MTFCA Forum

We're about to shot a video interview with a gent with many decades of Model T Experience. Pleas help us curate a list of questions, what would you ask?

Perhaps the interviewer needs to prime the pump so to speak, but a list of questions reflects mostly the "knowledge" of the interviewer. The best stories, anecdotes and hard information I've ever gained from "old timers" was from simply sitting back and letting them reminisce.

Rich P. Bingham wrote: ↑

Mon May 09, 2022 2:00 pm

Perhaps the interviewer needs to prime the pump so to speak, but a list of questions reflects mostly the "knowledge" of the interviewer. The best stories, anecdotes and hard information I've ever gained from "old timers" was from simply sitting back and letting them reminisce.

EXACTLY! My favorite posts on these forums are hearing about peoples personal connections to these vehicles. Just like these cars, once the older generation is gone so are their stories of days gone by. I think it's important to hear the stories in order to keep the history going. When my dad passed away it clicked with me how very important it is to listen to peoples lives and what they went through.

I would be interested in the story of his first Model T… how old he was, how old it was, the cost, lasting impressions and so on.

I would ask if he ever saw the T as a “dime a dozen” type car when they were still a younger automobile. And depending on the answer I would ask at what point did he see something more to the T to want to get involved with it.

I would ask him about his family car when he was growing up, and when did he first become aware of the Model T and did he ever ride in one or own one. Things like that, and then let him pick up the story and fill in the details as he remembers them.
Norm

My grandpa passed at 105. The one thing I remember him saying about the old Ford cars and tractors. Always park down hill! Keeps the mag ring closer to the magnets. Makes starting much easier. I'm 57 and the oldest son of his oldest son.

Bryant wrote: ↑

Mon May 09, 2022 3:43 pm

I would ask if he ever saw the T as a “dime a dozen” type car when they were still a younger automobile. And depending on the answer I would ask at what point did he see something more to the T to want to get involved with it.

My dad told me they could buy them for less than $20.00. Chop off the fenders and instant hunting car!

"If you were interviewing a 98 year old Model T guy"

SPEAK REAL LOUD!

Ask what his first toolbox looked like and contained,

What got me started in Ts was hearing my grandpa and grandmas story's of their many trips from Oklahoma to California, before the depression and during the depression, before Route 66 and after Route 66. Into Yosemite in the early years, Driving thru Petrified Forest in Arizona, and on and on. The stories they can tell are the real history of Model Ts. I was lucky to hear their stories and smart enough to listen and record as much as I could, so our family will have the stories for years to come.

The key is to get him talking and listen rather than asking questions with answers. I grew up with my grandfather and T's (he would be 102 now) and some of the more intriguing stories might include his friend in school with a hopped up T mistakenly putting the rear end diff in backwards and taking off in high . . . Or another might be when he was trying to get a higher compression head and his brother and him tried towing/riding on the head down a freshly paved road to increase compression. Good questions might be along the lines of whats the longest trip you took or Whats the worst break down you've ever had. Something to get him to jog his memory and start talking then the best you can do is listen.

Hi Ben. Sorry we didn't get to meet at your club's drive this past March. I was looking forward to it. Anyway here are some thoughts from interviews I've worked on:

First off, do a pre-interview, in person or on the phone. Get to know the person you are interviewing. Get as much info you can about the person before the interview. Take notes which will be used for questions during the actual interview. Do some research before putting him in front of a camera. Learn as much as you can about him or the time period he lived in so you have some context of his life. What happened in the 20’s? Who was president? What were laws like? What was living like where you grew up?
Ask more “Why?” questions.
Ask “What was your experience….?”
Allow the person to think, to pause in their thoughts. Don’t interrupt them. Don’t be ready to throw the next question at them. Let them go deeper in their mind about emotions
Don’t ask one word answer questions if you can like, “when did you get your first model t?”
Start off easily, you need to get him comfortable with you. Offer something to eat or drink.
Offer to have him do another interview at another time
Make sure he’s comfortable physically (not in the sun, comfortable sitting device, at a time of the day when he’s ready to talk, not sleep
Ask questions like: what was it like when your family….
Who do you remember in your town that was interesting/funny/annoying.
Shoot close-ups and medium shots.
John Killelea

NY John T wrote: ↑

Mon May 09, 2022 9:30 pm

First off, do a pre-interview, in person or on the phone. Get to know the person you are interviewing. Get as much info you can about the person before the interview.

I agree with all of this except - record even the preliminary conversations - you never know what will be gold until it's gone.

Good luck!

Martin

Thank you all for your comments, we will add these ideas to the interview.

Ben

Ben, regardless of how the interview goes, please, please come back and share a link to the video. We are all interested in his stories.

Coupla years ago I was asked to take a fella's then 102 y.o. uncle out for a birthday ride in my '13. I readily agreed of course. All I had to do was say "I bet you still remember riding in one of these, eh?" That's all it took. He opened up like a book. His accurate recollection of the car and it's workings was astounding. Sadly he passed away not long afterward. He was so glad to be out in the T on several trips overall, with 8 members of his family to celebrate his birthday.

Not quite that old ….

@ https://youtu.be/XXIDsgX2DVs


FJ

1. How old were you when you first owned a Model T Ford?
2. Why did you buy it?
3. What was the most interesting thing you did in or with your ModelT Ford? (Keep it clean please!)
4. What was it about your Model T Ford that you liked?
5. What was it about your Model T Ford that you didn't like?


Regards,

Steve Boothroyd
Sidney, B.C.
Canada