Greetings This gives my age away, but I can remember second hand Model "T" Fords for sale in Hawthorn Victoria, in a car yard for between 5 and 10 pounds. This was in the mid 1930's, during the depression years. In 1948 we drove one to Philip Island. It was rather unique in that it had a genuine Ford two speed rear axle, known as a Ruxtall Axle. They were certainly different to drive than other cars, because of the transmission. The accelerator was on the steering wheel, and there were three pedals on the floor, one for the brake one for reverse and one for low gear. When the low gear pedal was released into the up position the car went into top gear, as there was only two forward speeds. To stop the car taking off in top gear it was necessary to engage the handbrake in the half on position. The petrol tank was under the front seat so that when the car was taken up a steep hill the tank was higher than the carburettor, which stopped the engine. One remedy was to pressurise the fuel tank slightly. There are stories about salesmen saying that model "T"'s would even go up steep hills backwards. In fact it was the only possible way. Regards Graham Brittain

How lovely Graham! I can remember my grandfather talking about the throttle being on the steering column, and going up hills backwards. Only he said it was because reverse gear was lower than the lowest forward gear. He was quite upset because my car did not have a place to fit a crankhandle.. And because I did not drive with the window open to do hand signals. Dawn - born 1947, Melbourne -----Original Message----- From: Doris & Graham Brittain [mailto:iona9@optusnet.com.au] Sent: Wednesday, 3 May 2006 7:45 PM To: AUS-MELBOURNE-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [AUS-MELB] Private hospitals Greetings This gives my age away, but I can remember second hand Model "T" Fords for sale in Hawthorn Victoria, in a car yard for between 5 and 10 pounds. This was in the mid 1930's, during the depression years. In 1948 we drove one to Philip Island. It was rather unique in that it had a genuine Ford two speed rear axle, known as a Ruxtall Axle. They were certainly different to drive than other cars, because of the transmission. The accelerator was on the steering wheel, and there were three pedals on the floor, one for the brake one for reverse and one for low gear. When the low gear pedal was released into the up position the car went into top gear, as there was only two forward speeds. To stop the car taking off in top gear it was necessary to engage the handbrake in the half on position. The petrol tank was under the front seat so that when the car was taken up a steep hill the tank was higher than the carburettor, which stopped the engine. One remedy was to pressurise the fuel tank slightly. There are stories about salesmen saying that model "T"'s would even go up steep hills backwards. In fact it was the only possible way. Regards Graham Brittain ==== AUS-MELBOURNE Mailing List ==== Searchable archives at http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl?list=AUS-MELBOURNE-L ============================== Jumpstart your genealogy with OneWorldTree. Search not only for ancestors, but entire generations. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13972/rd.ashx

My nephew was driven to his baptism in his father's lovingly restored model in 1987. They are prized possessions here, much in demand for wedding cars for the bride at vintage-style weddings over here in England. Margaret On 5/3/06, Dawn Webb <dawnwebb@optusnet.com.au> wrote: > > How lovely Graham! I can remember my grandfather talking about the > throttle > being on the steering column, and going up hills backwards. Only he said > it > was because reverse gear was lower than the lowest forward gear. He was > quite upset because my car did not have a place to fit a crankhandle.. > And > because I did not drive with the window open to do hand signals. > > Dawn - born 1947, Melbourne > > -----Original Message----- > From: Doris & Graham Brittain [mailto:iona9@optusnet.com.au] > Sent: Wednesday, 3 May 2006 7:45 PM > To: AUS-MELBOURNE-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: [AUS-MELB] Private hospitals > > Greetings > > This gives my age away, but I can remember second hand Model "T" Fords for > sale in Hawthorn Victoria, in a car yard for between 5 and 10 pounds. This > was in the mid 1930's, during the depression years. > > In 1948 we drove one to Philip Island. It was rather unique in that it had > a > genuine Ford two speed rear axle, known as a Ruxtall Axle. They were > certainly different to drive than other cars, because of the transmission. > The accelerator was on the steering wheel, and there were three pedals on > the floor, one for the brake one for reverse and one for low gear. When > the > low gear pedal was released into the up position the car went into top > gear, > as there was only two forward speeds. To stop the car taking off in top > gear > it was necessary to engage the handbrake in the half on position. > > The petrol tank was under the front seat so that when the car was taken up > a > steep hill the tank was higher than the carburettor, which stopped the > engine. One remedy was to pressurise the fuel tank slightly. > > There are stories about salesmen saying that model "T"'s would even go up > steep hills backwards. In fact it was the only possible way. > > Regards > > Graham Brittain > > > ==== AUS-MELBOURNE Mailing List ==== > Searchable archives at > > http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl?list=AUS-MELBOURNE-L > > ============================== > Jumpstart your genealogy with OneWorldTree. Search not only for ancestors, > but entire generations. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13972/rd.ashx > > > ==== AUS-MELBOURNE Mailing List ==== > ==================================================== > Virus warnings are not to be sent to the List! > > ============================== > Search Family and Local Histories for stories about your family and the > areas they lived. Over 85 million names added in the last 12 months. > Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13966/rd.ashx > >