More From the Model T Museum

To start our second day wandering through the Model T museum, here is a 1927 built July 24,1927. It is serial number 14,680,091 which gives you an idea of how many of this model were built over the years. Like with the last car shown yesterday, this one sports dealer installed bumpers which was a rather plush option back in the day. This car also has a speedometer and a Muncie three-speed sliding transmission. At the time this car came out wire wheels were standard. This has the original hickory wood spokes which was a $5 option.

Here is a perfect example of the success of Model Ts on the race track. This 1926 Racer won races on dirt tracks all across the Midwest in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Though heavily modified, it has been restored to its original "racing" configuration.

The inner workings of the Model T, the engine and the chassis, proved to be very durable and could fill a large number of needs. The perfect example is shown here, the 1971 Ford TT Dump Truck. The TT stood for "ton truck." Beginning in 1914 Ford began offering a body-less engine and chassis from the Model T for sale and many people bought them so they could be adapted to a specific purpose.

One of the more interesting uses of these stripped down Model Ts is demonstrated with this 1932 Snowmobile dubbed, The Snowbird. Manufactured in New Holland, WI, it had six wheels. The front two could be removed and replaced with skis while the four rear wheels could easily roll into a tank-like tread to get doctors and delivery drivers through the snow. Jay Klehforth, chief operating officer of the Model T Ford Club of America said the transformation could be done in a matter of minutes.

The most popular use of the Model T chassis besides that of a car was as a fire truck. Klehforth said this example was donated complete with all the fire gear (the dog came extra) as it would have been seen when it was a working truck. Because of the angle I couldn't get around and show the actual leather fire hats hanging from the other side. Klehforth said a collector contacted them and wanted to purchase those helmets for a ridiculous price. The museum turned him down.

Here is a 1919 Model T Depot Hack. These were developed to carry people from train depots to hotels though, to me, the ride doesn't look all that comfortable. The name was later changed to Depot Wagon and eventually Station Wagon.