My friend Danny Lorense has been Model T-ing for 40+ years How about you?
About 40 Days for me so far, and loving it.
67 here , cant say i love it but they did feed us for a long time.i like motorcyles the best. charley
The late Vic Labantschnig, member of the St. Louis Model T club, got his first T when he was 15 years old (in 1925). He owned, restored and worked on Model Ts all his life, and was the go-to guy here for advice and parts. This photo was taken when he was 90 and he restored a couple of Ts after that. (One was a '16 Runabout that he did for a local Ford dealer's showroom.) He began to slow down around 95 or 96 and died several months before his 100th birthday. He startled me once when he was helping me with something for my car by suddenly saying something in German ("I cut it twice and it's still too short!"). It turns out he was raised by German-speaking parents...
Over 55 years for me. The ongoing quest to understand these incredible cars and trucks is one thing, but the many wonderful and unique people I've met along the way has been life fulfilling!
I bought our first T in 2006 and eventually they multiplied to 3. Our tenure was brief as we sold them all by 2012 when we retired to Ecuador. I had always wanted one but other automotive hobbies took precedence. I still love them and now live vicariously via others posts and read the forum daily. While I may never have another, I continue learning thru others.
My late father (Feb) had been restoring and collecting for over 50 years !!! Restored his last T beginning at 80 years old .Finished and driving it at age 84 .Passed at 86 yrs old
I got my First "T" in 2012 I am looking for another to keep SaraJane company, so far most of the ones I want are too far away to fetch home in a weekend.
John, the speedster with the '39 grille is pretty darn unique. I like it.
Just for the heck of it, I tried to call Ed Bernstein but it's Sunday and he must have been in Church or visiting a client in jail.
Oh, I forgot to tell ya, 5 years.
2 years now and enjoying every minute.
Here I am riding shotgun in 1959. That's 57 years ago. My first words reportedly were Model T and Model A.
Darn lawyers. I almost didn't post because of that.
I've been riding in our TT since I was an infant. It's the first thing I ever drove, at which time I was about 12 years old. So, using the first time I drove it as a point of beginning, I guess it's about 56 years and counting.
Maybe I'm not quite a novice anymore, but still pretty green. I bought my 26 RP project about 25 years ago but was too busy to do anything with it. Got serious about 9 years ago and bought a 24 TT project (2007), 23 touring (2008), 15 roadster (2011), and 23 Fordor (2012). That's more than enough. Out of dough, out of time, out of space.
I brought my first Model t home Thanksgiving Day 1974. So almost 42 years now.
The cars are interesting, but I really like the people I have met along the way.
Herb
Got my first T spring of 2012. Trying to make up for lost time..now have 4 after selling my 5th, the TT firetruck.
Got my first T when I was a sophomore in high school in 1966. So this year is my Golden Anniversary. Down to 8 T s now and just sold that first one a few weeks ago...
My friend Delbert Bultman of Nerstrand Mn. bought his 1926 Model T Roadster in 1943 for $5 at the local scrap yard at age 15. He is still driving it regularly and maintains it. He is 88. That makes 73 years of owning the same Model T. We are members of the T-Totalers of Minnesota. It still has the original matching numbers engine.
52 years next month. This was my first restoration. (Slightly influenced by a Thomas Flyer.)
53 years this summer of 2016.
Summer of '63 got Lizzie running with a new oak wood bed.
My '15 touring came to my house Sept. 8, 1954----and I still have it.
Here I am backing up on a plank in the spring of 1958, the year after I bought my one and only T, a 1926 Touring
I'll say 43 years but I found a pic of me behind the well when I was 18 months old so maybe 55years?
Got my first T...just lots of parts in 1950...then a real car in 1951 at age 13. A 1914 Runabout for $50. Haven't stopped since.
Before restoration...I'm in the driver's seat.
Yep 40 years. Acquired first t April 1971 sophomore in high school, sold it 2005, owned for 34 years. Bought 2nd t September 2010 and still own (6 years). A long strange trip indeed
I started building my first Model T in 1960 at the age of 13 right after my father had taken me to the Long Beach swapmeet. That got me started. I finally had the car completed and running about 3 years later. I had to interrupt the T restoration to fix up my everyday transportation ,a '29 A. I have had many T's and A's since
November 1965
54 years for me
-Don
I've only been in the hobby for 26 years, but I'm 33 so I should be able to enjoy them for another 50 years or more.
since Sept. 29, 1946 when I bought my 1910 T. Of course, if you really like Modelt T Fords, you keep them.. I still have the 1910 today at age 84. that is 70 years.
here are the same people 50 years later. I am at the drivers seat in both.
How long have I been involved with Model T's?
Not long enough.....
That is me, Blackie, and my Dad around 1956 or so. Blackie is our 1915 cut off and it sort of helped raise me. As a kid I used to play for hours in that car. From space ship, to WWI flying machine, to stage coach, to submarine. There was no place Blackie and my imagination couldn't go. Blackie was also the first car I ever drove. And Blackie is still with me -- bringing back lots of good memories of years gone by and memories still to be created in the future. I have about 59 years that I remember riding in or driving in or working on or researching about etc. Model Ts. There were several more years before that -- but I was too young to know what was happening then. There has never been a day in my life that a Model T wasn't some where - some how involved in my life story. And I think my life's been the better because of them and the wonderful people I've met through them.
Respectfully submitted,
Hap l9l5 cut off
I fell in love with Model T's when I was in my mid-teens when the local Ford dealer dragged his Dad's 1911 (I was TOLD it's an '11) Touring from the basement into the show room.
I got into OLD tractors big time for many years until I made the mistake of letting my tractor hobby become an integral part of the business.
When I sold the shop I didn't want to even look at a tractor for two years but I remembered a 1920 T Coupe that had been for sale for a while and only about 6 miles from home.
The owner stopped in at the shop one day when I asked him about it, he still had it, I asked how much and that was that.....my first T which I drove home (on 3 cylinders) on April 9 of 2011.
Then it was the '19 Touring, then a '25 Fordor and finally a '27 Tudor. The Coupe and Fordor are gone but I expect to have the Touring and Tudor for a long LONG time........
My sister at 91, my younger brother at 76 and my self at 84 are still hanging in there. I do not use the 1910 often, but I drive my 1931 Standard Model A Roadster several times a week. Also used my wide bed 1931 A pickup yesterday. I work most every day at our store in Excelsior MN. I am listing a few NOS T parts now and then. Watch for them. Might sell some used goodies also. wait and see.
I bought my 1927 coupe in the summer of 1957. It's still running today .
Royce,you know that I knew you Dad and Mother and I remember you and siblings back in the 1950s. I saw you in MN this year. We plan on Chickashaw in 2017. See you there. This photo is several years old my home on Lake Minnetonka, MN
A short 4 years and have enjoyed every minute thus far. I am 54 and hope I can enjoy them half as long as most of you guys. I am still green and a ask a lot of questions. Love my model A s but I just had to have the model Ts. They are a great piece of car history and the forum is the only way I continue to repair and drive them and without it I wouldn't have been able to own one because there are no T guys here in my area. Tim
1954
This is a fantastic thread. I am loving reading these stories.
Darel,
Lots of great posts and pictures here but I think I like yours the best. Could you write just a little about your motivation to buy a T in 1946? Was anyone doing full blown restorations back then? Could you still get parts at the dealer or independent parts stores? I'm guessing you could since Ford continued to build service replacement engines until the late 30's or so.
26
I was 5 years old when Dad restored this car. He sold it when I was 8 years old to buy a 1911.the 1916 inspired me to build one of my own which I did at 16 years old. I have had a number of T's but now I have the one that started it all for me 42 years ago. Yes, I am 47 and even more obsessed with T's than ever!
Model Ts, hmm, if you count the T railcar I upholstered that's back around 1995, got my '16 touring around 1997 (can't find the pics to read the dates!) and it's gone downhill from there! Now, if you count "Old Car" activities, I started on my Model A back in 1967, and drove it in 1971.
The Railcar
A firetruck I repaired in 1997 (the transmission bushings were set too tight and a few other problems, like BAD spokes)
For a while I was distracted with a steam car (I'm not in the picture)
My '16s body loaded in the truck to come home "out of the barn."
The '26 Tudor on the trailer coming home
And finally, Barney--one that runs! (but needs some work before we can drive around)
And that's where things stand now, One Model A, Three Model Ts, parts to build a TT C cab (chassis, body), and a complete chassis (sort of) for a future boatailed speedster--maybe--If I don't get distracted by a steamboat. . .
49 years this summer.
1960
Love reading all the stories. I'm 14 and hope to keep Henry on the road for as long as you guys have kept yours.
1956
I got my car in 1978 after I drove my neighbors 21 touring for a bit...liked it so much I went to the next swap meet and got started on a car of my own. My car is an early 22 touring though.
However, life got in the way of finishing my car and now some 38 years later I'm hoping that sometime this year to be finished (if you ever really do get finish) with the car...would be nice to have a back seat and a top though.
1963-64 Dad bought a 1926 Coupe. I was 11yrs old.
May, 1964 I bought my '27 Fordor and I still have it. I'm re-restoring it now with an engine job, new upholstery and plating. The paint is still very nice...my Wife painted it back in the '80's. She's retired now though and won't paint for me any more.
Keith
I'm 51. So I guess that means 51 years for me. Owned my first one when dad transferred the title for the '21 Roadster to me when I was maybe 20.
It will be 40 years for me in November, 2016
I was 15 when Dad (in the cap) and Mr. Johnson helped me bring my 1919 home.
: ^ )
Keith
1974 for me. Here is a picture taken in 1977 on my way to the Montana 500 with my sister and her then boyfriend, soon to be husband.