My Mother's Drivers Ed. Car
To understand what she had to learn, let's go through the process of starting a Model T. To start the car you first had to make sure the key was in the off position and the transmission was in Neutral, set the choke on the right side by the right fender and turn the crank a quarter turn to draw gasoline into the engine, go to the steering wheel where there were two levers which controlled the spark and the amount of gas going to the engine. These two controls were not spring loaded, so where you set them they stayed until you reset them. Making sure the handbrake was set and the key was now turned to the 'Battery' rather than the 'Magneto' position, you then returned to the crank in the front, and carefully grip the crank with your left hand so your thumb and fingers were on the same side of the handle, grab the left fender, and give the crank a hefty half turn. Continue the cranking until the engine did start. If you were really unlucky, the engine would backfire instantly pulling the crank out of your hand and spinning it wildly backward. If you had been careless with the placement of your hand on the crank, you would now have a sprained thumb. Even if you had been careful the crank could hit your arm with enough force to break it and it often did.
The instructions for the use of the floor pedals are too hard to describe in words. At the end of this article is a link to a video explaining the process.
Model T Fords were produced from 1907 to 1929, but in 1919 the electric starter was introduced. That greatly simplified the starting procedure and eliminated the danger of cranking the engine by hand.
The high ground clearance of the Model T made it particularly appropriate for the muddy roads in swampy Borculo!
I was born 12 years after Mother learned to drive, so I never got to see her proficiency with the Model T, but three years after she learned to drive she drove across the State of Michigan to Imlay City with the Model T to visit some Elenbaas relatives, and on July 31, 1930 she sent this postcard to her now boyfriend and my to be father back in Borculo:
In the 19 years the Model T was manufactured, October 1, 1908 to May 26, 1927, 16.5 million were produced!
Here is the video showing how to start and drive the Model T:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxfHMtgg2d8