Time for T

Well hello to all my readers, it's been a very long time since my last post for various not very interesting reasons. I'm back to a hopefully more regular schedule now though and will start with an unexpected beginning to the car show season. It all started last summer with a Wolseley 1500 owned by a local chap called George, who had noticed I was a fellow classic car enthusiast. We soon became friends and George recently mentioned that the Model T Ford Register were holding their annual April Fool's road run and his friend was hosting a rest stop at his farm that we might be interested in attending. Of course I said yes as any opportunity to look at classic cars is difficult to turn down!

It's difficult to pick a favourite from such a large turnout but I did like this pickup

So it was that on a sunny Saturday morning the Maxi arrived at a secret location in the Oxfordshire countryside, to be greeted by the sight of more 'Tin Lizzies' than I had ever seen in one place before. I was expecting maybe a dozen to twenty cars but there were sixty in attendance in all states from concours restorations to 'oily rag' examples. Considering many of them are now over a century old, that is certainly an impressive turnout and a testament to the commitment of club members to keeping these old girls on the road and their willingness to drive them in modern traffic.

Practically oozing character with decades of stories to tell

      

Everyone with even a passing interest in cars must have heard of the Model T and its statistics are impressive even by today's standards. It was produced for 19 years and in that time an incredible 15 million were made, a record that wouldn't be surpassed until 1972 by the Volkswagen Beetle. Ford's assembly methods became so efficient that a completed Model T left the line every three minutes and it could be put together in just over an hour and a half, contributing to production figures of nine to ten thousand cars per day that were a far cry from its hand-crafted competitors. No wonder that by the early 1920s it was said that half of all cars in the world were Fords!   

Over 15 million people bought a Model T. No wonder there are so many left.

The diversity of the Model T is remarkable too. There was a huge variety of different body styles in evidence here and the same chassis formed the basis for everything from minimalist two-seat racers to vans and pickups, via tourers, saloons, coupés, station wagons and even taxis. Although it is said not to have changed much over the years and was outdated by the time production ceased in 1927, having so many together showed a clear evolution and cars from the 1920s look much more sophisticated than pre-war examples. Most obvious is the change from wooden to metal spoked wheels but many other improvements were made and the later cars are very different.

The T had a very successful motorsport career

The Model T may have put the world on wheels but it didn't introduce the control layout we're all familiar with and driving one is completely unlike any modern car. There are three pedals but they don't do what you'd expect them to: the brake is on the right, the middle pedal engages reverse and the left one changes gear in conjunction with the handbrake, with a hand throttle and advance/retard lever on the steering column. It was great to see this unique skill being passed on to the younger generation, one of them being piloted confidently by a pretty girl in her twenties.

Few people of her age would even have a clue how to drive one of these

One of the best-known facts about the Model T is that it was available in "any colour you like as long as it's black". That's not strictly true though as it was only for a short period during the car's long life that it came exclusively in black, when Henry Ford found the black paint to be the fastest drying. While there were quite a lot of black ones present, a whole spectrum of other shades were also in evidence from sombre blues and greens to bright oranges and yellows to create a very colourful spectacle that lends a lie to this common claim.

Any colour you like, even if it's not black!

There was more to see than just the Fords though, with various more modern visiting classics including a rally-prepared Austin-Healey, and an assortment of cars stored in the barns. I love exploring farms as with so much space there are always plenty of old vehicles and machinery to discover and you never know what might be tucked away somewhere. I certainly didn't expect to find a pair of stylish 1960s Italians lurking in a corner. The Alfa Romeo 2600 is rare enough but alongside it was something even more unusual, an Innocenti C Coupé. Based on the Austin-Healey Sprite and powered by the familiar 1098cc A-series but clothed in a bespoke Ghia body, these were never sold in the UK and this is one of very few over here.

Surprise Italian barn finds

All too soon, lunchtime rolled around, starting handles were swung and the Tin Lizzies started chugging off into the distance towards their next stop. What a fascinating and unexpected way for a petrolhead to spend a sunny Saturday morning!

That seems a bit fishy