Model T Users

In 1922, Ford Motor Company published the story of Reverend Branford Clarke and his mobile chapel, based on a Model T chassis. Entirely self-designed, the chapel featured a small organ and a steeple that could fold down. Ford used individual stories like Reverend Clarke's to advertise its Model T as a sturdy, versatile automobile that could change ordinary Americans' lives.

Better roads and the increased availability of automobiles fueled an autocamping craze in the 1910s and 1920s. Many middle class motorists packed a tent, cots, and food, hit the road, and camped wherever they pleased. This inventive setup incorporated the campers' Model T, which anchored their tent and offered additional shelter or storage space.

Not only for getting from here to there, automobiles could be dressed up for a parade. This ca. 1915 photograph shows a Ford Model T decorated with umbrellas, pom-poms, garland, and a sign promoting Nissly, Webb, and Marrs, an Ypsilanti, Michigan, dry goods store.

Around 1919 a farmer driving his converted Model T Runabout is pulling a McCormick-Deering reaper to harvest grain in Minnesota. Large-diameter steel-drive wheels and a rear power takeoff were all that was needed to achieve the conversion. For only $195, E.G. Staude Company of St. Paul, Minnesota, had started selling the Mak-a-Tractor conversion kit for the Model T in 1917, capitalizing on the popularity of the Ford car among farmers. Staude produced an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 of these in its lifetime.

The Model T's rugged simplicity allowed it to be adapted to any number of uses. One inventive owner customized this Model T touring car, mounting a handmade crate on the sideboard to create a motorized livestock hauler.

The Model T's rugged simplicity allowed it to be adapted to any number of uses. One inventive owner customized this Model T truck, replacing the standard wheels with caterpillar tracks and skis for operating in snowy or icy conditions.

Innovative users adapted the Ford Model T to their needs. The Ford's rear axle powered many types of belt driven machinery. This photograph taken about 1919 shows men preparing to cut wood on a portable sawmill powered by a Model T.

H.D. McCracken, his wife, and his dog used this modified Ford Model T for traveling and touring thousands of miles in the United States. Akin to today's motorhome, the woodwork interior and exterior indicates that McCracken was a creative and inventive craftsman. This photograph documents McCracken's handiwork and the usefulness of the Model T for living on the road.

This woman posed in the cab of a Ford Model T modified for use on a railroad track. The Model T's rugged simplicity allowed it to be adapted to any number of uses. This vehicle likely was used on a logging railroad. It may have hauled tools and equipment to worksites along the line.

With a few modifications, Model T owners could turn an automobile into a stationary power plant. A drive belt attached to the Ford's rear axle could run machinery for any number of tasks, from milling grain to sawing lumber. In this unusual example, an Australian horse groomer rigged a Model T to power mechanized clippers.