MTFCA Forum

In that first picture, I thought the baby was driving, but I think she is sitting on the lap of the driver.
When I was a boy, they didn't have all the safety laws and I can remember standing on the front seat between my parents while dad was driving. Sometimes I sat on his lap and he let me steer. Other times I rode in the back seat, but with no restraint. I actually used to put my front teeth on the window sill because I liked the feel the vibration. If he had gone over a bump I would have knocked out my teeth! When our first son was born back in the 1950's we put him in a large cardboard box with a mattress in it. No restraints either. When our kids got into their teens, we sat one between my wife and me and 3 across in the back seat with the youngest on my wife's lap. Sometimes the older ones would have friends who sat on their laps in the back seat. This was in a 67 Dodge Dart 2 door sedan! Things have sure changed! Speeds have increased too!
Norm

I can remember in the 50’s my mother driving the 50 Ford we had and then the 52 Ford and extending her arm over me when I was in the front seat! I never really thought about it at the time until years later. But then again we weren’t driving fast like we do now. But we could ride in the back of a pickup going to town!

Wonderful collection of photos! Really outstanding quality.
Gerrit

"I can remember in the 50’s my mother driving the 50 Ford we had and then the 52 Ford and extending her arm over me when I was in the front seat!"

Same experience, except in a '49 Ford Tudor. If I was riding up front, and a panic stop was likely, her arm would shoot out to keep me from face-planting into the metal dash. We kids were pretty quick, and rarely needed any restraint. The rear of the front seat was fairly well-padded, as I remember.

5 WoodenWheels wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 22, 2022 7:16 pm

Wonderful collection of photos! Really outstanding quality.
Gerrit

I noticed too, how so many were of outstanding quality. Thanks Tom again for all these nice pics.
Not sure which # pic it was, but I noticed what looks like a RH drive '13, and a '14 that either has a '13 windshield as it's folded outward, or they just didn't know to fold it inward, or maybe didn't want it inward! And how many cars were totally overloaded with people in them! How funny.

The early 20's tourer with the light coloured top is RHD too. Notice the left front door.
Allan from down under.

The earlier ones folded outward. Later about 1919 they began to fold inward. And the top section was a bit shorter than the bottom.
Norm

Another wonderful collection Tom.

Congratulations too on correctly calling them touring cars.
Usually they are referred to as tourings? I have never understood why. No one would describe a Catalina as a flying, without the qualifier, boat.
If it must be shortened, then at least use the noun tourer to more correctly describe them.

Allan from down under, retired grade school teacher.

Tell me about the side curtains in photo #2.

Tim,

Number 16, the RHD Touring and driver has a Fez.
Appears to be a Rands windscreen flipped over the wrong way on a 1914 style touring.
However, the way he has it the drip edge on the top panel won't let him rotate it
past the stanchions inside. Probably didn't rain much where he was.
Didn't follow the instructions in the shipping crate!

Ken

Take another look at the second picture if you hadn't noticed this! Interesting side curtains!
The isinglass lights (windows!) are nearly full size to the curtain! There is only an about two inch wide black material for the common sense fasteners to attach the curtains to the body and top structure!
I have seen and heard of only a few surviving sets of similar era curtains, and only seen a couple era advertisements for them. The rarely ever show up in era photographs!

Allan

I am not a retired teacher, but it seems to me, given that the "Touring" was a designated body-type or model of a Model "T", requiring the word "car" to follow to be grammatically correct would be like having to say "Camaro Car" when talking about a particular model of Chevrolet or "Convertible Car" when talking about, well, convertibles.

You and I are apparently separated by a common language

The side curtains in picture 2 appear to have a horizontal seam dividing the "window" in half. It looks like one could roll up the top half of the "window" for ventilation. Nice.

Norm - windshields began folding inward in 1914.

Scott_Conger wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 23, 2022 8:29 pm

Allan

I am not a retired teacher, but it seems to me, given that the "Touring" was a designated body-type or model of a Model "T", requiring the word "car" to follow to be grammatically correct would be like having to say "Camaro Car" when talking about a particular model of Chevrolet or "Convertible Car" when talking about, well, convertibles.

You and I are apparently separated by a common language

Can't wait to see a photo thread of Sedan Cars and Runabout Cars!!

I have a 1967 Mercury Cougar two door hard-top, the only body style that year for the Cougar. When talking about cars I always call the Mercury a, Cougar. After all from 1967 threw the late 1990’s Mercury was, The Sign Of The Cat .

How lucky we are to see some more of these. Thanks for making my day much better.
Tourings were by far the majority of Model Ts and what most people think of. The photos show how well they were packed with passengers and baggage. I have certainly enjoyed mine.
Rich

Those hi-vis side curtains on pic #2 look like the side curtains I designed for my 1919.
Picture #6 is another wonderful illustration of a transitional 1911-1912. Interesting in that it has a 1911 type step-side body with straight-top fore-doors with a 1912 one-piece dash, but looks like it has equal half windshield from 1911. Notice the acetylene generator looks like it is black and the lamps might be black and brass, indicating late 1912. Maybe it was whatever parts were on hand. Notice the passenger side headlamp looks compromised.

: ^ )

Keith

Some really neat pictures of T Touring’s! My first memories of a Model T Touring was when my Mother talked about getting her drivers license at 14 and driving her brothers and sister to school in the early 20’s.
Her Father had just bought a new Model T Touring and even though she had an older brother and sister her Father let her drive it because she knew how to work the pedals the best!