I promised I'd write this up, so here it is. Last summer I shot a car show in a small Utah town that's situated on a hill...sorta on the east side of the Oquirrh mountains, if ya know where that is. One of the cars on display was a 1909 Model T touring car with full top. (1909 was the first year of manufacture for the Model T.) So full, matter of fact, that it would have made a nice primary jib sail for a brigantine sailing vessel.
In this area of the country, wind is a fact of life. (And sailing ships aren't, except for a few pleasure craft on the Great Salt Lake.) But on this day, the wind was higher than usual, 15-20 mph, gusting to around 30...maybe a little higher. Just another wonderful aspect of living in the high desert.
So about that Model T. It's a stock (more or less) restoration and is in pretty nice shape. If I were a judge, I'd give it 85 points, since there are some non-original components used. But as I was photographing the car, I got to talking with the owner and he told me that he had one hell of a time getting to the show's location. Model Ts, as I'm sure most people know, aren't the most powerful cars and have a gravity-feed fuel system with the fuel tank under the front seat; they don't take kindly to hills. There are many stories of owners who've had to turn the car around and back up hills.
Well, this owner was fighting that problem, although the the road to the park where the show was held is somewhat stepped, with short hills and then level stretches, but he also had this huge sail trying to arrange wind-borne passage to Southern Idaho. His solution was the obvious one....he folded the top down. Matter of fact, he removed the canvas entirely and stashed in behind the driver's seat. I can't remember if he told me that he also removed the windshield (hmmm...high wind, remove windshield....something's wrong here) but it wasn't mounted on the car during the show.
Anyway, his technique worked and he only had to back up one hill. Talk about a dedicated T owner! So I'm posting some of the photos I shot of it to give an idea of the "sail" and other stuff. First photo is the car with its sail top up, second is the front interior showing the floorboards which don't look quite right to me...maybe he just got 'em finished and hasn't had time to stain and varnish 'em. Then there's a shot of the motor which has seen cleaner days, but it might have something to do with the wind and dust. Then there are a couple of shots of the headlights. They're brass E&J acetylene units and show very nicely...until you look for the wick. There ain't any. They've been replaced by halogen bulbs. I can't fault him too much for that, cuz I've done the same thing with my 29 Model A. The owner sez that they provide a heck of a lotta light, particularly in comparison to the acetylene lamps. I'll agree that the Model A halogens are a night and day difference (bad pun, sorry) over the 6v lamps (I've converted it to 12v.)
So there ya have it. Ohh...the owner took first place in the pre-1930 class. I think he deserved it...for determination and perseverance just to make it to the show. I know some people who would have turned around and gone back home as soon as they encountered the first gust of wind.
RtR
