MTFCA Forum

People enjoy skiing at 0*, so why not drive your Model T?

Mine are open cars, closed cars might be different, but I have found I can drive comfortably down to 40* by dressing properly. Below 40* I have to wear so much in the way of coats and face protection that I can not move easily and really don't enjoy the drive. Keeping the speed under 35 helps too. But with a sweater, coat with a collar that goes up to cover the neck, and a wool cap over the ears I can drive comfortably.

Fortunately in Central Va. we often get afternoons 40* or over and I get to drive a lot!

What is the lowest temperature that you find comfortable to drive in?

Comfortable? Maybe 25 to 30. I dress for it though and having an open car, the bottom half of me stays warm but the top half goes blue. I feel your pain for sure. Can't wait for spring.

I'll retell the story of the morning in 1985 when it was at most -30°. Neither my wife's car nor my pickup would start. We bundled up the kids in our 4-seat Speedster and took them to the sitter's. It was dark but we have lights. Then I drove my wife to the bus and I made it to work. We typically took them to breakfast in the Speedster on freezing days just for fun. That was the only running T we had. I built 2 closed T's since those days but the kids are grown now.
That is what some of us crazies do.

Rich, do you have any photos of the fordoorless speedster? I have driven my race car in freezing weather. Not as much fun as at least 50 deg.

Hi John. This is it. We added the rear seats when our daughter was born and our son was to big to carry on Joy's lap.

That depends on what you are driving and where. I remember going to Circle Hot Springs from Fairbanks Ak on an Arctic Cat 440 (That's a snowmobile,and you don't get more open than that) in 1971 or 72 in February,outside air temp -22*F didn't know what wing chill was but we averaged 35 mph, Thank god for ARMY TA-50 gear.

Hi Rich,

WOW, minus 30! We might see 20 below zero here once or twice a winter and during my years at the other end of New Hampshire (Littleton) we would often endure a week or so during the depths of winter when the daytime high temperature would struggle to touch ten above zero. There were some mornings of negative 25 degrees when my trusty '66 Volvo wagon was one of very few cars making an appearance at the company parking lot. But I digress, back to Model Ts.

I have had my coupe out in temperatures as low as four above zero.

As for my open cars, the coldest I have been out in them would be ten above zero, and on those days it did warm up into the mid to upper twenties. As Tom Hicks states above, proper clothing IS essential if you want to be comfortable and truly enjoy your winter motoring excursion. While warm clothing in layers is necessary, the need for a wind proof barrier is essential. Hours of exposure at 35 miles per hour, seated still, will penetrate most clothing and soak into your bones and that can turn the most intrepid motorist into a miserable and regretful soul. The dry chemical hand and toe warmers often used by ice fishermen, hunters, and other winter sports participants can be very helpful if you are going to be in your T for any length of time.

My journey to the Tamworth, NH snowmobile meet in 2017 was a comfortable 225 mile round trip.

So, Buck Up Lads and Lassies! Don your layers, put on your fur coat (the Inuits know what works) and relish Winter Touring! The look on the faces of the Muggles when they see you is Priceless.

Years ago I drove our 14 Touring with side curtains on to Mark Camerons swap meet, it was 7 degrees above 0 when I started. The rout I took was 62 miles one way. You are right about how hard it is to maneuver inside with all the clothing on. At about 55 miles I stopped at a gas station for a cup of coffee, the people in there must have thought I was just driving around the block because they made no big deal about seeing a T out in that cold of weather. Then one of them asked were I lived and when I told them Adams then they all got a little excited and said are you freaking nuts? My wife Emily was in Florida at the time visiting her sisters so between the two of us you know which one is freaking nuts.

I had to laugh at your post Jeff, My eyes get to watering so bad I cant see along with my nose running. One time my hands were cold enough to be some what paralyzed and I couldn't unbutton my levis. I was really wondering if I was going to pee my pants before I was able get enough life back into my hands. I almost asked a complete stranger to help me. looks great Rich!

The ice cream freeze between the eyes is the worst to me. You can't decide whether to slow down and lessen the wind or speed up and get it over.

She certainly has the look of a true enthusiast Rob.
You did well.
Kept warm, the excitement of winter driving has a marvelous effect at that age.
I bet she tells fantastic stories to her friends now.
Rich

Coldest I have driven my roadster was 17oF, no top, hence no side curtains. I just wore my carhartt jacket and a sweat jacket. Choppers, stocking cap, a face mask and sunglasses. I would guess it was a 20 mile drive. The bare skin on my face was cold but that was it.

The worst I did was 28 above zero driving the topless 24 Crappy Lizzhe Runabout delivering a battery out to my son's fishhouse on 3 feet of ice. Good times.
Mother Nature had taken the snow from my Hill so that was fair game.
The Hill. Always, the Hill dictates here.
If snow/ice covered:
One wheeler's? No.
Front wheeler's? Maybe. IF it's cold enough. Warm? Park at the bottom.
Four wheeler's? Prob'ly.
All wheeler's? I still have to rescue vehicles on my Hill.

You guys are tough! The lowest I have tried is 35*F and I did not get far, my face couldn't handle it.

This was 28 degrees this year.
Not bad at around town speeds, but little uncomfortable at top over the road speed.

Personally I just prefer to park my T for the winter. Cold is one issue. I have driven it at 45 degrees, and in an open car wind chill becomes an issue. With side curtains it might be a lot better. However that's not the biggest factor to consider when contemplating driving the car in winter up here in the jack pines...it's road salt. If you have spent time, effort, and copious amounts of cash removing rust or finding ways to stabilize it, I doubt it would be wise to head out on the treated roads around here and give your car a salt and slush bath. However, when you have days with highs below zero and lows predicted to be -29 and -34 as we do up here for Tuesday and Wednesday, it's kinda hard to put on enough layers to make the drive tolerable even if the road salt danger is negligible at those temps.

The coldest that I have ever driven in is -13 for Christmas parade, everyone in the parade got special little trophy certifying our stupidity. I felt bad for the marching band.

While we're at it "It's OK kid, you'll learn to love it."

Hi Kevin,

Yes, salt or whatever noxious, corrosive material they coat the roads with, IS a concern to me and I rarely take my cars out when the roads are white with "stuff". After a winter jaunt and I see that my car has a whitish tint on the underside I can wash it off before putting it away.

Winter Touring certainly is not for everyone in the colder climes, but with planning it can be a hoot. Be safe, Bill

I've never driven in the temperatures some of you are talking about, but I have done it at about 40F in a Touring car. I found that driving with the top down was warmer than with it up, as you received the radiant heat from the sun. Removing the upper floor board helped get warm air into the car. The windshield blocked the majority of the cold air. What got the coldest was the back of my head. Bear in mind, there were no rear passengers. I'm sure the back seat is another story altogether, but it wasn't bad at all in the front seat.

Our local club has a tradition of taking our T's out on the first of January every year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVoa49jrJps&t=0s

One year it was very cold - close to zero, perhaps below and the wind was blowing. Still a dozen or so T's showed up and toured. I drive my T year 'round. I find that you kind of get used to the weather. Today the temperature was in the low twenties. T started OK and the drive to work was nice with the roads bare and dry.

This south Texas kid saw temps while in the Air Force at Grand Forks, ND in the -50's (with wind chill...actual temps in the -20's).

That made me swear off the state and those kind of temps forever. And I never complained about the Texas heat after that again.

Too cold ?? This was yesterday, 28 January..70 degrees under a robin egg blue sky.

That was yesterday. But today it is too cold even in Texas. But this weekend in Gonzales Texas should be just fine.

Please be careful out there this week. It is expected to get colder than Antarctica in parts of the northern mid-west. Two people have already frozen to death. Stay inside. Don't over exert yourself trying to shovel snow or start your frozen car. Keep your cell phone charged.

Sorry, off topic here but does anyone else find it funny that this thread is labeled as a "Hot Topic"?

mcenhillk wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 29, 2019 7:09 pm

Sorry, off topic here but does anyone else find it funny that this thread is labeled as a "Hot Topic"?

Yeah, and almost too cold to drive the Subaru !! Cold as Hell...

rustyfords wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 29, 2019 2:44 pm

This south Texas kid saw temps while in the Air Force at Grand Forks, ND in the -50's (with wind chill...actual temps in the -20's).

That made me swear off the state and those kind of temps forever. And I never complained about the Texas heat after that again.

A lot of construction jobs in the Yukon were seasonal, but I worked through two winters there...winter 2010/11 I was working at Victoria Gold in Dublin Gulch; they had a wood frame cook shack and field office, but we slept in 4 man canvas wall tents. Coldest I saw it that winter was -50*F (before wind chill was added), but we had stoves with the old type pot burners and plenty of diesel fuel so we at least slept comfortably. The arctic diesel fuel was a blend of 99% kero /1% naptha, so we had no problem with the fuel waxing! We worked winter 2012/13 replacing above ground heating oil tanks for the federal government; at the RCMP detachment in Mayo we had several sunny days but with daytime highs at -65*F, -75 with wind chill. People from New Brunswick laugh when I tell them we retired here for the nice winters, but its the truth!