"I was told once that..." stories...

[Steve Plucker]

How many of you at one time or the other over the years heard something about the Model A/AA Ford that you had a hard time beleiving if it were true or not.

Here is my story...I was told once that before the Ford Runtunda fire of what year I forget, that there were many Ford archives and Ford data that were lost due to the fire.

One of the items that was lost were all the ledgers telling just what Ford Assembly Plants that each numbered Model A/AA engine were sent to.

I have no idea if this was true or false but if true...what a shame and what a loss to our hobby.

Pluck

[28]

What I’ve heard is that during the depression era, some farmers or drivers in rural areas in dire straits, would take a corn cob and stick foil from a gum wrapper down the center, and use that as a spark plug.

[cpf240]

I was told that Henry specified how his suppliers were to build their shipping crates so that they could be repurposed into wood parts for the A.

[marty in Ohio]

Some oldtimers have told me that when your model A was low on gas they would "have to go backwards to get up out of the holler."
Marty

[DD931]

I think those last two comments (#3 and #4) are actually true for the Model T.

[marty in Ohio]

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DD931,
I think you're right about the Model T backing up the hill. Our cowl mounted gas tanks on the "A's" allow gravity flow pretty much always. The model T's with the tanks under the seats were pretty low in comparison to the carb.

[Chuck Dempsey]

I know my father told the same 'backing up a hill' story about his father, who drove a 'T' for postal delivery....

[J Franklin]

In the T you only have a second or so to get horizontal to the hill to get it turned into reverse or you will have to crank the engine again! I live on a steep hill and speak from experience.

[katy]

I was told that Henry's wife, Clara, was cold-blooded, and that's why they only had one offspring (Edsel), and also why Henry got himself a mistress (Evangeline).

[40 Deluxe]

I have a brother-in-law who insists that Henry Ford never drove a car because "the dad-blamed things make too much noise."!

[daren007]

I would not want to back a T up a hill. The steering gets really goofy in reverse. I think this is more of a tale then how the T was driven in real life. On another note I was at a car show and there was someone there with a 26-27 T with cowl mounted gas tank. He was telling how you had to back a T up hill.....

[J Franklin]

daren007 read post #8 you don't have to believe it but it is true. The caveat is this is only necessary with the tank low on gas. A full tank keeps the gas higher than the carb on steep hills.

[Simonpie]

A story describing the origin of "Dead Man's Hill" in Portland.



On June 6, 1917, The Oregonian carried a story about the deadly car crash. At the time, Stuart was a two-way street. Jacobs and his business partner, J.P. Parker, were reportedly heading up Stuart to check on their rental properties.
Of course, in the dinosaur days of fuel injection, some vehicles had to be driven up steep hills in reverse to keep gas flowing to the engine.
Jacobs' car only made it halfway up Stuart before it sputtered and stalled.
As the vehicle rolled backwards, "Mr. Parker tried the emergency brake, but it would not hold and the car backed off the embankment, somersaulted and landed on its side," the paper reported.
In the confusion, Jacobs stood up and grabbed the steering wheel. Although he was thrown from the vehicle as it started to flip down the ridge, he managed to be "dragged along with the machine," The Oregonian reported.

Parker walked away with scrapes and bruises. Jacobs, who developed Montclair, Hyde Park and several other Portland housing subdivisions, died at Legacy Emanuel Hospital. He was 47. He left behind a wife, Gussie, and two children.

[Dodge]

I have had to back up more than one hill with a couple of my Model T, it is no tale, it’s the truth. At our summer place I have to fill up with gas in town before I go up our hill or the car won’t make it.

[Great Lakes Greg]

When I was a lad in the 1970's, my dad had a friend that worked at a Ford dealer in Leslie, Michigan. The dealer would send him to Detroit on the train and he would drive back new Model A's (about 60 miles) for display or to fill customer orders. He claimed that some of the engines were so tight, that he would drive in second gear part of the way until they broke in. Tall tale or not, I just feel fortunate to have met somebody that drove a new Model A. He died about twenty years ago in his nineties.

[1955cj5]

When I was a kid I told my dad that I didn't think the Model A would do well in snow.....what with those narrow tires and not much traction....

But he told me that a Model A would do quite well in snow, those narrow tires cutting through and not offering much resistance, and the high ground clearance helped too..

I've yet to try it....

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

REAL STORY: Chief told Elbert, "If that Old Farmers' mule is sleeping in the road, again,I'm gonna run into him with this Model T"!-----He did, & killed the engine. The mule moved, just in time to crank it, before the Farmer got there, with his SHOTGUN!
Chiefs' Son, Bill W.

[Dodge]

I heard Bill Wiiiamson’s dog had to drive Bill home in his Model A after a good party one night. Any truth to that?

[eagle]

Originally Posted by Dodge

I heard Bill Wiiiamson’s dog had to drive Bill home in his Model A after a good party one night. Any truth to that?

I don't believe it, no way a rat terrier could reach the pedals! Friend of mine has an old mail jeep right hand drive. His big dog sits on the passenger seat (left side) and it gives some people a bit of a shock.

[vern hodgson]

Originally Posted by 1955cj5

When I was a kid I told my dad that I didn't think the Model A would do well in snow.....what with those narrow tires and not much traction....

But he told me that a Model A would do quite well in snow, those narrow tires cutting through and not offering much resistance, and the high ground clearance helped too..

I've yet to try it....

Try it you will be surprised, drove mine often in 1.5 ft. Of snow, no problem.