Cars - 100 years ago

When I was a kid, it wasn't possible to have a 100 year old car. Weird

Eddie Rickenbacker in his racer - 1915.

Oldest I have had is 90 years and its astonishing the difference.

I've had this thought too at car shows. I realize that by the time I reach retirement age the quintessential hot rod, the 32 Ford "Deuce Coupe" will be 100 years old. There are still guys in the hobby who "had one when I was in high school." I wonder if they'll still have the same appeal to a generation fully removed from them.

And you go from that to a Model A in 15 years. A Model A has modern(ish) controls, (Ok, the pedals all do what you expect) and can be driven by a normal modern human with less than 2 minutes of coaching- I bet that racer would need a couple of hours.

My brother was going through a box of old papers recently and came across the sales documents for the 1932 Ford Tudor my dad bought in 1936.

My grandma made me promise if I ever had the chance to drive a model a to take it. She loved hers that much!

Great point, Oldtin. And a little scary. My dad was one of those guys whose first car was a Model A he bought with his buddies. And the Model A we have, that Tim's grandfather sold new, is part of the family in a way that none of the other cars are.

A good friend has an A that his grandfather bought new. One of the reasons that I kind of want one is because it would be neat to own a 100 year old car.

In reply to glueguy:

i've thought about similar things, too. my dad is into old mustangs, but he was a teenager when then mustang was first sold. They were 'classics' by the time i was born. i like them a lot, but not enough to lust after a classic one. What happens when people my age hit our 40's/50's? i'm guessing 60's shelby mustang prices won't continue to skyrocket, but an all original mk4 supra might be a different story.

My grandpa told me stories of having to drop the oil pan off his model T in South Dakota winters and sticking it in the oven to warm the oil back to liquid. Heady days, for sure.

I drive a 1910 Sears Model L Runabout fairly often.

Tiller steering is a pain.

Depressing the clutch to engage take a bit of time to wrap your head around.

30mph in something with 36" wooden wheels and solid rubber tires is more terrifying than 100mph in a modern car.

Even by 1915 controls were becoming standardised. Our 1915 Crane Simplex has everything where you would expect it to be.

The only things to get used to on the Crane are the spark advance and mixture controls are on the quadrant in the steering wheel and that you only have rear wheel brakes.

I have to say I love cars from the turn of the 20th century up to WWII. When I see them a car shows or even on Barrett Jackson, I find them much more interesting than the sea of '60's muscle cars that get paraded out.

My step father told me about the time his dad took his model T on a road trip to Detroit from the other side of MI, half way there he had to replace the main bearings. So he pulled over a ditch and did it on the side of the road.

Try that on your modern car!

I recommend that everyone read Rickenbacker's autobiography. It's called "Rickenbacker." He was an amazing guy.

My grandfather once told me that his father had the first car in West Haven Connecticut. It was delivered on the train, they had to assemble it at the railroad station and then read the book to figure out how to drive it home.

He also said that by the late teens, cars were still uncommon enough that he would take his father's (different) car to Savin Rock on the weekends and give people a ride on the boulevard for a dime. Most had never ridden in a car before.

My grandfather's first job was assembling Model T's. They shipped them mostly assembled in crates, and they had to be finished off at the "dealership". The Ford dealer owned a Buick and evidently caused quite a stir in town as it was the only non-T that most people had seen.

Thanks, this thread sent me off to the wilds of Craigslist (because I have a problem). This seemed pretty cool:

1931 Ford

Aparently this is what my grandpa bought back in the late 50's. I never saw it except in pictures.

Packard Goodness

My Mom used to drive a Model A to high school. It had a cracked block so she had to carry a bucket of water with her to fill it up halfway. Kinda sounds like my current RX7. Hmmm, the more things change...

My (late) grandfather used to tell the story of when he pulled his father's T out of the barn and took it for a ride.. first corner he took, the tyres came off the rims. It went back into the barn after that.. and for all I know, is still there

I remember my great grandfather telling me about the first car he ever saw, a model T of course, kicking up a lot of dust and stopping at his house to put water in the radiator. If I remember correctly he was in his early teens.

While we are all reminiscing. Tiller steering on a curved dash that someone took me in. My grandfather was super big in to Cadillac's had several V12 and V16 Cadillac's. My father went the other way and got into Fords after my GF died. I used to almost DD my Flathead powered 28 Roadster with no windshield and goggles and a scarf out here and people thought that I was crazy. At least it had drum brakes, still on friction shocks though.

Semi-related, my wedding is going to be in the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant in Detroit, where the Model T was first made. When my fiance and I toured it we thought it was perfect for us.

http://www.fordpiquetteavenueplant.org/

Only pre-war car (Model A) stories is my dads, just after WW2, he went to college out in Washington State.... he lived in Maplewood NJ. He and 3 friends on more than one occasion drove a Model A across country... now across country then was before the interstate highways... so all the roads were township, or roads that connected townships... nothing like multi-lane highways then... no oil filters back then either... they would drive 36-48 hours, change the oil and get back in... they could cross the country in about 4-5 days. They would often stay in small town jails with the jailer's wife frequently making breakfast the following morning.....

In 100 years, cars went from this:

To this:

Round headlights, 4 wheels with spokes, 4 doors, a steering wheel, roof rack, running boars...not much has changed really. I bet Carl Benz could step right into a modern car and drive away.

Flying however, went from this:

to this:

in only 80 years.