MTFCA Forum

Barney Oldford racecar driver!

That speedster is interesting. Yet another early speedster with no brake rod on the side shown! I have seen that several times, just surprises me that people would have driven a car much with maybe no parking/starting brake?
I cannot tell for certain, but I think the rear cross member is the later long style, later 1913/'14 style? I can't see running board bracket holes or remnants, it appears to maybe have something (sheet metal or wood, canvas maybe?) along the outside frame rail. Can't see body mounting brackets either. Of course, the crude body could be bolted directly onto the frame rails.

Neat photo! Thanks Tom R!

Wayne Sheldon wrote: ↑

Mon May 06, 2024 7:08 pm

. . . just surprises me that people would have driven a car much with maybe no parking/starting brake?

I cannot tell for certain, but I think the rear cross member is the later long style, later 1913/'14 style? . . .

Pick me Wayne, in my early days I could never see any braking at all from the rear drum shoes ! I could, however (and did) lock up rear wheels with the transmission band brake. From the looks of the mud on that speedster, I’d say any loss of forward tractive effort would bring it to an immediate halt in heavy mud !

I can’t tell about the frame either. It looks like the board mounted across the frame casts a shadow that hides the rear cross member. Any datable clue from that surviving headlamp ?

Yeah that mud all over the car is something! He obviously did not just now drive up and stop there, either that or it is yesterday's mud.
Brass era lamps are one of my weak areas for identifying years of parts, and the mud coverage doesn't help either. It looks to me like a 1913/'14 style headlamp, although some of 1912 also looked similar. The lamp of course be an available replacement for two broken by bad roads and mud?

I wonder what those ‘items’ are on the bed of that Exner-Dodge Packing Co. truck ? And the T resting on its left side in the last picture - does the front bumper appear to be at the height of fender crown ? Accy bumpers usually land forward of front tires at axle height.

The head light fork is the 1911-1914 style. They are taller than the 1909-10 fork.

Darel, which picture are you referring to ?

Regarding the speedster in the first photo...

There is a postcard on Ebay with the same photo . There is some interesting writing on the back that says the photo was taken on Oct 26, 1916 in Andover KS

https://www.ebay.com/itm/194888823606
[image][/image]

With his bad posture, low seat, no lower back support, rough terrain and excessive vibration of the T, I’m sure this guy had back problems later in life, if not at the time. I’ll bet those pedals were difficult to operate from that low position. Hard life. Jim Patrick

…and that T has seen better days. Looks like a big chunk of rubber is missing from the right front tire. I don’t think it is mud. You can see the brake rod eye hanging down without the rod. Probably got torn off by a stump.