1946 as the Model T fades from the daily scene

[Rich P. Bingham]

I find it interesting how the Model T is perceived in popular culture as the years pass.

[TRDxB2]

What have you

[Tadpole]

When I drive a Model A Ford, older folks flock me with smiles and fond memories from the 50's and 60's. When I drive a Model T I hear no such memories, their living memory is pretty well gone outside of hobbyists.

[TRDxB2]

Motor Trend "How the Model T Became the T-Bucket, and Its Critical Role in Early Hot Rodding"
https://www.motortrend.com/features/070 ... t-history/
"Early Model Ts were also raced with great success, but it was no longer considered a hot performer by the end of production in 1927. ....
But many buyers soon yearned for something more exotic and distinctive than the ever-present Model T. Soon, custom bodies, grilles, and trim parts were introduced by a fledgling aftermarket industry. ....
Some of these early "kit cars" appeared in the early 1920s, with aftermarket Speedster sports car bodies intended for the Model T chassis. Many companies built these, but some of the best known were sold by Mercury and Ames. .....
Model T bodies were soon attached to other chassis, and grilles from other Ford models were grafted on front. Ed "Isky" Iskenderian bought his T roadster for $4 in the late '30s, outfitted it with a Ford V-8 with Maxi heads, and then ran 120 mph in 1942 out at the dry lakes of Southern California. ..
When drag racing kicked off in the early 1950s, Model T rods were once again the backbone of the sport, displaying every possible engine combination-from near-stock Flatheads to blown Chrysler Hemis under (and through) the hoods....
In the early '60s, model car companies such as Monogram and AMT would create scale models of famous show cars of the era....
..............
So, the next time someone is tempted to belittle a T-bucket, gently remind them that they are picking on the apple pie, motherhood, and the American flag of street rodding. Today, the Model T hot rod-both the early '23/25 model as well as the '26/27-is as popular as ever. Although it shares the rodding hobby with the Model A, the Deuce, and many other street rods, to many enthusiasts, the first is still the best!

[John kuehn]

That’s pretty much true. Old cars for lots of folks these days are 50’s thru 70’s. In other words what’s called the classic car era. Think of the movie American Grafitti. Maybe by now most of the T folks have seen that.
Yes Model T’s will be around but the folks that grew up in that era are almost gone and the classic car era group are getting closer to that time. Time moves on.

[Oldav8tor]

True, few people have actual memories of Model T's unless a family member had one. Nonetheless, I get a lot of smiles and questions. People seem delighted to a car so old still on the road.

[Steve Jelf]

People seem delighted to [see] a car so old still on the road.

One of the joys of Model T travel is answering questions people ask and hearing their experiences with ancient cars (like a '68 Nova).

[Tadpole]

I know what you mean Mr. Jelf! No ill-will behind this next anecdote, only humor, but I'm sure many can relate when pulling up somewhere in a T:

"The old Model A eh? What is that about 1940? I have a (Triumph, Porsche, Beetle, Etc)!" and I have a '98 Jeep Wrangler, are we playing automobile bingo?

[tmodeldriver]

I've actually had a few people ask me if I bought my T Model new. I always tell'em Yeah, but I only owe three more payments.

[Norman Kling]

It doesn't seem so long to me. My first few cars were Model A's. I lived near Glendale Ca. Walt Rosenthal lived about one mile from me and had an early T. I think it was a 1909. He helped us start Model A Ford Club of America. I remember going on a joint tour. The cars actually drove up old highway 99 toward Bakersfield. Over the grapevine. We then went to Lake Isabella for a camp out. My dad and I were in the A and we didn't have a tent. We were going to lay the sleeping bags on the ground, but it started raining, so we left the group and went back through Mohave drove all night. Those were the days. People didn't trailer the cars unless they were strictly "show cars" Some of the show cars didn't even have oil in the crankcase so they wouldn't drip. Those cars were never driven to shows.
Norm

[Erik Johnson]

My father was born in 1931. He told me he occasionally saw "regular use" Model Ts in Minneapolis in the late 1930s and into the early 1940s and that was one of the reasons he wanted to own a Model T. He bought his first Model T in 1948 at age 16. He bought the 1917 touring that is currently in his garage in 1949 at age 17. Around that time, he also met Royce D. Peterson who was in his early 30s and lived about a mile away. Royce had been around Model T Fords his entire life as his father operated an auto-repair garage in Eagle Bend, MN where he grew-up.

This subject also reminds me of a story. I live on the next block over from where I grew up. One of my neighbors, whose lawn I mowed as a teenager when he was out of town, was born in 1907 and died in 2009 at age 101. The first time he saw my '17 roadster he was in his late 80s and he seriously said the only person dumber than me for owning a Model T Ford was his nephew who had recently bought a purple(!) pick-up truck. (What kind of idiot buys a purple truck?) He did, however, admit that he owned and drove a Model T in his youth.

[DLodge]

"My grandfather had a car exactly like that, except it was green and it was a Plymouth."

[Mark Nunn]

My dad graduated from high school in 1952. Three of his classmates drove a Model T from Missouri to Oregon and back as a summer trip. There were no reported problems with the car.

[Norman Kling]

I think two of the main reasons so many T's remain and were still seen daily driving in the 40's. were the "great depression" when people couldn't afford to buy a new car and World War 2 when new cars for civilians were not available. By the 1950's they became "antique" cars and clubs were started.
Norm

[1925 Touring]

My favorite is; 'is that a tractor?'
I've gotten that twice from people.
Does a Model T really look that much like a tractor?

Others have asked if it was from the 40s, or they had one exactly like it but it was a model a.

The T is a good conversation starter nonetheless. There is more to talk about than poloticts and finances in the world.

[Erik Barrett]

As late as the 1950’s California issued driver’s licenses for model T only. There were still people then who had never driven anything else.

[jiminbartow]

My Grandma was born in 1900 and Grandpa was born in 1897. My Grandma told only one story about the Model T she drove when she was 16 in Georgia, when she hit a mule. She must have told me that story a dozen times. She alway pointed out that it got up and ran off and was not hurt. Grandpa’s Model T story was that his T broke his arm when he was starting it. Dad and Mom drove his Model A sedan on their honeymoon in 1947. Their first new car was a 1946 Pontiac. Their next new car was a 1957 Ford Fairlane. Next New car was a 1966 Galaxy 500, which I learned to drive in. They had that until after I left for the Marines in 1972 and I can’t remember any of their other cars. Only that, after I returned from Australia and was discharged in 1977, when I got home, they had a massively big car. Having picked up on some of the Australian slang, when I saw their new car, I exclaimed, “You got a ‘Yank Tank’!” They enjoyed that and called it that from then on.

[Norman Kling]

As late as the 1950’s California issued driver’s licenses for model T only. There were still people then who had never driven anything else.

I knew a man in Glendale, Ca who had bought his T new. He had a postcard from California DMV which said good for driving a Model T. Good until revoked. This was in the 1950's and it had not been revoked, so he didn't even renew his license. He promised to sell me the T when he was through using it. Last time I saw him the T was gone. He told me, his T was re-posessed during the depression and his wife bought it back in her name. She wanted it to go to someone else!
Norm

[Wayne Sheldon]

I have vivid memories back to very early childhood. Among them, are several memories of antique automobiles on the roads.
The two early HCCA Regional Groups in the San Francisco Bay Area were founded before I was born, along about 1950. When I was maybe four years old we were going home from some family visit and came across four or five early brass era automobiles stopped on the side of the Alameda Avenue in San Jose, California, making adjustments to one of the cars. My dad had some interest into early automobiles even then, so we stopped to offer help if needed and look the cars over. Mom and baby brother Bill stayed in our 1941 Chevrolet while dad and I looked the cars over. It was my first really close up look at horseless carriage era automobiles. I can still see the big brass headlamps shaking on one that had been left running while all four drivers were tinkering on another car. Almost certainly one of the Santa Clara Valley Horseless Carriage Club's early weekend tours!
The other early car I remember vividly, was the local "junk man". He was an old man, driving his model T pickup all around town, collecting and selling used items. I was often told to not go and talk to him even in those days. Although once I recall my mother going out and talking with him about some piece of junk she wanted rid off. I also remember watching out our living room window as a neighbor and he appeared to be haggling over an old cooking pot. Other times we would see him stopped, or driving down the street as we walked to or from the local stores. I can clearly recall three or four times watching from a short distance as he cranked the model T to start it. It often started readily, although one time I remember it was being very difficult and he kept cranking and cranking as we walked on away.
I was bit by the bug early. Even at four years old I knew I wanted one of those some day.