The old car bug, Where did it start for you.

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2014: The old car bug, Where did it start for you.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Will Copeland - Trenton, New Jersey on Tuesday, December 02, 2014 - 01:58 pm:

I was talking to a friend the other day about old cars and he asked how it started with me. So here's my story. Back when I was around ten my dad let me take apart an old lawn mower, I found it interesting what was inside of that engine although none of made any sense at the time. As time went on my mechanic's got better and my quest for older machines grew stronger. I did love those old reel mowers. I think at one point I owned every brand there was. Then I won a RE Olds mower at an auction. This mower had a small flywheel engine on it. Well that sparked my new interest in hit and miss engines. This hobbie stayed strong until my late 30's with about 8 differant engines of all horsepowers. I then bought an old 64 Ford pick up to haul my engines to shows.That old truck was a blast and soon I bought 67 Ford Galaxie convertible but still stayed with the hit and miss engine. Then one day while at a engine show a guy drove past my spot with a Fordson model F tractor with a for sale sign on it. I just had to ask! Went home that night with my new Fordson tractor. My two boys just loved it. We would take it to farm shows and just drive it all day. Then one summer at the Washington Cross park farm show in NJ a guy offered me a ride in a Model T. I cant remember what year it was or much about it other than it was an open top car but I was hooked. A year later I had my first Model T. A 1923 TT and did I ever love that truck. Two years later and got my 1919 Touring car then in another year got my Model T converted Smith Form a Truck. This last summer I sold off all my collections but kept the 1919 Model T touring car. Well that was my road to the Model T. Sometimes I have to wonder, What if when I was ten years old if my father had not let me tear apart that old lawnmower where I would be today?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Burger in Spokane on Tuesday, December 02, 2014 - 03:55 pm:

Great question, with a zillion different answers.

My interest is for all things old and rusty, weathered and turning back to dust ... barns, old fence lines, cars, architecture,
hardware, the more complex and ornate, the better.

My parents told me that by the time I was three I could name every car on the road for make and year. I remember them
"showing off" this "skill" to their friends.

But the origins of my love for old stuff is lost in the early mists of my life. I remember going down to the canal and laying
in the alyssum, looking up at the power pole there and studying the weathered wood, the rusty metal hardware, and those
sparkly glass things. On other occasions, I recall just standing on the old boardwalk in some Gold Country ghost town and
watching the sun glint off the glass and chrome of the passing cars. Model T's era cars were still occasionally seen on the
road, and I remember old curmudgeons holding up traffic with a giant load of something on a rickety old TT flatbed. It was
all "poison in the well". Been sick with it from Day One. What can I say ? :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jerry VanOoteghem on Tuesday, December 02, 2014 - 04:01 pm:

"alyssum"

... or asylum?



To answer the OP, I was born into it.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Roar Sand on Tuesday, December 02, 2014 - 04:05 pm:

The fascination with anything mechanical started early and was nurtured by an Erector Set Christmas gift. One box wasn't enough, so I saved my allowance, supplemented with money from birthdays and more Christmases. My dad, who was severely handicapped from polio as a toddler, had a Monet three wheeled motorcycle with a two stroke engine. That was interesting enough, but when right after WWII he bought a 1938 FIAT 508C, my interest in cars grew exponentially. I learned to drive on that FIAT. At 9, I could not manage coordinating the clutch and throttle, but a year later it worked for me. I was 14 when my dad bought a new Beetle, the first of five. Yes, a lot of people complained about the weak heater in those, but it was heaven when you came from a car with thermosiphon cooling system and no heater at all, just like the Model T.
Old cars and trucks were common in our neighborhood in those years. I had two uncles who had Model A cars, and my dad and one of his brothers had an AA truck in their business. One uncle had a '29 Nash, which he later traded for a Lincoln Zephyr. As a kid I used to watch traffic from our second story apartment window. A solid rubber tired Mack with chain drive and open "C" type cab hauling bricks came by on a regular basis, and a Franklin sedan was a regular during rush hour.
When in high school thoughts turned to having my own car. It didn't happen until my senior year. I kept an eye on the ads in the paper. Went to look at a Hudson with a convertible sedan body. It could have become a great car, but was too far gone. I spent a bit of effort taking it down off the blocks and pumping air in the tires. I took the top off the vacuum tank and filled it with gas and filled the radiator with water. With a borrowed battery, we got it started, and I actually drove it a few hundred meters. The water manifold going from the radiator to the cylinder head on that straight 8 had several rust holes, spraying water all over. Surprisingly it didn't short out the ignition. When moving, there were sounds from the rear axle that sounded ominous. No, I gave up on that one, but then my girlfriend and I went to look at a Model T. The owner got in, as we were standing out in front of it, hit the starter, and when she started chugging, the whole car swayed from side to side. We were sold, and thus i became the owner of a 1926 Model T Touring. The dufus at the DMV office insisted that I have parking lights, so I made visits to junk yards looking for something suitable. Wish I could be there today. I saw many very interesting cars; a Lancia Lambda with some fire damage, a four cylinder Chevrolet with a dual cowl phaeton body, an SS Airline Coupe, and many others. Ended up picking the side lights off, what I think was, a 28 Buick and mounted them on my T.
Sorry about the rant, but a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Norman T. Kling on Tuesday, December 02, 2014 - 04:19 pm:

When I was growing up, there were several Model T's which drove past our house every day, and I could hear the sound when they started out from the stop sign about 2 blocks from our house. My grandparents had a Model A coupe which had been made into a pickup. I understand that Model A had been bought new when my dad was in college. The A was about 12 years old at that time and they had a furniture business and carried the furniture on the truck. Later my dad had that same Model A and then gave it to his brother my uncle. That is the car I learned to drive, and later got one of my own. Eventually I had 13 Model A's (at various times)and was a charter member of the Model A Ford Club of America. Walt Rosenthal helped us start that club. The Model A's were daily drivers and we even took 1000 mile trips in them.

When we moved here to Alpine, it was about 30 miles each commute to work and I decided to get a newer car, so sold the last of the A's and bought a Dodge Dart. I actually thought the slant 6 would become the "Modern Model A", unfortunately I was wrong.

One day a lady at my office who knew I liked old cars told me about one she saw with a for sale sign on it. It turned out to be my first Model T. That was 26 years ago. Now I have 3 of them. I restored the first two and bought the third from an estate sale.
Norm


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Michael R Beary on Tuesday, December 02, 2014 - 05:02 pm:

I was in the 6th grade when dad and uncle Joe brought home a 26 coupe. My brother won it in a family card game after dad passed. I stayed out of the game. I have several Model T's and A's.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tom Magee on Tuesday, December 02, 2014 - 05:18 pm:

My grandfather took me to the start of the Santa Clara Valley MTFC's Endurance Run in 1971 when I was 8. Soon after that John Bertolotti (past MTFCA prez) took me for a ride in his speedster. I was hooked. I was the riding mechanic in the speedster my grandfather built for the 1973 Endurance Run.

I have been hooked on old cars, especially T speedsters and racers ever since. Just wish I had more money to afford all those great speed parts. Oh, I also love the original Datsun 240Z. I have still have my 1972 Z which I bought when I was high school.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ryan Glowacki on Tuesday, December 02, 2014 - 05:19 pm:

For me it started with 1:25 scale plastic model kits I built growing up. For whatever reason, while my brother would build "modern" cars or lowriders, I was building Model T's, A's, and cars from the 50's. I never thought I would own something as old as a Model T, but I made sure (in the 90's) that my first car was from the 50's. I still have it 15 years later.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dick Lodge - St Louis MO on Tuesday, December 02, 2014 - 05:20 pm:

In the late forties, we lived about two miles from my grandparents in University City, MO (a suburb of St. Louis). My grandparents' next-door neighbors were the Murphy family, who had four teenage sons and a daughter. They boys had pooled their money and had bought a Model T touring car. I was about 6 or 7 and they would take me for rides in the car. I never became much of a mechanic, but I loved the old cars (and still do).





I'm on the left in the second picture. (Nice hat....)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Rob Patterson (AUS) on Tuesday, December 02, 2014 - 05:49 pm:

In 1958 my father and I (aged 7) dug up the remains of a 1901 curved dash Olds from the banks of a creek. I held a concrete sifter for him while he shoveled dirt, and we found every nut and bolt for that car, except the gearbox, which we found about 10 years later.
I suppose that's when the old car bug bit me first. Later, in 1962, I was with him when we found the Model T my wife and I own now.
Cheers,
Rob


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By george house on Tuesday, December 02, 2014 - 05:50 pm:

When I was a sophomore in h.s. my nephew (6 months my senior) wanted to build a hot rod. I did too. But we had no money and had to rely on our parents so we thought we should firstly get their approval for this project. Well, my sister and her husband gave Craig their approval and commitment to fund it but my folks (his grandparents) wouldn't. Time went on and he obtained a '54 Chrysler hemi, a catalog frame and blue fibreglass roadster bucket and other bits. I helped him put it together but realized I had no stock in it and this caused me to be continually dour and morose. After about a year, mother and dad realized this and bought me a '23 Ford touring from the big city 32 miles to the south. It ran on 3 cylinders and I had no idea there was so many 'mountains' between San Antonio and my hometown. I eagerly dove into the research on my car and questioned a number of old men who used to work in the local Ford dealership in the 20's. To cut to the chase; we both drove our very different autos to school our senior year and he only squired around 1 cheerleader and I had 3 majorettes!! That makes me the winner! That was '68 and I now have amassed a very enjoyable albeit modest collection.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Doolittle on Tuesday, December 02, 2014 - 06:09 pm:

I always wanted a hot GTO.

First, at age 21, I got married. No money for a GTO.

Next, I got drafted and sent to Vietnam. No place to drive a GTO, or the money.

Next, I was discharged a few weeks before Christmas and my wife wanted to go to the local Christmas parade. There were lots of GTO's present and a single Model T. That is when the T bug hit me and I lost the desire for a GTO. A TT flatbed found me and I found the money.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Craig Anderson, central Wisconsin on Tuesday, December 02, 2014 - 06:21 pm:

It started for me when I was in my mid to early teens when this car was dragged from the basement of the Ford dealership we used to have in town.
I fell in love with it then and it took over 40 years for me to do something about it.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tim Wrenn on Tuesday, December 02, 2014 - 07:56 pm:

Craig, I'm like you....loved antique cars since high school...just took 'till I got into my 50's to decide time was running out quicker than one thinks so time to (blank) or get off the pot! So I jumped in pretty much feet first! No doubt I'll die in the Model T poorhouse, but I'm having fun doing it! :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Derek Kiefer - Mantorville, MN on Tuesday, December 02, 2014 - 08:13 pm:

Dad was into 50s and 60s Chevys, and always had a few of them around since well before I existed. I was 8 when my parents found and bought the 1914 Touring that my great-grandparents bought new.

Still into the Chevy musclecars and the Model Ts. :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Rob from Nova Scotia on Tuesday, December 02, 2014 - 08:20 pm:

My father had a 57 Ford in the garage when I was growing up, and he encouraged me to play in and around it. The car still exists, and I'm trying to get it back


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By James J. Lyons III - West Virginia on Tuesday, December 02, 2014 - 08:30 pm:

IT started for me when I was a toddler. I would ride in the back seat of my Grandfathers 1915 Hudson as we toured Maryland, Virginia and PA. My earliest memory was Hershey, 1968. I was 4. My Grandfather also had a 1925 Model T coupe. He purchased it in 1948 while he was a DC policeman and working his beat. He saw the car running the streets of Washington and made an offer. I am now the owner of that car.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kevin Whelihan on Tuesday, December 02, 2014 - 08:37 pm:

I thank my Grandfather who instilled a love of all things mechanical of his era: steam tractors, steam engines, his model T's, and his prized Stanley steam car. As a kid he took me to every old car event, steam threshing show, steam train ride he could. I was always his willing student and learned as much as I could digest. And while I wanted one since childhood, I didn't get my first Model T until two years ago at age 59. Every time I put a wrench to it or get behind the wheel I smile thinking of him.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John H. Nichols on Tuesday, December 02, 2014 - 09:26 pm:

Growing up with a father who drove a 1926 Essex
Sedan for a family car and a 1928 Model A pickup
for work around our place and used for cutting wood. Then my older brother came home with a model T Roadster Pickup which he and our cousin Donnie Fuller ( " Doodle Bug, Sr ) drove around.
My next brush with a T ( almost )was in 1966 after returning from Vietnam. I was assigned to the US Army Transportation School as an Aviation Airframe Repair Instructor. Instructor training took about two weeks and after the first day you learned how to write a lesson plan for a five minute presentation the next day. OK so far
no problems. Then the other instructor trainee
from my branch presented a class on the teardown and rebuild of a model T transmission. He continued the class with his 15, and 25 minute
which included a practical demonstration, with an actual Transmission which he had painted parts
to show what they looked like when assembled.
Needless to say his class was very professional
and actually imparted some learning. Later I learned he had given the same classes in other Army schools where he taught. In 1978 I returned to The Army Transportation School, where I would extol the virtues of the UH-60A Blackhawk over the UH-1B Huey. I always began my introduction
with the Statement, Flying in a Blackhawk is like
riding in a Cadillac, but you should remember that
the UH-1 Huey can be compared to a Model T. Cheap,
($250,00 minus avionics) but was easily repaired,
and sometimes cantankerous to operate. In 2000
I purchased my first model T chassis and finally
two years ago was able to begin doing what needs to be done.

John


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David Dewey, N. California on Tuesday, December 02, 2014 - 10:15 pm:

I've always been interested in things mechanical, but my car interest? Well, I remember when I was about 4 or 5 there was this old car sitting behind Ma Greens Koffee Kup, the little cafe on my folks' resort. It was full of cardboard boxes and somewhat settled down in the dirt. I would slide down the front fenders. When I was about 10 years old, my brothers pulled it out of the dirt and started "fixing it up" for Ma Green. I found out that when Mr. Green died in 1954 (I was a year old), the car was left where he parked it. Well, my brothers took the car apart, and then went on to other things--Ma Green died, but before she did, she signed the car over to my Dad & brothers--and my dad turned in the ORIGINAL Pink Slip to get the title changed (later, he realized he could have claimed it was "lost" and kept it--oh well)
That Old Car was/is a 1930 Model A Sport Coupe. When I was in 8th grade I took over the restoration, and was able to drive the unfinished car to my High School graduation.
Years ago Tom Sharpsteen taught me how to drive a Model T, and that lesson got me the T Bug, much to my A friends' dismay! No, I'm not letting go of Ma Green (My name for the A), but I know have 3 Ts, all in various states of preservation/ deterioration. For some reason, my interest has been more focused on "Brass Era" cars, and Steam Cars than later cars (Tucker is an exception--my dad had a deposit on one, and I recently found his order receipt!).
As she sat when I was young Ma Green 1963
Ma Green in front of her cafe Ma Green herself
Summer, 1971 Summer of '71
1976, on the set of Baby Blue Marine
Baby Blue Marine
Hmm most recent pic I could find on this computer!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Jelf, Parkerfield KS on Tuesday, December 02, 2014 - 10:16 pm:

I came late to the game. I always liked old stuff, but didn't get terribly interested in cars. I think I was in high school when I spotted a 1927 Model T coupe for sale. I tried to talk my folks into it, but in those days $700 was a lot for what they considered just another used car. No soap. When I got home from Korea in 1966 I bought a 1953 Willys 4WD pickup with a 283 Chebby engine. Had fun with it until I fell asleep and wrapped it around a tree. In 1978 I met The Packard, and that got me started in old cars. http://dauntlessgeezer.com/DG49.html Around 1991 I saw a Hemmings ad for a 1926 T chassis for sale. I went and hauled it home, along with a roadster body, and started gathering parts for a roadster pickup. About that time, though, I was starting up my sign business and had no time for the T or anything like it. So it became a future project haunting my barn, and so it remains. By 2007 I had sold the sign business and was working only 40 hours a week instead of the previous 60 to 70, and seeing an ad for a TT project I went to Arkansas and hauled it home. I've done more work on it than on the RP, but it remains a project too. A year later I got my first drivable, mostly complete T, the 1923 touring. In 2011 I brought home the 1915 Roadster, and in 2012 I fetched the 1923 Fordor from Arizona. Now I'm out of space and up to my eyeballs in enough projects to last until my estate sale.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Matthew Atchinson on Tuesday, December 02, 2014 - 10:24 pm:

My grandparents used to babysit my brother (may he rest in peace), sister and I when we were kids since our parents work a lot. My grandfather has been restoring Model T's since the mid 50s and still had his 1923 Model T Roadster. It was lov at first sight. Grandpa would ask for help on the car and take me for rides. And when I was tired I would curl up on the leather seat and fall asleep in that T. My grandfather was so taken by my love for the hobby that he had me start building my chassis when I was nine years old. Started with just a frame and he's supplies most of the parts to put it together (his garage is a treasure trove of T parts, and it's spilled into the patio and backyard). Never looked back since and I have learned a lot of the mechanics of the Model T. Now I'm excited to maybe be able to help him and I both out by selling my current chassis and help him re buy the first Model T he ever restored. A 1926 coupe. That's the car that got HIM into the hobby 60 years ago and it would be an honor to co own it with him and bring it back into its restorer's hands.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Chuck Hoffman - Gold Country of Calif. on Tuesday, December 02, 2014 - 10:37 pm:

Started for me when I got my drivers license and couldn't afford a car. My only choice was to piece together a '40 Ford with junkyard parts. Kind of got into my blood.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Rob Heyen on Tuesday, December 02, 2014 - 10:41 pm:

In 1969 my dad and I put an old T back together on our farm. He grew up with a T and horses, so both were just work tools. We had the T going in no time and I drove it to school at age 14 (school permit). When I turned 16 I had enough cash to buy a 69 Camaro and that was the end of the T.

Years later we sold the T on Dad's farm sale. Several years after that we were at a car show and I was whining to my wife about how I would like to have an antique car again. She said "go ahead and buy one."

About fifteen cars later we have two T's, an N and K. It's been quite an old car journey.....


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ed Baudoux on Tuesday, December 02, 2014 - 10:46 pm:

Dad bought our Fordor in 1960, five years before I was born. It sat in the back room of his busy auto repair garage for many years. I climbed all over it as a child. He had owned a few T's back in their day, but this one was the only one I knew up close and personal. In high school, Bob Scherzer cultivated the T bug by letting us kids work on parts for his 24 touring. Thanks to this forum and our own Don Booth, the childhood dreams are reality. Our car is done and setting in my garage.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Eric Hylen- Central Minnesota on Tuesday, December 02, 2014 - 10:56 pm:

When I was a child, my grandfather had a worn out pice of junk, Model T Roadster in his garage. We puttered with it a few times a year, but never got to drive it. I suppose I was about 12 years old the first time I was able to crank start it myself. I was hooked.

I messed around with 60s Chevys for years and restored a couple of old motorcycles and a '71 Chevy Cheyenne. Then, Grampa gave the Model T to my folks and I.

We got the T running with help from a friend who happened to belong to the local Model T Club. After a few drives around the neighborhood, we realized that it needed a total restoration. Dad and I restored every nut and bolt and came up with a nice tribute to Grampa.

I've since owned a bunch of Ts and recently picked up an '08 Maxwell 2 cylinder car. I guess I'm in the old car hobby for good.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dave Hjortnaes, Men Falls, WI on Wednesday, December 03, 2014 - 12:16 am:

I had some time to waste, so I went to Greenfield Village. The place was pretty empty and a nice guy gave me a ride in a T. I knew then that I needed one of these. Now I have 2 and a half.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim Kelsey on Wednesday, December 03, 2014 - 12:26 am:

My late father and his brother were into antique cars as long as I can remember. I now own Dad's 1917 Overland, which he never restored and I plan on restoring after the T is finished.

We used to tour in his 1913 Michigan when I was young. I can remember several HCC tours in it and remember getting windblown in the back seat. It was because of that experience that I have always wanted a closed car - and I have exactly that! The photo of the Michigan was taken in 1975 at the Connell Days Parade - I am sitting in the back with my brother. The other photo is Dad's 1905 Reo, taken in 1976; my uncle had the Buick. Dad sold both of his cars, so sadly, they are no longer in the family.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bob Coiro on Wednesday, December 03, 2014 - 01:37 am:

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/80257/94592.html?1244864080


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve McClelland on Wednesday, December 03, 2014 - 11:50 am:

As I remember, I was approx: 5-6 years old when my Dad bought a piece of an old 1930 Model A Tudor sedan from a local junk yard, that was back in 1969-1970.
We would go back and fourth to most of all the junk yards in our area on the weekends and or follow any lead that anyone talked about where they seen an old car sitting in a yard, barn, or wooded area. By the time I turned 7 we was driving the A that my Dad had put together from parts from all over the county, parts were expensive back then; I remember Dad talking about giving $5-$10 bucks ea. for fenders and $35 for an engine and trans from a sawmill. ect.... Somewhere around age 12-13 the first of the T's started showing up.
I'm now 50 years old so I've had some sort of antique car in my life for close to 45 years Thanks to my Dad. So as long as I can remember we've always had a antique car in the garage, I guess I can say it's all his fault that I have rust running through my blood.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Aldrich Orting Wa on Wednesday, December 03, 2014 - 11:53 am:

Got into the old car game late in life to. Always liked old things but wife #3 came along, all the kids are gone, and we started looking at old cars.

I was thinking 50's-60's Thunderbird's and she was thinking 50's-60's Corvettes or Camaro's.

A friend gave her a ride in his 26 T pick up and she loved it. Two years later he said he had found a T for us. It was a 23 Runabout which now resides in our garage along with a 27 Touring, 26 Tudor and 15 T pickup all of which are being kept company by a 1929 Model A Sport Coupe.

Oh... did I forget the 1925 T Coupe? At least it is looking for a new home...


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Larry Smith on Wednesday, December 03, 2014 - 12:04 pm:

When I was 7 years old my parents gave me a Maxwell pull toy that had a cable attached to it and it squeeked! I've been hooked ever since. I guess that was probably around 1950. I've got three T's now, all driveable.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By G.R.Cheshire on Wednesday, December 03, 2014 - 12:56 pm:

I have always liked to "Piddle" with things when I was about 5 dad was a State Trooper and told everyone how when he complained that while directing traffic with his wands the light would go out until he "Frammed" it on his boot I took a cardboard roll from a paper towel roll and made it where it would hold the batteries snug and he had no more problems. Wind up alarm clocks, coo coo clocks and grandfather clocks were and still are fascinating.I didn't get "into" old cars as a hobby until I could afford to keep more than 2 dependable cars licensed and insured at one time I think I was around 50 but I have been working on other peoples old cars as long as I can remember.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bob Coiro on Wednesday, December 03, 2014 - 01:35 pm:



When I was about seven years old, my family visited Henry Austin Clark Jr.'s
Long Island Automotive Museum and that's where I got bit by The Antique Car Bug.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo6jh1T6nBo


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Jelf, Parkerfield KS on Wednesday, December 03, 2014 - 01:46 pm:

What a shame, to lose a treasure like that. :-(


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Richard Eagle Ida Fls on Wednesday, December 03, 2014 - 02:36 pm:

I was about five years old when a fireman let me sit in the big leather seat of an American La France fire truck. I was never the same. I spied a 20's Chevy sedan a few years later and the shape of it really haunted me. Then in my teen's the J. C. Whitney catalogs and the plastic model cars grabbed my attention. I mowed lawns all summer when I was 14 to buy a $200 Model A.

Rich


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David Chantrell - Adelaide, Australia on Wednesday, December 03, 2014 - 03:20 pm:

I grew up in a family that already had model 'T's. I am the 3rd generation for my family and I still love them today. I had the pleasure as a kid to have grown up with Greg Mahon, Allan Bennett, Bob Sellar, Roy Shelton, Tony Russell and many others including the late Art Potter, the late Ian Todhunter, the late John Lasscock and later in life the late Arthur Mullins. Thank you to my late Pop and dad for letting the little boy play at such a young age.

Adelaide is a great place to be and drive a model 'T'!!!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bob Coiro on Wednesday, December 03, 2014 - 03:54 pm:

Steve, you're so right. My Dad used to drive our family to the museum about every two years and it really was time machine magic. -Those quonset huts were stuffed to the gills with Brass-Era treasures—some restored, some not. Of those that weren't, many were nevertheless running (including the fire engine which was used to ride families around on the dirt trails behind the museum) and the patina and dust on them emphasized what, in human terms, might be thought of as experience and wisdom. -Touching that stuff is different than touching a fresh, pristine—and some might say sterile—restoration.

When I was courting my wife-to-be, we'd celebrate the coming of each spring season by taking a drive out to the museum and we'd have continued to do so as a married couple had the place not closed down. -The dispersion of such a concentrated collection of original-condition and stock-condition cars was indeed a great loss.

To most Long Islanders, the law which prohibits the posting of billboards and advertisements here is quite a blessing. -The scenery benefits enormously, as one might imagine. -The downside was that the Long Island Automotive Museum couldn't be advertised that way and attendance was sparse. -I can't speak about this next thing first hand, but have been told by reliable people that Mr. Clark's descendants weren't car people and hadn't sufficient interest to perpetuate the establishment.

Anyway... ain't no doubt but that a lot of my generation got bit by the bug there.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Burger in Spokane on Wednesday, December 03, 2014 - 06:20 pm:

I was given a copy of a book of compiled Old Car Weekly articles and learned of HAC through his contributions. Nothing else in that
book was as fascinating as his stories of pulling ancient cars out of barns and ravines where he found them. I was just a teen, but could
readily identify with seeing those old abandon relics around where I lived, and lamented that some crazy old coots like HAC didn't live
nearby for me to sponge up all that knowledge from.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Philip Berg on Wednesday, December 03, 2014 - 07:04 pm:

Indirectly my G'pa planted a seed inside of me that finally took hold at age 47 when I brought home his 16 coupelet. Directly I'll give credit to my Dad who had a collection of Popular Mechanics and Popular Science magazines. I think I ready everyone at least ten times growing up. Those magazines sparked my interest in mechanical devices which led me to become a motor head at a very young age. Even though my Dad is not a motor head he does have an interest in mechanical devices and technology that we share.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Garrison on Wednesday, December 03, 2014 - 07:52 pm:

Dad worked in the mines and worked in the woods logging. He also did some custom log hauling. I can't recall ever seeing him take his vehicles to a mechanic to have something repaired. He did it himself until I was 6 years old. At that point Dad told me come on it's time for you to earn your keep. And that's when I started fetching and turning wrenches. I found out I liked doing that kind of work and stuck with it until now.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dennis R on Wednesday, December 03, 2014 - 11:47 pm:

I come by it honestly, I got it from my Dad. I grew up around Model A's, T's, dune buggies, old tractors etc. Dad always had a soft spot for Model T's. I guess I got that from him too. He passed away way too young and I still miss him. The first time I got my "new" T started, I was looking around for him with that grin of his...


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Alan George Long on Thursday, December 04, 2014 - 12:18 am:

My father worked at the Ford plant in Western Australia, was a amature mechanic fixing the 3 Model T's for the Grand parents. I did my motor mechanic apprenticeship at a Ford Dealership and inherited one T. I had no chance but get hooked!!!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Christopher Vasconcelos in Fairhaven, MA on Thursday, December 04, 2014 - 09:36 am:

I am a Henry Ford guy...NOT a car guy. I was never a car guy and never really cared about what type of car I drove.

I started building miniature air and steam engines as a hobby about 6 years ago. My first gas engine was Henry Ford's first stationary engine (plumbing engine). THAT is what started the "T" interest for me, Henry Ford's first engine.

Now I'm building his first car engine (Quadricycle).

Having read nearly every book by him and about him I soon realized that the Model T was his most favorite for many obvious reasons.

I had to have a T of my own. The mechanical simplicity of the car is more interesting to me than the outside body. I am restoring my car by myself with my own two hands (I'm not having someone else work on it, I'm not paying someone else to paint it, I'm not paying someone else to do any welding, and I'm not paying anyone to wire it. This way when I tell people that I restored it I'm being honest with them...the second I got it home I was hooked.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Gary Schreiber- Santa Isabel Ecuador on Thursday, December 04, 2014 - 11:19 am:

I spent my early childhood on farms and always had a fascination with anything that whirred, churned or belched smoke. It was probably 64 or 65 when a family friend who was also a mortician offered me a 1947 Buick stretched sedan that was no longer prestigious enough for use as a funeral procession family car and was just sitting on their family farm in Bedford, NH. That was the beginning for me. The Buick was way too big and in my parents way so I traded it for a Renault Dauphine. By 68 I was heavily into vintage VW"s and a restorer and collector till 2004 when we left New England. The T affliction hit in 2006 when we bought our first of 3, a 27 roadster. There is a lot of vintage tin here in Ecuador and we are considering looking into a project. Lots of Brazilian VW's so who knows :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Charlie B actually in Toms River N.J. on Thursday, December 04, 2014 - 12:00 pm:

As a youngster in the early 60's the family made regular trips to relatives we has on Long Island. In the 4 car barn/garage behind the main house was a '19 Touring bought by my cousin's uncle before WW2. I was never around but could be found easily in that barn. I actually don't know what the attraction was but there you go. The car is owned now buy my cousin and it still in the family. Fully restored. Got to drive it once years later on a visit before I ever owned a T.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Colin Mavins on Thursday, December 04, 2014 - 01:52 pm:

I was born with it Mom and Dad are founding members of the local club in 1960. Family vacations were car tours,week ends were car tours. The 1947 Chrysler was purchased in 58,the model t in 60 and me in 61.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Fred Houston, Broken Arrow, OK on Thursday, December 04, 2014 - 02:03 pm:

My Dad was a pumper in the early Oklahoma oil fields; a job that required mechanical talents. About 1942, my dad purchased two Model A Ford Coupes and proceeded to make one good Coupe. Not exactly a coupe as the rumble seat was removed and replaced with a wooden pickup bed. Perfect for oil field work. I was 9 years old and got to help. Oil field workers of the day were pretty much GM buyers as they were union folks that didn’t take too kindly to Henry Ford’s anti- union activities. My earliest memory is going with dad to pick up a brand new 37 Chevy 2 door. In addition, dad was the go- to guy to repair Chevys in the area. Naturally I got to wash all the parts in drip gasoline. Not a bad job except in the winter and below freezing drip gasoline was damn cold.
Advance forward to my senior year in high school. The School bus route took us past a farmer’s home where a 1926 T Runabout was rotting away next to the barn. He wouldn’t take less than $25….., but she was all mine. I went home and told dad what I’d done. He said, “Don’t you bring that SOB around here.” But he later helped me bring it home.
On to Oklahoma State where I spent two years getting my A & E Aircraft mechanics ticket. Drafted 53-55 as Army aircraft mechanic, now armed with the GI bill, it’s back to Oklahoma State where I graduated in 1958 with a degree in Economics. We have lived happily ever since 1950 studying all aspects if the Model T Ford Hobby; which I could not have done without the support of my wonderful wife, Lavina.
Lavina and I, and now with children Jan and Bill, in a 1924 touring, attended our first National Tour in Denver in 1971 where we saw our first Speedster and met life- long friend Wayne Atkinson. I went completely nuts over speedsters and have not yet recovered.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Darren J Wallace on Thursday, December 04, 2014 - 10:44 pm:

Thanks Grandpa! Here's my humble beginnings!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Darren J Wallace on Thursday, December 04, 2014 - 10:45 pm:

Now:


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