Model T vs Model A

[Model T Ron]

I have both and on paper the A wins hands down.....it's faster, holds the road better, bigger etc. etc. That said I find much more joy in driving my Model T. For me I think it's the simplicity, history, and the fun to drive 2 speed. Do not get me wrong I love my A as well but if I could only keep one the T would be the keeper.

Why do you love your T or am I just nuts

[su8pack1]

I have both and enjoy the simplicity of both. Easy to work on and fun to drive.

[JTT3]

Ron I’ve got both plus a few 40/50’s vehicles. Like you, it’s hard to explain but I would rather drive in the Ts. Maybe it’s because anyone that doesn’t have one can’t appreciate the simplistic beauty & reliability of these wonderful first mass produced cars. While I’ll admit that I’m biased about Ts, the love affair of the T model is memorialized in music, film, books photographs & our personal families lives. It set us free to explore further & faster than anything before on a personal basis. Like the title of the book states “The Model T Ford, the car that changed the world”

[Steve Jelf]

I've never had an A, so I don't know much about those modern cars.

[Model T Ron]

John
I also have cars from the 40's 50's and newer but I find myself being drawn to the T. Funny but anything made after WW2 just seems too modern to me.

[Burger in Spokane]

I am very much an aesthetically minded person, and the look of pre-25
cars just strikes me as so much better looking than what came after. It
is somehow wrapped around an Americana vision of the steam era, rural
settings, Victorian architecture, etc., but I can't really place exactly why
the fender form of a '25-and-earlier T "has it", and the smoother, more
rounded form of what came later doesn't, .... but that is how I see it.

The A might drive better in modern traffic and hold certain advantages,
but it always comes back to I like the looks of earlier stuff and a Model A
just looks like a poor attempt at a refined classic, like a 30 Packard or Auburn
to me. If I am going to go for smooth operation at the Model A level, I will
get a Packard and have both the great looks and the smooth operation.

[Wayne Sheldon]

Fifty years ago, I had my first model T (a speedster!), but a lot of friends had model As. I toured with the model A club quite a bit. So, I bought a model A, and drove it home.
I began a restoration, but after less than a year, I couldn't figure out why? I just didn't connect to the model A. Even though I have driven several model As over the years, one friend's A I probably drove more than a thousand miles! Then a couple of my best friends with model As decided they liked model Ts as well. So I sold the A unfinished, and never bought another one.
One thing or another, family issues, medical bills, etc, I have ended up selling one T after another. I have had a string of them over the years. Restored five speedsters, a sedan, a pickup, a TT, and had a nice coupe. I drove all of them, and loved every one of them. And there are two more hiding in the wings.

No other one model car ever changed the world so much as did the model T. As such, it more than any other car really is a huge connection to history. I feel like I am right where I belong when I am behind the wheel of my model T.

[Model T Ron]

Driving my Model T makes me think why Henry did not want to change it. Sure the world was changing and people wanted faster cars with more style and options but the T has a charm that cannot be matched. A few months back I was playing musical cars at my shop as i needed my lift for an oil Change. Long story short my 1915 was sitting in the yard and from about 30 feet I could not stop looking at it......it just has a certain je ne sais quoi

[fredserfass12]

I have owned and driven both the T and A and other antique cars over the years and have enjoyed the T and the A for different reasons. The A is a better road car but the T put the world on wheels and has no equal in the early years of the automobile. In my opinion no automobile museum in the world is complete without a Model T Ford on display. We enjoy driving the Model T for the same reason airline and military pilots enjoy flying the Piper Cub.

[jwilliams81]

I have had my Model A for going on 7 years. It is completely stock (6v generator, no overdrive, no turn signals, no seat belts, no thermostat).
I drive it to work everyday that there is not salt on the roads in the winter. I drive on backroads only so no interstate driving.
I have put 5,000 miles a year on her every year (30,000 miles in 6 years).

I have had my Model T for one solid year (June of 2022). In that time I have put 1,800 miles on her. She is amazing and I find myself wanting to drive her to work daily...but I only drive her to work during the summer and on Fridays.

The Model A to me is almost the oldest car that can keep up in day-to-day traffic. It isn't as annoying to other drivers as the Model T can be. When the stop light turns green I take off at the same speed as modern cars, and there isn't much of a lag between gear shifts.

I think you are correct in that the simplicity of the Model T is a true joy to observe and drive.
My Model T is a 23' Touring car and there is an indescribable elegance around the car. With the top up or down, she just looks elegant.

I love both and I am very blessed to own both. I don't think I could pick if I only had to own one! You can't really pick a favorite child can you?

[TXGOAT2]

Imagine if Ford would have developed a 3 speed planetary transmission for the Model A ... low, second, "neutral" and high on the left pedal ... ball bearing throwout collar...

[Norman Kling]

That Fordor looks like one I had when I was about 18. Mine had a Briggs body. in those days, 1950's, it looked like the "parents" car and no young person wanted to be seen in one. So I went to Ben's Auto Wrecking in Sun Valley, Ca. Ben stockpiled Model A's. They didn't go to the wrecker, but were used for parts for the many T owners in the Los Angeles area. I found a body of a four door Phaeton for $50. Then I got a chisel and a cutting torch and cut up the body of the Fordor and hauled it to a landfill. I cut it up because it wouldn't fit on dad's trailer in one piece! Then I proceeded to install the Phaeton on the chassis. I did an amiture restoration on the Phaeton. We drove it for about 20 years as a daily driver. Even took 2 trips from San Diego to the bay area and one side trip to Yosemite. Finally when we moved out to Alpine which is 30 miles east of San Diego in the hills I decided to sell it because of the long commute to work. I painted it twice over the years.

Phaeton to web.jpg (24.98 KiB) Viewed 6955 times

I got $3,000 for it in 1973. I thought that was an extremely high price for a Model A. Didn't have another old car until 1989 when I bought my first of 3 Model T's. I paid more for them than I sold the A for!

[bdtutton]

I have a 1930 Model A and a 1914 Model T. The model T gives you a pure driving experience because you can feel the road, feel the wind in your hair and since you are going so slow hear the birds and the children playing. You can see people waving and hear them yelling for you to blow the horn. You also have to watch the traffic and plan carefully for simple things like going up hills. My Model A is like driving a new car that looks like an old car. Most of the time it keeps up with traffic, is comfortable because it is enclosed and has a heater and people still wave as you go by. Unfortunately I am going about 50-55mph in the Model A so I usually don't see them until I am almost past them. One way to express it would be is the Model A is a car you can drive to work every day and still enjoy driving on the weekend and the Model T is a great weekend car that you can enjoy driving to work on nice days.

[Steve Jelf]

I have had my Model T for one solid year (June of 2022).

I remember how careful you were in finding and buying it. That sure paid off. If anybody wants to study a great example of the 1923 T, that's the one they should see.

[Rich Eagle]

My first car was a Model A and it taught me much. I restored it more than once and it made a great down payment for our home.

I have half a dozen Ts now and think about how much fun a '30 Phaeton would be, but...
Whatever floats your boat.
Rich

[Art Ebeling]

I like to drive the Model T first, grinning like a sissy at boys camp, and then drive the Model A and be amazed at what a smooth modern car it is. Art

[bdtutton]

Art Ebeling...those are some nice cars...

[jwilliams81]

Thank you Steve. That means a lot coming from you.
Your help was instrumental in helping me understand the Model T world, and the differences between years.

I have had my Model T for one solid year (June of 2022).

I remember how careful you were in finding and buying it. That sure paid off. If anybody wants to study a great example of the 1923 T, that's the one they should see.

[Norman Kling]

My dad and uncles told me about their T experiences and how they would drive them. And I went down to see Walt Rosenthal and looked at his T. He actually helped us get the Model A Ford Club of America started and we went on some joint tours with the Model T club. I wanted a Model T so much that when I had Model A's I used the hand throttle for gas and shifted directly from low to high to practice driving a T. So it was pretty easy to switch from the A to the T when I got my first one.
Norm

[TXGOAT2]

Millions of people today would find it difficult to start a Model A and drive it. Manual clutch, non-synchronized manual transmission, manual choke and carburetor adjustment, manual spark advance, ignition and starter functions separate, manual windows, no back up camera, mysterious light switch, a manual throttle with no rabbit or turtle, etc.

[walber]

I really liked my stock 25ish touring car because of it's appearance, history and the smiles it brought. I enjoyed driving it for the open air experience as well as slowing to smell the scenery as well as see it. I also really enjoyed the limitations in power and handling as they brought to mind the times it was meant for. I did not like driving it in or near modern traffic in large part because of those limitations and the modern car drivers around me.

I like my speedster because most of the limitations have been addressed for handling and overall performance but I do miss some of the joys and issues of driving a stock T. It's not much fun in heavy rain or when it's below about 55 degrees but sometimes the weather just is what it is.

I enjoy my Model A because it really is pretty much a modern car with most of the conveniences. Still looks old but not quite horseless. Having real brakes, shocks, and a bit more power make it far easier to drive in the traffic I need to deal with.

The touring car is gone but if I had to choose between the A and the speedster the speedster is the easy winner for the car I would keep.

[otrcman]

One person's perspective:

My Dad acquired a fully operational 1912 T Touring in about 1962 and by 1980 had restored a Model A Coupe. My Mom drove the T occasionally, but really didn't care to drive it. When Dad got the A going, she just climbed in and drove it effortlessy.

Mom had learned to drive in her folk's Graham Paige as a young teenager and drove whatever they had from then on ...... including the Case tractor and D2 Cat during the war years. So there was nothing about a Model A to intidate her. Her first automatic was when she and Dad bought a new 1953 Chevrolet.

[JohnM]

The T is the one for me since I was afflicted at the tender age of five, I don't think I will ever be without one. I would like to have an A in the not to distant future. I love the exhaust note of the A, smooth and resonant like Ella Fitzgerald. While the T is bare bones and raspy like Billie Holliday.

Just a thought, do you think we might be biased? This IS the MODEL T Forum.

[Bryant]

I would like to own both! Though the T is my favorite. My first is a 26 and some would say it looks like the A but I say the A looks like a T. After all it was produced first. It’s just another way the T changed the world in style.
Bryant

[Distagon2]

I started in this hobby 50+ years ago restoring my grandfather's 1926 Coupe. I have always been fond of the Model A and have owned a few, lately a very nice 1931 Victoria. Then last year, a dear friend's 1912 Model T Commercial Roadster became available so I just had to buy it and working on finalizing its restoration. Which would I keep? Well, the 26 Coupe was my grandfather's car so I can't see parting with that. Finally, I own an early brass 1912 Model T, something I have coveted almost my entire life, so certainly couldn't part with it. The Model A would probably go first, but I love that one too!

[Norman Kling]

Keep them all! Even if you need to build a barn for them. If your property is not large enough to build a barn, either rent one or move to a larger lot where you can build one! Those are all keepers. My house had an attached 2 car garage but the door is not high enough to put a T with the top up and don't know if your coupe would fit either, but because, sometime a gas leak can cause a fire, it is best to park them elsewhere than attached to the house. I built a large garage, big enough to get a small camper in. It has a 10' door and I can get 4 Model T's in it

Norm

[Steve Jelf]

I love the exhaust note of the A...

That takes me back to the fifties, when there was still an occasional Model A in daily traffic. Many times I would hear that distinctive sound and know what it was before I spotted the car.

[Model T Ron]

The T is the one for me do you think we might be biased? This IS the MODEL T Forum.

No one is biased hear at all in the Model T world. Now if this was a Model A forum we would be concerned about important things like having the correct color top, interior, right head light glass or even more important the right year water pump for the month of production...you know all that fine point stuff....as for us Model T guys no biased opinions hear at all

[Model T Ron]

I like to drive my 1915 Touring and think that my grandfather was 3 years old when she rolled off the line into a simple world that cherished God, Family, and Country. A time when a mans word meant something. A time when we were proud to be Americans. A time when a man was a man.....you know all that crazy stuff lol. I drive down my small southern town's streets with turn of the century homes and think that at one time many Model T's passed this same way. It's like watching and old movie that you get to be in. Then I come home and face the sad reality of what our world has become in 100 years. I often tell people I am an Old Soul as I am sure I would be right at home in the day of the Model T......and no one would have questions about what bathroom to use lol

[Gordon C]

I had a 30 A Roadster as my only car for years when I was a kid. I never had side curtains for it. I remember getting out from work and opening the door reaching in and scooping the snow off the seat and hop in and go home. That A never let me down. Which is more than I could say for my first car , a 28 Essex Rumble seat coupe. My Dad paid $10 for it.

[browning]

I have been blessed with a number of Model T's and two Model A's and enjoy them all in one way or another. I also live very near Cook Forest State Park and can access it without ever traveling on anything but gravel and narrow paved country roads. In that rural environment I much prefer the T's where their slow speeds and open air rides enhance everything about the experience. There isn't much traffic pressure on those types of roads and most folks enjoy seeing, meeting, and following those old cars. Even the local Amish people will wave and smile real big when I pass. I think they must imagine that I am some sort of "cousin" or something! I have logged nearly a hundred miles on a good day just rambling around at 25 - 35 miles an hour and enjoying the view and reduced blood pressure. On the other hand, if I want to really go somewhere, I find that the Model A experience is much less stressful, what with turn signals, reasonable brakes, ample power on the hills, and a feeling of relatively good safety. From a tinkering perspective I almost can't go a day without working on a Model T, even if they don't need worked on. Maybe its the connection with history or just the fact that the T is something that I can sort of understand that makes it so enjoyable. I think I could spend the rest of my days tinkering with a T and never really going anywhere except for an occasional ice cream trip.

[Norman Kling]

Back in the late 1950's I had a VW beetle. I also had at least one Model A. Going between Los Angeles and San Francisco, on the ridge route. Old highway 99 the A would go up hills in high gear but the VW would have to shift down. So I had to slow down so as not to over rev the engine. I could climb faster in the A than the VW. However, the VW got better gas mileage.
Norm

[Mike Royster]

I have a 16 Runabout and a 30 pickup. I enjoy them both for different reasons, but the T was my first "old car" and I drive it most every weekend. If I had to choose I'd sell the A, cause I truly love my T. There's just something about these early cars that's in my blood.