I found the above photo in my humble archives and figured it was interesting enough to post. I’m willing to bet that many of you folks in the “Model-T” forum are way more knowledgeable about this photo than I am, but I believe this is a shot of Ford’s “Rolling Road.” Essentially, this was the last stage of the mechanical line and where the drivetrain went through the first of many tests.

Roll that sucker in, strap is down (or maybe not), and then give that little banger hell. Note the driver sitting on the gas tank – his foot appears to be all in. I assume the rest of the fellas are performing quality control with their ears.

I’ve long had a passion for old Ford Marketing programs. They used to be so innovative and so clever in spreading the word about their products. The above image is one of my favorites… Ford brought one of their cars to the Washington State fair in Seattle, set it up on a giant teeter totter, and then challenged fair goers to get it balanced. The very thought of the activity, they thought, proved the ease at with their car could be controlled.

Love it.

Wow… It’s been a crazy couple of weeks here at the brand spanking new Ford Barn World Headquarters. Acquiring the Ford Barn was not in the cards for this year, but we just couldn’t sit idly buy and let the doors close. We’d simply gotten too much out of the joint in the past to let that happen. A quick phone call to every man’s hero, Shelly, and the deed was done. Now you fellas have to put up with me as I try like hell to fill her huge shoes.

The first order of business was to get the Ford Barn into a more modern environment. You are looking at the new threads right now… Ain’t she grand? This was done for two primary reasons:

1. The old Ford Barn data is priceless and we wanted it preserved and searchable. The new format will allow us to search all of the great posts of old and learn from our past… and that’s what we are all about, right? While the old data has not been imported yet, it will be very soon. Hold your horses.

2. The old Ford Barn was also hard to use, full of spam, and just downright impossible to maintain. The new format fixes all of this and gives all of you many more options as far as functionality.

Now, I’m sure there is a contingent of you that is resistant to change. I get it. And I’m going to try as hard as I can to ease you into this new format. Take your time, be patient, and you just might be surprised with what we have put together here. A good place to start is with the basic tutorial I put together for you. Click here to check it out.

The rest of you are probably pretty familiar with our format. Jump in and have fun… This all for you.

To close, I just want to thank Shelly once again for giving me this opportunity. She has served this community so well over the years and I am honored to pick up the torch and give it my all as well.

See you fellas on the flip side.

Ryan Cochran

P.S. There are bound to be some bugs and broken links floating around the new site. If you see any, just post them on the Q&S forum. I’ll get em fixed!