Full write up here
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/driving-impressions/driving-impressions-ford-model-t-these-are-not-the-controls-you-are-used-to/ but my friend Rod and I finally got to experience driving a Ford Model T. These cars pre-date the standardized controls and offer a very different experience to pilot. The Reynolds-Alberta museum offers a Ford Model T driving experience as an add-on to their regular museum admission.
The throttle is operated by a lever on the column. Perhaps due to my experience with motorbikes, I found it relatively easy to adjust to this mechanism. Next up is the hand lever. In the all the way back position, closest to the seat, it puts the transmission in neutral and sets the parking brake. Towards half-way it is in neutral with hand brake off until you press the left pedal to go into low gear or the middle pedal for reverse. Fully toward the firewall is high gear. It helps to adjust the throttle a bit to smooth out these shifts between low and high gears.
The left pedal takes the car from neutral to engaging first gear once the hand lever is in the correct position. You do not ease it on rather like a modern clutch but firmly press it in one movement. It will move all the way to the floor once high gear is selected with the hand lever. The middle pedal is for reverse and operates much like the left pedal without a high gear. The right pedal serves as the brake, but its operation requires some consideration. We were instructed not to use the brakes while in high gear; instead, one must use the hand lever to select low gear/neutral first, and then apply the brakes. This process certainly requires time and forethought. Additionally, the brakes operate solely on the rear wheels.
A short video of the drive
https://youtu.be/GZ3xAHUCn2kIf you are ever in central Alberta in the summer I'd recommend it -
https://reynoldsmuseum.ca/programs-experiences/adult-education
