MTFCA Forum

A very unusual rounded body. Odd for that time period but I do believe it is the 20s.
I wonder what it is made of.
Rich

Rich, I bet it took some bread to get that built !

No small task to make that in the days before fiberglass!

Yes Dallas, someone had a lot of dough.
Wood perhaps. I doubt metal.

I guess that answers the question, any way you slice it model T's had shiney paint.

Your Rye sense of humor is S'Wheat!
My apologies to Tim.

My paternal grandfather owned and operated a bakery from about 1915 until retirement in 1952. In the late teens and early 20's he had a few Model T "delivery cars" used for bread delivery. I wasn't around yet, but I'm pretty sure none of them looked like the one pictured. Very cool. Thanks for posting it!!

FABULOUS workmanship!! I don’t suppose it survived unfortunately

This is British. There were T and TT versions, possibly supplied by one of the bread or flour companies - Hovis? Lots of bakers had them, I don't know of a survivor, the construction probably didn't lend itself to long term use and what could you use a second hand loaf for once the baker finished with it?

Whoever built that sure wasn't loafing around...

(Knew you'd get a rise out of me...)

That really is a cute design... the cab is really unique, Of course we're on the wrong side of WW2 to find one, but if we could, what an amazing project that would be... Another one I'd like to fond (someday) is the snap on dealer's roadster pictured as my avatar... THAT would be a fun one to build...

Guess I knead to roll to another topic now...

I can't think of anything but half-baked puns so I'm going to hustle my buns out of here.

Hard to prove but I would bet the panels were metal, more than likely Aluminium though could have been steel.
Tradesmen of the day could easily form these panels.
When I first entered the trades all the metal workers had wheeling machines and other sheet metal tools and could
quickly shape a flat piece of metal into a ball. The students at the college made an early VW hub cap from a flat disc as their first exercise.
One teacher made a full size Kangaroo holding a football in aluminium for a motor show the college was involved in. There was no
joins which could be seen and it was all polished metal.
Not as complicated as the van but here is a 1920's roadster which is one of several surviving similar examples here in Australia which has a rear tub made of wood frame and covered in steel.

It could also be fabric covered. Airplanes used fabric over wood because it was extremely light weight before super light weight metals were readily available.
Weymann built a considerable number of very high end custom bodies for both American and European built chassis during the classic era. They were largely fabric covered over a patented wooden frame designed to flex quietly, and the fabric covering also helped to silence noises. They also had a lightweight advantage that added a bit to any chassis' performance without loss of luxury or style.
Also, for what it is worth? A longtime good friend has (had?) an original built about 1910 NRS speedster with a very nice custom roadster body. Quite curvy for the era, and beautifully done in fabric over wood frame.

There were so many options, and artistic body builders may have had their preferred methods. We likely will never know how this one was done.
Regardless, this is a wonderful picture to look at and speculate about.
Thanks to all!

All shapes and sizes

How great to see all of these!
Thanks to all.
Rich

That 'Pep-o-mint' car is not exactly a life saver, with the very limited visibility

Easy to roll but it looks like a sweet ride !