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Who wants a 25 mpg Model T?
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If there’s one item of faith among car mileage conspiracy theorists it’s that “if the Model T could get 25 mpg back in 1918, why does a Chevy Suburban get only 15 mpg today?” The more generous compare the iconic Ford’s alleged fuel economy to the national fleet average fuel economy of 21 mpg.
Shall we talk about odd comparisons? That’s not apples and oranges—which should be considered worthy alternatives to consider—but rather apples and baseballs. Curve balls, in fact.
Consider the facts: Most of the claims for 25 mpg refer back, when they’re not referring to each other, to a 2003 article in the Detroit News. Alas, those links now lead to a 404 file not found error, so aren’t verifiable.
On the other hand, Ford Motor Company in a laudatory press release about the Model T indeed makes the 25 mpg claim.
With 25 mpg established as fact as much as if it had been intoned by Albert Gore himself, true conspiracy believers start pointing fingers. Big Oil and Big Automobile must be in collusion. No one has ever turned up a smoking gun, amazing in the day of more than thirty carmakers and multiple oil companies. Surely someone among all of those would rat out their employer, especially in an era when even the CIA’s secrets aren’t safe. It’s probably the same people who once kept the legendary but elusive 100 mpg Fish carburetor under wraps.
Anecdotal reports, however, put average gas mileage somewhere in the teens. Model T owner Steven Rossi says it’s closer to 15 mpg .
Still, even if one were to concede the mileage argument, most of those who cite the Model T as a model of efficiency haven’t experienced the T first hand, as we have, in original made-by-Henry status and as a Model T Speedster, the hot rod of the era, and as a Model T sprinter, basic $25 racing on a shoestring in the ‘20s.
The Model T was a miracle worker in its day, but considering its creature comforts against modern expectations, well, the T doesn’t have any. The Model T didn’t have a heater, and most were open cars. Winter driving in northern climes meant wrapping up in overcoats and blankets. Rainy weather meant slickers, the folding canvas tops and side curtains provided little more than a suggestion that water stay outside. Windshield wipers were optional or aftermarket, and windshield demisting was performed by a rag.
But the tall skinny wheels and tires meant a rough ride on any kind of surface, from rutted rural roads to concrete slab highways which sent a shudder though the Flivver at every seam. Although a Town Car and Tudor closed sedans were offered, the extra cost meant most buyers bought “touring” models with folding tops and side curtains for rainy weather. In other words, if the weather was miserable, so was the driver and passengers.
The Model T’s 1200 pound weight was part of attaining the what mileage it did get, but it also meant that collisions were brutal on vehicle and passengers alike. Seat belts? Air bags? The technology didn’t exist even if the imagination had.
Fortunately the Model T didn’t have a top cruising speed of more than 45 miles per hour, and at that breakneck speed (using the term almost literally), the sloppy steering meant the driver spent most of his time trying to persuade the T to maintain a general direction. And on rough roads, as we discovered driving the Model T sprinter on a dirt track, the tires could spend as much time in the air as touching terra firma.
The original Model T today would be a trial lawyer’s delight.
There are cars that today can get 50 miles per gallon or more, such as the Jetta Diesel or the Toyota Prius hybrid, and any number of cars can exceed 30 mpg. The point is that the technology isn’t being hidden by nasty carmakers who are, to the contrary, are trying to squeeze every last mile from every drop of gasoline, even on the largest and heaviest models they make.
Today few would use a Model T for general transportation. Ford’s Flivver was selling in decreasing numbers back in the Twenties, even when the general car population was growing. Henry Ford didn’t believe the world needed anything more than his beloved Model T, but declining sales would result in Model T sales ending in 1927.
In the end, the 25 mpg Model T claim is like the “If they can go to the moon, why can’t they…” argument. It’s apples to baseballs, except the horsehide is coming off and no one really wants to eat a baseball.
Illustrations: Top, Ford Model T, reconstrutcted, Ford Motor Company photo; middle, 1925 Ford Model T, reconstructed by Dick Hautzinger, John Matras photo; bottom, 1927 Ford Model T Sprinter race car, restored by Ralph and George Wolfe, John Matras photo;
For thousands of new car reviews, visit John Matras' cartbuzzard.com.
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