A few weeks ago my uncle, who owns several old cars including some Model Ts, mentioned a $2500 T he'd recently seen at a car meet. A fellow Model T Club member had it and my uncle described it as running and driving really well. I thought the price seemed cheap so I told him I was interested. My aunt and uncle live two hours away and I drive up every few weeks to visit. Last weekend I was up and asked if he'd called about it. He said he hadn't, but would Monday. I said "if it looks OK, I'll buy it". So Monday I sent a text to my aunt. We discussed a few unrelated things, but the Model T came up. I told her we were coming up for Easter and I'd just talk to my uncle about it then. She responded a few hours later to say "He went up and got it. It's in the box trailer. I'll send pictures later." Here they are:
Our farms are very rural and unfortunately there is no cell service and the internet comes in by rail car once a week, so the images (taken by an old man's flip phone) aren't the greatest, but that's probably for the best. I would have liked to have been involved in the bargaining process or seen some pictures before the money was spent, but too late. I remember now my uncle saying "It kind of looks like a circus car." Seems accurate. The good news is the running drivetrain is probably worth the price and whatever I do to it will be an improvement. Hopefully it has a title... I'm not sure why it was built, but we believe the former owner used it in parades. The seat and top appear to be from a horse buggy. I will leave the red wheels, but the non-T parts will go and the red ones painted black. I haven't decided if I will go for a GRM washing machine/file cabinet derived speedster or scrounge a T body and make a Beverly Hillbillies-style touring car. Or maybe keep the seat and top and just build a truck bed out of barn wood. Either way it will be ugly and fun.
