History Mystery

[NutmegCT]

OK you history buffs. Who can identify this remnant?

View attachment 35503

Hint: the snow has long since melted away.

Bonus points: where was it used?

 

[PAUL161]

29 Dodge! In need of restoration! :highly_amused:

 

[aeronca65t]

That'll buff out!

 

[3798j]

Half-track (early example - obviously).

 

[NutmegCT]

half-track is *really* close.

It's a Ford T-model, converted for use in exploration back in the late 1920s. Those remains were recently found.

And now, the rest of the story:

https://theoldmotor.com/?p=134471

 

[aeronca65t]

If you check John C's ("coldpugs") ~previous post~ you'll see a similar creation.

And although John has closed his "Coldplugs" site, the internet "waybackmachine" has some good archives of it ~HERE~

 

[NutmegCT]

On a similar tack, the Fordson Snow Motor:

 

[Guest]

I was gonna say a T and you guys think riding top-up during winter is cold where you live....:highly_amused:

 

[Silverghost]

"Ran when parked....."

Nial beat me to "It'll buff out...."

 

[PAUL161]

I should have recognized the headlight, a dead give away! I've been around a few Ford Model Ts and should have known, but it has been a year or two! :highly_amused:

 

[Banjo]

I Have seen Model T snow conversions in person. There is a local collector with more than one. So I got the I.D. ok, but I'm suspecting there is a specific historical incident involved with this one. Was it part of an arctic expedition?
~edit~I cheated.... And I found out I was very close. But I'm not telling. It's your post.:eagerness:

 

[coldplugs]

I think I've posted these about 10 times over the years. From a Model T meet in New Hampshire a while back. Great fun.

I was amazed at how well some of these ran. Also, it was interesting to see the creative ways of trailering them.

Most (all?) of these used the original "SnowMobile" conversion kits. I have a friend with an oblique connection to the inventor - I think the inventor used an ancestor's shared shop in a car dealership to build the prototypes.

 

[PAUL161]

Someone even had this conversion for a old Ferguson tractor. PJ