Link to bigger version....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bruckzone/10830900185/sizes/o/in/set-72157636532094934/
Am I crazy or is that a model T in german service?
Indeed. And why not? Model T's were sold in Germany too. Special German rules of the time demanded irreversible steering and service brakes at the wheels, that's why there's no planetary steering gear under the steering wheel of the 1914 Touring. Cars sold to Germany were equipped with this type of worm gear: http://www.mtfca.com/encyclo/S-T.htm#worm
http://www.mtfca.com/encyclo/worm.htm
I wonder if there are any surviving T's with this equipment in Germany or if all there now are recent imports?
Learning new things all the time. Fantastic. Were all the Ts at that time sold to Germany from U.S. production? When did that stop?
I'd like to find information or photos of these two Model Ks too. they were shipped in mid 1906 to Berlin.
Steering wheel spider is different too. Anyone have a picture of that worn steering set up?
Should read "worm steering", although it may also be worn.
Oh, you'd be surprised. Sometimes, the most faithful machines of all wind up getting "flipped."
http://warbirdsresourcegroup.org/LRG/p47beetle.html
WW1 started in august 1914. The US was first neutral but declared war against Germany in april 1917, leaving plenty of time for legal import during the war, though the British naval blockade stopped US export in practice. The pictured 1914 touring was likely shipped before the war started. The steering wheel spider may be the standard 1912-20 malleable iron type flipped over?
Why did it take Ford 26 more years to get back to that design? That's the layout of the 1937-48 Ford steering.
In the back and forth movement of the front lines the British and their equipment could have been overrun by the Germans who could have captured the equipment, or the Model T's could have been abandoned on the battlefield during a sudden barrage and captured, or captured while taking a message through enemy lines. Jim Patrick
If it was captured from the allies - then it wouldn't have had the unique steering gear specified for the German market, Jim.