3-Pedal

[KeyLime]

I've always gotten a laugh out of the manual vs. automatic discussions (arguments?) on this website. The passion of the clutch crowd and the paddle shifters is amazing.

But let me ask...who has driven a real 3-pedal? How many of you have logged time on a Model T?

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[lacanteen]

I learned how to drive in a 1966 Ford Econoline van with " 3 on the tree". Not this one but similar.

 

[3pdl]

my story is similar.

 

[Park]

My first vehicle was a 1967 Chevy PU, three speed on the column and had several standard trans vehicles but I don’t miss them, Love the A10.

 

[KeyLime]

Almost 100 views and no one admits to driving a "Real" 3-pedal? Model T's are rare but with 15 million built I would have thought more people have had an opportunity to risk their lives driving one.

 

[Paul McWhiskey]

Almost 100 views and no one admits to driving a "Real" 3-pedal? Model T's are rare but with 15 million built I would have thought more people have had an opportunity to risk their lives driving one.

Yes, I have heard that the Model T will set your hair on fire. JK

I have not owned an auto in my entire life. Wife has had them all. But my cars and trucks have all been manuals since 1972. Have also driven manual bobtail with a two-speed rear end. My Pop drove a Freightliner cab over that had 3 shift levers (if memory serves it had a main box, Road Ranger, and 3 speed? (Not sure here will have to ask him)). If you wanted to see somebody get busy driving and shifting, well there you go!

 

[Balr14]

I have driven Model T... it's nuts, sort of like driving a riding mower. As I recall, left pedal is high, neutral and low, middle pedal is reverse and right pedal is brake. "Gas pedal" is a lever on the right side of the steering wheel and a lever of the left controls spark advance. I think I go that right. It has been many years, but it's hard to learn so you don't forget. It's particularly never-wracking in traffic.

My first 4 cars were: 47 Plymouth, 34 Ford, 37 Chevy and 40 Chevy, all manual except the Plymouth had a weird pre-selector transmission with a clutch pedal. When I got a car with 3 on the tree (52 Merc), I thought I was really moving "up scale"... I'll be fartin' through silk now!

Another really odd car was the Citroen DS. It had a 4 speed manual transmission with no clutch pedal and the shifter was mounted on the dash. It didn't have a brake pedal either. It had air suspension and wheels with one lug nut.

Back in the late 50s, you could buy most of these cars for less than the cost of a decent bike. All of the cars mentioned cost between $40 and $250 and were in decent shape with little or no rust.

 

[KeyLime]

I have driven Model T... it's nuts, sort of like driving a riding mower.

You remembered the pedals correctly. And yes it is nuts. Getting it moving is crazy and I think getting it stopped is worse. The other thing I found amazing is how truly awful the steering is. Turn a corner and I was never sure where I'd end up. Correct lane? Oncoming lane? Hell, I was happy I wasn't up on the sidewalk.

The engine design was interesting too. I've never seen a water cooled motor that didn't have a water pump.

 

[Vlad Soare]

 

[Vlad Soare]

The engine design was interesting too. I've never seen a water cooled motor that didn't have a water pump.

How did that work?

 

[KeyLime]

How did that work?

Natural convection. The hot water would rise up out of the engine to the top of the radiator. Then as it cooled it would flow down to the bottom of the radiator (vertical flow radiator) and then into the engine bottom.

 

[Balr14]

You remembered the pedals correctly. And yes it is nuts. Getting it moving is crazy and I think getting it stopped is worse. The other thing I found amazing is how truly awful the steering is. Turn a corner and I was never sure where I'd end up. Correct lane? Oncoming lane? Hell, I was happy I wasn't up on the sidewalk.

The engine design was interesting too. I've never seen a water cooled motor that didn't have a water pump.

As I recall, the steering was very slow and loose but had some points where it seemed to bind. I thought it was because it was very old and worn. The one I drove had skis on the front most of the time. That actually tracked better than the wheels.

My great grandfather was a ferry boat caption between Sault Ste. Marie Michigan and Sault Ste, Marie Ontario, on the St Mary's river. During the winter, the river would freeze over and people would walk or skate across. They had a Model T snow flyer for mail and packages. After it was retired, we got to play with it and run errands. It snows a lot in Sault Ste. Marie.

 

[key01]

My father often talked about the model T trucks he used to drive (at12 yo) with his father’s art moving business and how they would need to drain the radiators every night here in Chicago winters.

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