Albemarle Area Model T Ford Club

Chapter of the Model T Ford Club International (MTFCI)

From 1908 till 1927 there were 15,006,625 Model T’s manufactured. May 26, 1927 was the final day that Ford manufactured the Model T. It is estimated that about 50 to 60 thousand remain road worthy to date.

These cars maximum speed is about 30-45 mph depending on the model, getting around 15 to 18 mpg of gasoline. The car has no oil pump, fuel pump, nor water pump. This is the way Ford designed them. The cooling system works on thermosiphon, the oil circulation is a splash system and the fuel is gravity flow. This is a very simple way of operating. Most of these cars had wooden spoke wheels consisting of 12 spokes per wheel. They weJohnlong@mediacombb.netre usually Hickory, Ash or White Oak wood. Although this is a simple operating car, image the transformation from driving a horse cart to an automobile.

There are about six or seven companies that reproduce parts for these cars, however some parts are extremely hard to find and are not being reproduced. You have to sometimes rely on refurbished parts if you are lucky enough to find them. That is one plus of being in a Model T Club, we all help each other.

The Albemarle Area Model T Ford Club was chartered December of 2015. It has about 25 members from all across the Albemarle and surrounding areas (this is a family oriented club). We are always looking for new members. Some members own as many as 5 T’s. We meet four times a year, the first meeting of the year being a business meeting and planning our tours. The other three meetings are tours. Some tours are for one day and others are two or more days. The tours are sponsored by different members. They consist of visiting places of interest, a lot of fun riding, always a nice restaurant stop and if available an ice cream stop.

Our club is a chapter of the Model T Ford Club International. They have 113 chapters in the USA and also chapters in Australia, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, and South America. This club has an annual tour the third week of July. This year it is in White Fish, Montana. This will be a weeklong tour with about 300 Model T’s participating. Last year the annual tour was held in Auburn, NY. Around 250 T’s attended.

If you see us touring the Albemarle area this year, feel free to wave, blow your horn or come visit with us. We look forward to seeing you.