Based without any doubt whatsoever on a horse drawn buggy the Model T nevertheless captured the market as the next best thing to four legged propulsion.
When Henry Ford brought about a mass production process everything was set for global success and the heralding in of the reliance of mankind on fossil fuel propulsion.
For all of its simplistic design brief including being cheap to make and buy, easy to maintain and repair, an ability to cope with rutted byways and fordable streams and rivers (it stood seven feet tall and with tremendous ground clearance) and transport the family and livestock for pleasure or livelihood the Model T was dashed complicated and downright frightening to actually drive.
This was not however the first impression on taking up a position on the sofa-like upholstered driver's seat behind the large steering wheel. In front was a single dashboard gauge indicating whether or not the battery was taking a charge, to its left the ignition keyhole and on the other the headlamp switch.
Today's motoring reviews of new cars to the market emphasise how easy they are to drive. It will have been interesting to read the first impressions, if any were actually published in the media of the time, of taking a Model T for a spin.
Most of us who learned to drive a manual transmission car will have gone through the familiarisation process with the foot pedals, with or without the use of bean tins or other utensils at home, of A,B,C as in accelerator, brake and clutch.
Travel back in time to the Model T and you will have been mightily confused and perplexed by the three foot pedals.
The right hand one is the brake, the left side being the clutch and the central one, well not the brake as anticipated but for putting the car in reverse.
Nowadays many modern cars do not even have a recognisable handbrake lever, rather a push button parking brake. The Model T had two levers coming out of the floor of yet more confusing function.
One is the handbrake although also acting as an auxiliary clutch in that in full forward position the high gear is engaged, in the halfway position the car is in neutral but also operating low gear or reverse and all the way back is also neutral or applies the brakes.
The other lever was connected to the 2 speed rear axle or underdrive.
For all of these mechanical workings the most important controls were on the steering wheel column being the levers for the gas and for the control of the combustion spark.
The Instruction manual for the Model T version of 1911 urged the new customer to "Go It Easy" as in taking care to study and master the manipulation of the brakes and levers.
Many of the millions lining up to buy the revolutionary mode of transport will have had great expectations of its capabilities. They will not have, in the most part, been disappointed as the T was a great workhorse and possessed remarkable durability and practicality over the myriad of terrains and climates found across, in particular, the United States.
So, putting together all of the controls gave the following sequence, around seven defined steps to get the car moving.
Firstly, accelerate the engine by opening the throttle, then
2) place the foot on the clutch pedal to hold the gears in neutral,
3) push the hand lever forward,
4) press the pedal forward into slow speed and
5) when under sufficient headway
6) allow the pedal to drop back into high speed whilst
7) partially closing the throttle which allows the engine to pick up its load easily.
Reverse could only be engaged at a dead stop before disengaging the clutch with the hand lever, pressing the reversing pedal forward with the left foot and leaving the right foot to hover over the brake pedal if needed.
Stopping was equally complex in its order of actions and no doubt caused a lot of anxiety if in an emergency situation.
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