The Edison Ford Winter Estates 1923 Model T Ford
(Courtesy of Chet Wallace)
Lately I’ve been contemplating learning more about the Model T and learning how to drive it as part of my job at the Edison Ford Winter Estates. I approached our automotive curator Jim Moss to teach me how to start one. I told him that I would like to go on his almost two-hour automotive tour, which I had been on before, but this time I would take notes as he was giving the tour. At the end of his tour he started one of the Model T’s that we have on the riverside of the Ford property. The one he usually starts is a 1923 Black Model T that we have. As a side note, Ford said at one point that anyone could have any color of Model T, just as long as it was black!
This past Monday I went on the tour, taking notes. At the end of the tour Jim started the car and then after the tour was over, he taught me how to start it. One thing that was quite shocking to me as I climbed into the passenger side of the car was that it was so cramped. Smaller people back then I guess. You are probably asking why I had to climb into the passenger side front seat to get behind the wheel that was on the left side of the car. The reason is because the emergency brake lever is built into the floorboard near where the driver’s side door would be, so that makes for a very difficult entry from the driver’s side because the lever is in the way. I guess one could get in from the driver’s side Dukes of Hazzard style by jumping over the body through the window!
Once I got in, Jim gave me the key. The 1923 Model T has an electric starter and a crank so it could have been started both ways. But it is quite dangerous sometimes to start a Model T with the crank because when the gas caught, the solid metal crank could fly back and break a person’s thumb or wrist if they didn’t take it away quick enough. The electric starter in Model T’s were first installed in 1919. The key starter is in the dash to the right of the steering wheel. It can be started two different ways, which Jim said it really didn’t matter, by battery or by magneto. Turn the key to the left for battery or right for the magneto. But turning the key didn’t start the car immediately. I turned the key to the left. Next I adjusted the timing lever under the left of the steering wheel to the up position and adjusted the lever to the right down a few notches for feeding the gas. Jim explained that to start the car, a button was located under my foot on the floorboard in front of the driver’s side of the seat. I pressed the button down with my left heel and the car started!
Even though I didn’t use these because I was just starting the car, Jim explained about the three pedals that were in front of me on the floor. The right one is a brake pedal, the middle one a reverse pedal and the left one a clutch. Makes it confusing because in modern cars the brake pedal is to the left and the accelerator to the right. The right lever that feeds the gas is actually the accelerator.
I started the car around noon so Jim told me that this coming Monday tomorrow, he wants me to start the car earlier in the morning before the tour because it would be cooler outside and the car was more difficult to start. He said temperature has a lot to do with how easily a Model T starts. Apparently, a Model T is harder to start when it is cold.
This is my experience of starting a Model T for the first time. I’m so excited to learn more about operating the Model T.
Thanks for learning!