneto lights on the 1927 trucks that came without a generator.
It is hard to tell what the object on the driver's side of the windshield actually is. I believe there is a good chance that it is a spotlight but it might also be a mirror. If it is a spot light, it may or may not have a small mirror on the back of it.
That road is a great reason for the high ground clearance of the T.
Respectfully submitted,
Hap l9l5 cut off
That may be a spot lamp, maybe not a rear-view mirror. Rear-view mirrors were, however, available well before 1917, so it may be. They hit the market right about 1912 and by 1917 had sold in the thousands. I even have one original early brass headed one which will finally find its way back onto a car if I can get the '15 runabout far enough along.
Given that the sedan has sidelamps that appear to be Ford type, it is probably a pre-starter car and would have had magneto headlamps.
Great photos, Erich B, thank you.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2