In Brasstown: The Model T

Brasstown! Our destination for our weekend road trip. I had a vague memory of having read something about this place before but could not remember what it was. Then I saw Clay's Corner and I remembered: New Year's Eve. But that story is for my next post. This post is about that car parked in front of Clay's store.

A Model T and it looked like it was in running condition. I like old cars; I'm no afionado but I appreciate old things and cars that are still running after 90 years? They command respect! We didn't stop because we needed to reach Tipper's house but I made Larry promise to bring me back the next day to take photos. But when we returned, it was gone! Color my face sad. It was so perfect sitting in front of the store with its campaign poster, and now my opportunity to photograph it was gone.

Luck was with us, however. The owner's son, Mack Logan, happened to be getting in his truck. Larry rolled down his window and hollered, "Hey, what happened to the old car that was here yesterday?"

"I just moved it," Mack said. "The starter spring broke so we took it over to my garage. Wanna see it?"

Yes indeed we did. So we followed Mack to the garage, and there it was:

a 1924 Model T with its original license plate, and still running except for that broken bit. Mack said they found the car in Iowa; a local man had moved there and when they went to visit him he told them about the Model T in a nearby garage. 

The car had only one owner, and had been parked for years.

 I know little about motors but this one looked so simple compared to today's cars.

 The tires still had the original wood-spoked wheels.

And check out the fancy hood ornament!

What's that in the bask seat? Possums?

Three pedals on the floor: one for the clutch, one for reverse and one is the brake. The emergency brake handle on the left means there is no door on the driver's side--only on the passenger's side. The emergency brake is also high gear. Very confusing for anyone who has never seen much less driven one of these kinds of cars! Id you're curious, here's a link to more information about how the Model T is driven.

Mack said he'd have taken us for a spin if the car was running but I was happy just to look at it so closely. It's in remarkable condition. Many thanks to Mack for taking two complete strangers to see his car. That's country folks for you.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.