Between 1908 and 1927, the Ford Motor Company sold over fifteen million Model T Fords. It was the car that put Americans on the road, and the love affair that this country had for the Model T continues to this day. You could have a Model T in several body styles as well. What happened when that body needed to be replaced or the owner’s needs changed? This 1923 Ford Model T express pickup for sale on Facebook Marketplace in Riverhead, New York is just one example of how a Model T could take on new roles as time went on. If you purchased this Model T for the $5,000 asking price, would you leave the wooden body on? Or, would you change it yet again to suit your needs and desires? Thanks to Bruce M. for this Model T tip!
Almost every passenger vehicle on the road today is designed and built with unit-body construction. A simple way to explain this is that the body and frame are all one unit welded and/or bonded together to be strong and light. This is especially important to automakers who must pass safety and efficiency standards mandated by the government. The other form of construction, body on frame, was the predominant method of constructing vehicles for centuries. You first construct a frame, attach your axles and drivetrain, and then bolt a body on top. While the description is simplistic, this type of vehicle is much more readily changed or rebodies to suit the owner’s needs or tastes. A Duesenberg J with a custom body is a good example of this.
This method of construction allowed automakers to produce one chassis with numerous different bodies. Or, the styling of the front end and perhaps the rear fenders could be updated to make customers think they are buying the latest and greatest. All the while the frame and many of the mechanicals are the same as last year’s model underneath. Chevrolet did this with the Corvette from 1953 through 1962 and from 1963 through 1982. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Ford’s Model T was very much the same car throughout its production cycle. There were also a whole lot of Model Ts out there on the used market at prices lower than the already shockingly low price of a car at the dealership. When you combine a reliable, easy-to-work-on chassis, low used prices, readily available cheap parts, and good old American ingenuity, you end up with a lot of refurbished and re-bodied Model T Fords. From speedsters to farm tractors, the Model T had many lives.
The 1923 Model T we see here has been converted to what the seller calls an express pickup. This conversion is basically a wagon body with a windshield and wooden cowl built on a Model T chassis. Chances are this body was built much later on a used car chassis. The wood does not appear to be over 100 years old. Hopefully, we have some Model T experts out there who can clear up any misconceptions about this vehicle if my speculations are incorrect. I may have come from the factory this way with the body added by the original owner. Customers could order a Model T as just a front end and chassis to build for $235. If you were to step up to a heavier-duty truck chassis, then the price ballooned to $380.
We are sadly told little about this skeleton hauling truck other than it is in good condition, has new wiring, and new tires. We can also see that it has a hand crank on the front. It may have an electric start, but that option would cost a whopping $65 for open cars if purchased on a new Ford way back then. There is surface rust, chipping paint, and a general sense that this truck doesn’t stay in a climate-controlled garage. One reason why it is in useable shape is Henry Ford’s insistence on using top-quality steel in constructing the Model T. We should all look so good at 102 years old. Hopefully, this T finds a good home and is used from time to time.
Do you think this is the original body on this Model T? If you owned a stripped-down Model T, what body would you like to have on it? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
Another salad bar! Wouldn’t Change anything on it. Drive it on weekends and enjoy it.
How much fun is this!!! Price is spot on for easy entry into a weekend outing adventure. You won’t see another like it..
It appears to be well done and hopefully it runs well and has electric start.
Looks like the first owner is included in the sale.
David, I don’t quite “get” your comment — maybe it’s me. I rode in one just like this as a child, so the “conversion” might be older than it seems. Riverhead is a considerable drive from where I am in New York State: to avoid attempting to navigate the greater New York City area, I could take the ferry across from Connecticut to the Island, I suppose. But this looks to me like something one would drive around a rather large farm, and not on the open public road. I know only too well the obstructions posed by slow-crawling farm-tractors and horse-drawn Amish carriages around here: I fear that this would fall into that category in 2025. But it was MADE for 1923! A simpler time, when people travelled more slowly and neighbour trusted neighbour. Perhaps Ray Anthony should have this — he was born in 1922, and will be 103 later this month. His music is etched into the sound-track of my youth, and I’m glad he’s still with us! — the lone surviving member of the original Glenn Miller Orchestra, with later multiple hits in his own right. I am surprised that the Atlantic salt-air on Long Island didn’t eat into this venerable old Model T.
I am referring to the skeleton.
The car is nice, just use it as is. I have a Chenard et Walcker, around 1926 in just about the same condition.
Although the Model T went on forever, it seemed, there were “constant improvements”, like chrome instead of brass, electric start, longer lasting engines, although the “originial” design. You sit well above the road, with no side protection, and other than around the farm, it just feels unsafe, even on a relatively deserted public highway.
The photos show the seat back may provide clearance for a modern driver, unlike my TT that puts the steering wheel under my rib cage,
Honestly I would want to get it home and go through it even if it means taking it apart just to make sure its safe and fix what I think needs fixing.
Before I decided if I wanted to return it to the same or build some other monstrosity. There is a house across the state line from me that has a old C cab truck sitting in the front yard. I’ve had to much going on to lately to stop in and see if its something that they would part with for a reasonable price. But then again I don’t know what I would do with it if they did sell it to me.
Yes, leave as is! The wood looks good, though not original. I have a fantasy here, even in relatively slow local traffic here in NE Philadelphia, that this “truck” could haul a 1/4 ton of firewood from my home across the 12 lanes of Roosevelt Boulevard to a friend’s home, who uses wood to heat his home (with gas backup). He makes home brewed “mead”. We both sit back and enjoy the cold weather, just as in the days of Ben Franklin. I have hauled numerous loads of wood to his house in the 66 F-100, only during less busy times, not rush hour.
To me this is a marvelous piece of history, but when I look at it I see a metal cab and bed as it seems to fit far better than what’s on it now. Just my two cents worth because there’s no way I’ll buy it, but either way it’s still a fine old truck imo.
Yes, leave the later installed wood there, looks good and functional. I think I would haul 1/4 ton of firewood, for fun and function, across the 12 lanes of Roosevelt Boulevard here in NE Philadelphia. Just do so in off peak times!