MTFCA Forum

It’s with a heavy heart and terrible sadness that I must inform everyone that Tony Wiltshire from the Indy 500 Chapter of the MTFCA was killed yesterday in an accident at his home.

I reached out to his wife Susan and she wanted me to inform everyone in the Model T family on this terrible loss. There are no details regarding services at this time, but details will be communicated as they become available. Please keep Tonys family in your thoughts and prayers.

Kenny Edmondson
President, Indy 500 Chapter MTFCA

Oh no! This is terrible news. He will be missed by many of us. My condolences to his family. RIP, Tony.

Tony was a great friend.
We enjoyed many fun times including vacationing in Florida for several years.
The hobby has suffered another great loss.
I will miss my friend.
Farewell Tony,
Brent

Tony was very instrumental in many of the improvements at the museum. He was a very stubborn guy and we didn’t always see eye to eye, but we always got along. I loved working along side him and learned many British terms for common things with different American names. We had many laughs together working there and I count him as a great friend. This is a huge loss to the Model T community, he is going to be greatly missed.

Tony and Susan are close friends of ours. He was instrumental in getting me to join the Indy 500 club several years ago.

Tony was a great person, always there with a helping hand, unselfish, and possessed a vast knowledge. He will be greatly missed.

Rest in peace Tony.

Stuned and sad to learn this terriable news. Tony was a wonderful person, friend, mentor and selfless volunteer. He will be missed tremendously by many. Sincere condolances to the family and friends. So sad.

We are all shocked and saddened at Tony's passing. The entire board and MTFCA staff send our sympathy to Susan and the family. Tony was a great resource for our museum and contributed a lot to our hobby. I had many interactions with Tony in person and will miss him.
Larry Azevedo
MTFCA President

Horrible news indeed. I'm stunned to hear it. Tony was always such fun to chat with at the several swap meets that we both attended. As insignificant as they are in the face of such a tragedy, my deepest and most heartfelt condolences to Susan and the entire family.

An incredible loss to family, friends, and to our Model T community.
I enjoyed his humor, the fact he said what was on his mind and appreciated when you told him the same.
His unwavering support of the Model T Club of America and Museum will be deeply missed.
Praying for Susan and their family in this time of sorrow.

The heartbreak of losing a good friend is always difficult. Sudden and unexpected loss is especially tough in many ways. The plans still in place. The expectations of the years ahead.
My special condolences to all his family and personal friends.

My God, what a shock. As most readers know, I always swore by his TW timer, always recommending it to everyone. Sad loss. Prayers to his family. RIP

So Sorry to hear, RIP and to course condolences to the family.

Hank Lee and Family

I worked with Tony for hundreds of hours on the Model T Museum in Richmond. A lot of what you see there is a reflection of Tony’s ideas and commitment. He was a joy to work with and hang out with. His technical expertise and advice were always helpful. I valued his friendship and can’t imagine him being gone. He was a good man and a good friend. He will be missed by many. I know Debbi and I will miss our good friend. We send our loving condolences to Susan.

Greg

We are very sad to hear of Tony's passing and offer our most sincere sympathy to Susan and their entire family. Tony was a most dedicated MTFCA supporter and volunteer. The fruit of his labors is shown all throughout the MTFCA museum.
Rest in peace, Tony.
Keith and Carol Gumbinger

It was raining ….

Jerry & Tony had finished for the day.
Tony & Susan had driven their Model T
from the other side of Indianapolis and
the top was down and the car was wet.

After a few minutes - they ran to their
Model T ( Susan holding the umbrella
over Tony’s head ).

They drove off with Susan holding the umbrella
over Tony’s head while Jerry - Kim - me
laughed ….

Tony & Jerry didn’t always see to 👁

They both are independent - stuboorn - resolved.

But they both got the job done and their efforts
along with all the other volunteers will endure
as time passes and the Museum & Annex greet
each new day and each new and returning
visitor who walks thru the doors ….

Perhaps It Is Time To Honor All The Volunteers
Who Have Worked So Many Hours & Gave So
Much Of Their Time & Energy ….

A Remembrance Space in the museum or annex
would be a good way to do that ….

I am so sorry for Miss Susan and for all of
their friends who lost Tony.


FJ

Tony is one of those people you can never forget. He gave tirelessly of his time to the MTFCA. If you visit the Annex ant the Museum you will see what Tony and the volunteers have done for the preservation of the Model T and its history.
I will miss him.

I received a note from Susan this morning that Tony’s daughters are able to see all of the comments on this forum. They are bringing comfort to them as we all share our memories of Tony. If you have any memories of Tony, please share.
Tony’s daughters are awaiting approval to leave England due to the Covid restrictions. Please keep them all in your thoughts over the next several days during this incredibly difficult time.

I was first impressed by Tony's electrification of oil lights.
I talked with him at Chickasha.
A very smart man.
My prayers are with the family.

Not enough can be said, what a great, irreplaceable guy! So sad.

Ed aka #4

Sadly a great loss to all. I enjoyed working with Tony on the machine shop endeavors at the museum. My condolences to the family.

When I first met Tony, I found him to be a rather gruff and hard-shelled Brit. To put it politely, he was unwavering from his opinion and confident in his knowledge. But I also knew he had a heart of gold and was one thousand percent committed to making the Model T Museum the absolute best it possibly could be and giving his time, talent, and knowledge to make the Model T hobby better as well.

As time went on, I had the honor of working with him on a couple articles for the Vintage Ford magazine. Part of my job as editor is to crosscheck and verify each and every part of an article. Tony's first article was on installing LED Safety Lights. I know a little bit about a very wide range of things, but electricity is not one of them. The electrical switch installation schematics Tony supplied looked like cryptic matchstick drawings to me. But knowing Tony was an engineer with some pretty impressive credentials from his professional career, I was confident they were correct. I knew I had started to crack his hard exterior when he accepted my suggestion of adding a note about checking your country's laws on the kind and position of lights on automobiles, as some allow things that others do not.

The day I had lunch at Little Sheba's with Tony and got to meet and chat with Susan Wiltshire broke down any remaining barriers. I saw the softer side of Tony. He was smart, witty, talented, and was married to a woman who was his equal on all fronts. I truly believed this amazing couple would live to be at least 104 and, even then, they probably would be racing each other in their souped up Speedster wheelchairs.

So glad I got to know him. Gonna miss him very much, but will cherish the legacies he left for us at the Museum.

Sending love and strength to Susan and his daughters.

Aleesa

Mr. Tony Wiltshire doing remodel work
at the Museum Annex with Master Carpenter
Mark Atkins and another volunteer I do not recognize.

FJ

Rose & I are shocked by the news.

I've been talking with him quite a bit over the last month about one thing or another.

The last time my wife & I were together in Richmond we sat with Tony & his wife Susan at dinner. As my wife is British we have that connection with him.

I also worked many times with him at the museum when the directors were in town.

We will truly miss him.

Chris

I just met him at the homecoming when they rode out to the Salty Dog museum in Shandon, OH. It was pouring down rain when everyone pulled in. I couldnt get over all the details on his speedster. From a distance it looked like a plain jane speedster, but a closer look showed lots of nice details. I asked him about the hydraulic drum brakes and he offered up to help me make up a set. I drove over his place a couple weeks ago and he gave me copies of part drawings, and pulled a wheel off the back so I could get pics. He shared his parts list. He showed me a Indy car wiring harness that he used to make. This was just a couple weeks ago. I cannot believe he is gone. I have only known him a couple months and will never forget him.

I never had the chance to spend any time with Tony because he was always so busy helping at the tours we were on but I always knew him when I saw him. It is another terrible loss for us all.

Truly, a man of many talents who made endless contributions to the Model T community. He will be greatly missed. Thank you Tony and may God bless your family in their time of need.

Think about this and his talent.
I was told he was the first engineer to actually monitor an Indy car at the Indy 500 using a laptop to check things. That is so huge as I look at what they do today. To be the first is amazing to conceive and understand!
I, too, looked at his speedster at The Salty Dog Museum after the rain stopped. His dual carb setup was pure genius. He allowed me to take photos and explained part of what he had done. While I had met him on several occasions in the past, I wish I could have picked his brain more on some of his thoughts and designs.
Truly a good guy and a marvelous engineer!

Check out these links:

@ https://www.twracing.com/

@ http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/33 ... 1381683617


FJ