First, the good news: TFL’s 1915 Ford Model T actually runs. The bad news: It really hasn’t been driven in over 35 years. There’s no telling whether or not it’ll explode after puttering a mile or two down the road or keep on rolling for the next 109 years. Only one way to find out, run some errands and stop at McDonald’s for some drive-thru.

The Model T comes with some sweet history. This two-seat ‘roadster’ version of the car was found in Fort Collins, and the previous owner had it completely restored in the 1950s. In the 60s, it participated in the Glidden Tours series, a cross-state rally held around the country. This Model T even made it up to the top of Pikes Peak (and back down), a feat that was part of a Conoco-sponsored documentary. With that kind of provenance, it should be able to handle a trip to the gas station to top off its 7-gallon tank, a McDonald’s run for lunch, followed by a quick stop in Walmart for some groceries.

How to Start a Ford Model T. First, Set Aside 7 Minutes

This car came out before the advent of eclectic starters, and so getting the 2.9-liter four-cylinder engine is a process that goes like this:

• Crawl underneath the car and open the fuel line.
• Open the choke and crank the engine over a few times to prime the gravity-fed carburetor.
• Open the throttle a little. The throttle, by the way, is a lever on the steering column.
• Connect a 6-volt battery with gator clumps to the coil box on the dash and turn on the coil box. Each spark plug has its own coil.
• Crank the engine to activate the coil box, which will now have an audible buzz emanating from it, hence its nickname, the “buzz box.”
• Now, you can hand-crank the engine to get it running, making sure you hold the crank properly so a backfire won’t break your wrist or worse.
• Once running, you switch the coil box to magneto so it can generate electricity on its own and disconnect the separate starter battery.
• And away you go.

If it all seems like a monumental pain, consider how much easier and less messy starting a Model T was compared to saddling a horse, which was still a major source of individual transportation at the time.

How to Actually Drive a Model T

If you’ve driven a farm tractor, then a Model T’s operation will seem familiar. As pointed out earlier, the throttle is a lever on the steering column. There are three pedals on the floor. The right pedal is the brake pedal, which slows the transmission down. There are no brakes connected to the wheels. The middle pedal is reverse. The left pedal works like the gear shift on a motorcycle: down once for first gear, up to neutral, and up again for 2nd gear. Those are the only gears available in this Model T. A hand brake along the left puts the car into neutral when pushed forward. That apparent stick shift sticking out of the middle of the floor? That’s a two-speed transfer case. Altogether, the Model T had four gears plus reverse. 

Putting the Ford in motion is relatively easy once you get the hang of the process. Stopping is another matter. For that, you have to put the transmission into neutral with your left foot on the left pedal, then press on the right pedal and hope for the best. Stopping wasn’t a big priority apparently in a time when there were no stop signs or traffic signals.

Every Drive Feels Like the First Time

Click on the video below to see how Tommy and Kase fared on their 18-mile round-trip adventure. They reached a top speed of 35 mph, which would’ve felt wicked fast in 1915 when most people only experienced that velocity on a train. They dealt with a boiling radiator and the stressful stop-and-go of the lunch rush at McDonald’s. In all, everything about the Model T was an adventure. Same as it probably was 109 years ago.