MTFCA Forum

Does anyone know the history of this T? Who owned it? By whom and where was it restored? Might anyone know if it has any driving/mechanical issues?

I don't think, restored would be the right word but with some imagination it was created. A mix of a few years of parts.

Yes someone built up a “ fun, parade type” T. You’d have to ask the current owner where it came from and go from there. From your questions it seems like it might be for sale.

Don’t know if it’s for sale but it won’t bring the selling price that a pretty much correct Brass era T would bring.

Fancy rig, some creative woodwork going on there, no telling who done it,
Mine was a huckster built on a frame of 2x6s, way to heavy and not how it would have been done back in the day, when i took it apart for restoration i found the body was nailed together with many hundreds of those pneumatic nailgun T-head nails, that led me to the conclusion that it was probably built as a movie prop by some company who was only concerned with outside looks.

I saw it advertised here. Interesting trunk on the back.

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/bc3a ... e5b35731b/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA-pOYd-_TM

Ed's links show this info & numerous photos of it. Given where it is I'd say its in good company, the garage is full of restored cars, some very high end. Note same car in the left as in the first photo. Looks like they have some cars in the field

You might try the Model T club listed in MTFCA. Her address is just 10 miles from Black Horse Garage
Charter Oak Spokes Folks
Linda Gagel
408 Old Tavern Rd
Orange, CT 06477

If you’re interested in buying it make sure the car is mechanically sound. In other words a good radiator that really cools, a rebuilt engine and transmission , Good solid wheels and tires and a rebuilt differential.
That’s what counts, The body and paint comes is 2nd.
To have a complete rebuilt chassis in the Brass era would be around $10.000 or more these days.
Only if the chassis is redone would you have a nice parade car.

As others have stated don’t let the shiny exterior let you believe it is mechanically worth buying. Get a list of past mechanical work including any modern upgrades that might have been done. Also any additional add ons such as Ruxtell or aftermarket brakes. More pictures under the hood, floor board area and underneath will give this group information needed to help you out. The combined knowledge here is mind numbing, except for me of course!

I'm assuming the block is a 1914. I know it's pre-19... but other than that ?? Everything is shiny and painted pretty, but that' because it's in a museum showplace. The water pump - is it unnecessary bling or is the radiator shot? Makes me think... Museum Queen. Who built the body, and when? when wa the last time it was driven? And for how far?
I noticed they put a lot of attention on the "picnic basket". The body is kinda pretty, who built it? And for a 1914, they used a lot of earlier stuff (likely repop) to make it a paradester.

It's cute, I wouldn't kick it out of my garage for leaking oil if it appeared there, but that's a LOT of coin for a very pretty bitsa.

My response to the original question is I do not know the history of, or who restored it, or its mechanical condition, but I can tell you it was never a 1914 Model T as anyone knew it. It is an embarrassing home made fantasy car, a car that never existed, a home made chuck wagon body with carriage seats and a surrey with the fringe on top roof, cobbled on top of a parts salad model T chassis and randomly identified as a 1914. Ask the seller to produce a picture of this car in its "as found" state and condition prior to the restoration. Can he even produce a 100 year old manufacturers catalog of aftermarket model T bodies that can document this chuck wagon/carraige/ huckster, because in my 50 years of model T's I have never seen one. This chuckwagon huckster is fraud and some poor unknowledgeable buyer is going to get taken to the cleaners.

If I smeared some paint on a piece of canvas and said it was a Picasso and tried to sell it I would be arrested for fraud. But some guy with more money than brains builds a fantasy chuck wagon out of model T parts and carriage seats how is that different? And for some who know better to just call this a pretty parade car is a surprise. This is the sort of thing the MTFCA members should be calling out and warning people about, it hurts the hobby and will hurt some poor sucker someday who may buy this thing.

I would expect a true 1914 model T selling for $22,500 to be a 100 point show car painstakingly restored from a well preserved original survivor.

Anything past, present, or future, that this Black Horse company has its fingerprints on should be called into question.

Jeff

don't sugar-coat it!
tell us how you REALLY feel!

(BTW - I don't think you're wrong)

Rather than picking it apart, making fun of it, accept it as is and enjoy it. The world is full of "speedsters" made up out original and repro parts., and we dod not make fun oif most of them, we just drive them and have fun. If original parts were used, the use of them saved them.

We all can tell what it is. I often see Model Ts advertised by members that call them "original". Ts are original only if as originally made. I know of one 1910 in CA that is the closest to "original" that can be at this time. There are a few out there.