#1: Don’t Go Too Fast
It’s July 15, 1932.
Gerhard knows that Bertha, whom he hasn’t seen for ten months, will arrive by train in Teulon.
Soon.
Gerhard doesn’t have much time. He is determined to buy a car before Bertha sets foot on the platform. He has seen a few cars for sale along the road into Teulon. They don’t interest him although the prices are very reasonable. These are hard times in the country. Farmers are forced to give up transportation for which they have no fuel. Horses have come back to serve their masters and cars are being abandoned everywhere.
Gerhard is suspicious of old abandoned cars previously used by farmers. They undoubtedly have led a rough life, often used as a tow tractor to pull wagons and even sometimes hooked to an implement to plough the fields. He looks for a pampered car, one preferably previously owned by a fussy old lady. Perhaps a car driven by a teacher or the wife of a doctor.
“How much do you want for that car?”
It’s Gerhard asking the garage-man about the black Model T Ford coupe parked out front with a FOR SALE sign on the window. The paint shines in the afternoon sun and the black wooden spokes glisten after washing.
“$400,” is the reply.
“That’s quite a lot. Weren’t they around $500 brand new?”
Gerhard is thinking, stalling for time.
“The car is perfect. I greased all the joints and changed the oil in the engine. It didn’t need it, the oil was so clean. I also changed the differential oil so the car is ready for winter. There are very few good cars in this shape available around here. For this one you will have to pay more.”
“Who owns it?”
The 1927 Ford Model T Coupe.
All-steel body, nickel plated radiator and head lamp rims, large compartment under rear deck, starter, four cord tires, demountable rims, windshield wiper, rear view mirror and dash lamp. Balloon tires $25 extra. Price fob Detroit: $520
Advertisement taken from web site of The Model T Ford Club International
A recent advertisement in the Old Car Trader, Canadian distribution, showed a 1927 Ford Model T Coupe, original motor, wood spoke wheels, driven all summer, asking $14,500. This picture is taken from the back fly-leaf cover of Cars of Canada by Hugh Durnford and Glenn Baechler, 1973, McClelland and Stewart Ltd.
