Model T Time By Willy Carson G


eoffrey Mark likes his Fords. His childhood ambition was to restore the family Fordson Standard N, a project which he has now completed, having given the tractor a thorough mechanical overhaul. In his teenage years he developed the skills and motivation to take his ambitions to the next level and, three months before he turned seventeen, he bought his first car, a secondhand 1.1L Fiesta, which after he had passed his driving test became his everyday driver for the next two years. “When I was a young lad I would have bought a Fiesta, tidied it up, driven it for a while and sold it on,” he explains. “I probably owned about a dozen Fiestas in that period, before I moved on to Escorts.” Aside from the need for daily transport, Geoffrey’s interest in Fords developed as he took a keen interest in the local vintage scene. “Many an old tractor or car followed me home from here and there,” he says explaining the long list of vintage vehicles which, at some time or other, have arrived at his shed door, been given a new lease of life and then been


enjoyed before making way for some other interesting piece of automotive or agricultural history. There’s the Fordson Standard which, with its Ford D series diesel engine isn’t standard anymore, the Ford 9N (the result of Henry Ford’s wartime collaboration with Northern Ireland’s famous inventor, Harry Ferguson), the 1004 County…the list goes on, but the thread that runs through it all is Geoffrey’s interest in Ford and its place in the world’s automotive heritage. No adventure through the history of the mighty Ford empire could be complete without a study of the famous Model T, the car which introduced the factory production line and brought affordable motoring to millions. In 1896 Henry Ford proudly displayed his primitive Quadricycle, which set him on road to automotive greatness and only 12 years later, in September 1908 he introduced the Model T. Such was the success of the Tin Lizzie that, even though all previous Ford models had been discontinued, production couldn’t keep up with demand. Considering the development of new technologies during the early years of the motor car, it is remarkable that the Model T was available for a further 18 years with few changes to its basic design. Powered by a 2,896 cc side valve engine rated at 20hp, the car could reach 45mph, ample for the road conditions of the day, and had such abundant torque that progress from rest to cruising speed could be achieved with only two gears. A range of body styles followed including the Town Car, the Tourer, the ‘Doctor’s Coupe’, two and four door Saloons, a military version and various commercial derivatives so that, by the time production ended in 1927, over 15


18 JULY/AUGUST 2021 call 01295 404099 to advertise or email advertising@vintagescene.co.uk


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32