After 8 years of looking, on and off, I've bought myself a Model T - a 1925 Tourer.
If it looks strange to you that's because it's Australian but so am I (both Australian and strange )
The carrier phoned this afternoon to ask if it was convenient to deliver tomorrow morning - I wasn't expecting it until next week. I'm so excited I'm not sure how much sleep I'll get tonight.
As a newbie I have SO MUCH to learn. I've been lurking on the forum for the past few weeks and have already picked up a lot but I'm sure I'm going to have to ask many, many dumb questions over the next few days, weeks, months and years.
It looks fantastic from here!
Mark I will trade you for those wheels!!! You can even keep the rims. I just want the black part - I have wood spoked wheels that will swap out perfectly with those wires. Gosh now I'm seeing these darn things everywhere but on my speedster.
Seriously I'd love to trade and seriously you have a great looking T. Welcome to the forum and to the affliction! =)
Great car Enjoy the fun!
Great car Enjoy the fun!
Welcome to the forum!
Great color. Can't wait to see more pictures.
G'Day, Mate, and welcome. Looks like it's ready to roll, but here's something you're going to need:
http://dauntlessgeezer.com/DG80.html
Be sure to retard the spark EVERYTIME, before starting the automobile. If you don't you will either mess your arm or the self commencer up. Beautiful car.
Congrats, looks great. As Bob said, Retard the spark prior to starting EVERYTIME. I did ONCE. Have you ever seen a 6'4, 300 lb man cry like a baby? You do not want to join the broken wrist club.
Nice car Mark! Welcome to the club. And as I quickly began to say after getting my start but only 3 years ago..."T's are like Lays potato chips, you can't have just one". I now have four, in addition to my Model A. Hopefully you'll acquire more too.
Beautiful tourer
Bad email address for "The Model T Ford Encyclopedia", Barb McCally Allison Park, PA gourmetbarb2@verizon.net The email address gives a bounce back each time.
It is a good looking car. I really like the color. Just need some wood spoke wheels to really finish it off *wink*
Welcome, Mark; glad to have you! You will have a ball with your car, but if you haven't discovered it already, it's the people that make it so much fun. Your nation has a large and thriving club that will provide invaluable assistance and priceless camaraderie. We all wish you many safe touring miles and hope to see you in person here in the States or in photos on tours in Oz.
Mark
There are NO dumb questions only inquiring minds, but there are some impatient answer givers.
Great car ,welcome to the affliction, there's more to come.
Bob
Good lookin' machine. Heartiest congratulations!
Great looking car. Welcome to the madness.
Bill
I love the Australian variations! Congratulations! And welcome.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2
Top
Great looking ride, mate!
And what Steve Jelf said.
A beauty! Fair dinkum!
For our American friends, Mark's T is wearing plates from the island state of Tasmania. For those not sure, Tasmania is the island to the south (East) of the Australian mainland. The T was listed on eBay (I was a watcher but, alas, not a bidder). Mark has had to freight it across Bass Straight to the mainland then through Victoria and across most of NSW the north coast. A trip just shy of 2000 kilometres. (1200 miles). Well done Mark and I trust you will have a great time with it.
I see he had been looking for around 8 years, gives me hope, I have only been looking for 2 years. So many calls on my finances, one day it will happen.
Cheers, Paul, also in Oz.
Yes, welcome to the club, great looking T! As Mark said "there are NO dumb questions only inquiring minds". We all started with very little or no knowledge at all.
Happy motoring,
Warren
some interesting wheels on that T. Wasn't someone asking about demountable rims on wires recently on the forum.
That would be me Ken, I really want some for my speedster.
The car arrived just after 8 am this morning, local (Australian) time. It wouldn't start - flat battery - the coils wouldn't even buzz. I did try to crank her on magneto but no go. So with the wife steering I pushed it into the garage. Standing only about 6'2" I can leave the top up.
We're heading out of town this morning but hopefully I manage to get her started when I return next week. Otherwise I'll have to wait a few weeks until my friend who lives locally and has a T can come and give me a hand.
As well as the Model T I also have a 1950 Ford Custom Ute (ie pick up) but I have to say that the best Ford I got is my '72 - my wife's maiden name was Ford!
I called Barb today and we traded emails to be sure I got her address right. The link should work now:
http://dauntlessgeezer.com/DG80.html.
It is hard to properly identify the Body style from the small pictures. I think it might be a Dalgety Ford. Ford Australia's first production car. Commonly called Dalgetty because most of them were assembled in the old Dalgety Wool Stores in Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
Best regards, John Page, Australia
Welcome Mark, Model T's are a lot of fun on 3 levels, firstly learning to drive them, secondly learning to fix/restore them and thirdly I personally find the history around them very absorbing. This forum and the people engaged in it are absolutely fabulous. Yes I do believe it is a Dalgety as John says, same as the one in my profile which I bought about 18 months ago. If you search "Dalgety" on this forum there is some very interesting history of Dalgety's. Do you know any history of your car's ownership ? It looks to be in very good original condition. Would love to see more photos if you get a chance to post them - especially would love to see a side profile shot with the top up - the one on mine seems to be quite different from others I have looked at and I plan to fix it if I can be sure what is correct, cheers, Brian, Melbourne Australia
Great to see another 1925 "Dalgety" car survive. Looks fabulous, enjoy her and have heaps of fun!
Brian.
here is an original press photo of the Dalgety Ford from 1925.
And another.Chris.
A couple of people on FaceBook have also said its a Dalgety T. The engine number is C556613 which I believe dates it to April 1925. I think this date would be about right for Dalgety.
Here is a photo showing the interior of the front passenger door. I believe this is typical for a Dalgety Ford.
Here is another photo of the interior:
Mark, the Dalgety 1925 cars have two clearly distinguishing features. Being the first body style common to all states, they differ from previous Duncan and Fraser Adelaide bodies in that there is no spacer board between the cowl and the lower windscreen, and secondly, all the door hinges are concealed. A less obvious indicator that the car is a Dalgety 25 model is a square fuel tank under the seat.
You have scored a very nice car there. Are the wheels 21" or 23"? The front ones look to be Hayes brand going on the hub style, but the rear brake drum looks huge.
Allan from down under.
Thanks to everyone for their encouragement and compliments.
I'll be even more excited when I manage to get it going but I've posted about my lack of buzz in another thread.
Allan, thanks for info on distinguishing features and yes, it has a rectangular fuel tank under the front seat.
I measure the wheels at 23" and all 4 are Hayes.
Mark Williamson
Taree, NSW, AUSTRALIA
Chris,
Is the photo you posted (NSW rego AG07PZ) your car?
The windscreen looks different from mine. I have two basically equal sized halves whereas the bottom "half" of your windscreen appears much smaller than the top half.
I like your cowl lights and would like to put some on my car but that can wait.
Allan, it has Rocky M brakes.
Mark,
The cowl light were standard with the non starter cars apparently, which mine is. I wonder how many different windscreens the Dalgety tourers had. Anyone know? Chris.
Mark, Don't worry about being strange as all of us are strange down under thats why all of our US friends are so jealous of us as they are quite normal and that must be very boring. I have a Dalgety Pick up called Tilly and Tilly and I go out almost every day and I don't find that strange at all. Even Bob Trevan is not strange very different but not strange, Warwick Landy is a bit strange but then he is pure Victorian and they are different but at least he is not a Cockroach from NSW. Now there is a reason for Chris to start a debate that will throughly confuse our US cousins. Go the Pies.
Doug
Doug, the only pies worth going for are the ones baked on site by the Danish Pastry van at the recent ASBA sheep show at Bendigo.
Allan from down under.
Well spotted Mark. Chris's windscreen combination is not typical. When Duncan and Fraser were building the standard bodies which preceded the Dalgety types, you could get variations. I have worked on one such car which had a one piece windscreen. To get variations on the 25 models is not something I can put a finger on.
Allan from down under.
PS, When the concealed hinges were introduced, as they were self limiting in how far they opened, the check straps on the doors were deleted. Your trimmer has given you some insurance against opening your doors too far.
Alan,
My Tilly has the Dalgety doors which are great because I remove them every time I need to get into the interior or floor area. Another idea where we lead the US, notice they aren't bighting yet? Do your pies have crow meat in them? How do you keep the sand out of your pies? I went to the Bendigo sheep show in my Shell Racing days imagine mixing racing Fords & stud rams, a lot of fun. Have you seen my book yet David Chantrell has one it has photo's of Tilly in it.
Thanks for the compliment Doug, yes we are all a bit strange but it is the T's that bring us all together! Mark has chosen well and has a great Victorian T to drive and enjoy! It is a nice one with those Hayes wire Wheels and the RM brakes. Do you still have copies of your book Doug? Must buy one for my T library.
Thanks everyone for your encouragement and information. I managed to get her started tonight and now need to work up the courage to take it for a drive.
Fantastic, exciting to see and I know you will get years of enjoyment with this car. Can't wait to see more.
Also, love the color.
All this talk about buying a Model T is getting me to thinking and my wife will tell you "that's never a good thing". Sure hope Sambuca is misbehavin out in the barn, I got an empty stall that sure could use a good liken T in it.
Happy motoring,
Warren
Great to hear you got it running Mark, Chris.
Warwick, email your postal address and I will post you a copy and payment details. i realised yesterday that I had met Mark when he was based in Warwick. Mark works for a global organisation but he is as Aussie as a SAO biscuit. Who can work that out? It's great to welcome him to the forum and the fold