The suggestion in the Model T user manual? Go up steep hills in reverse. In fact, the Super T’s only real limitation is long, steep hills-the gravity-fed fuel system doesn’t work over an eight percent grade. Shifted into one of the lower gears, the Super T easily made it up what can only be called a hiking or dirt-bike trail filled with loose boulders. Though bouncy, thanks to non-dampened leaf-spring suspension, its 21-inch wheels and impressive ground clearance make short work of a rutted-out, unmaintained fire road. It is mind-boggling how good the Super T is off-road. Unlike Bothwell’s first off-road excursion in Grandpa’s T, this one’s engine doesn’t use overhead valves, minimizing the potential need to make adjustments in the field. Even in 90-degree desert heat, the engine temperature barely registered on the radiator-mounted thermometer. With just a quick lesson, I was able to get comfortable driving the Super T without stalling, bogging, or breaking anything. Though the hand throttle lever on the right side of the steering wheel is somewhat clunky by today’s standards, in its time, you were likely the only car around for hours of driving it’s basically cruise control. It’s practical, reliable, and relatively comfortable in a variety of environments, from cobblestoned city streets to rutted, rocky dirt tracks. The Super T really leans into the spirit of American motoring: freedom to just go. I could even power out of the hairpins with an inner wheel smoking and spinning. The Super T cranks out about 40 hp, a healthy improvement over the stock 20 hp. It breathes through a Schebler carburetor and lubricates itself with a finned aluminum oil pan, transmission oil scoop, and external return line. The 2.9-liter four-cylinder engine is modified for power and durability, with a bigger cam, an aftermarket water pump, a flat-tube radiator, and a high-compression head featuring oversize valves. That’s 12 ratios, ranging from a high of about 60 mph on the freeway to a low crawl of about 1. But the additional floor-mount levers add capability: One controls the Warford three-speed transmission attached to the standard planetary drive unit, and the other controls a Ruxtell two-speed differential. There are two small controls on the wheel, a hand-brake lever, and the same three pedals the car left Detroit with a century ago.
Size-12New Balances were the wrong choice. I crawl awkwardly into the Super T from the passenger’s side, over the aftermarket gear levers that now dominate the cabin, and settle in.
#CALL TO ARMS MODS DRIVER#
Out here, there is no danger of being run over by a latte-sipping Tesla driver on a conference call. Here, we’re alone in the desert, like we might have been back then. The last time I tried was in Southern California traffic, which was terrifying. Controls weren’t standardized at the time, something you take for granted once you try to drive one. To say a Model T is not like a modern car would be a drastic understatement. In fact, if you own a real 1924 Bugatti Type 35 and need spare parts, Volkswagen’s Bugatti can’t help you. Professionally, Bothwell is the director of Pur Sang Argentina, a company building period-correct replicas of pre-war grand prix cars using, wherever possible, the exact methods and blueprints from the originals. John Bothwell has five Model Ts in his personal collection, along with a variety of other early cars, from Locomobiles to Rolls-Royces. Extensive catalogs, many of which still exist, showed you could customize your T to any specific need, style, or condition you might encounter. There were mechanical improvements, cosmetic tweaks, durability upgrades, and more. The Model T birthed the automotive aftermarket. Ford’s assembly-line construction changed the automotive industry forever, and the sheer ubiquity of the Model T meant millions of owners would take fixing its shortcomings into their own hands.
But from the factory it was also too basic for many owners. There are no real brakes, no fuel pump, and only two forward gears. Most Model Ts are famously all black, saving on paint cost. To experience a Model T is to first learn where that money didn’t go. A Model T cost as little as $260, or about $7850 in today’s money-90 percent less than a European sports car.
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