An 87-year-old man in the small community of South Ohio in Nova Scotia, Canada, is the proud owner of a 1927 Ford Model T, and has been for no less then seven (!) decades.
CBC News recently spent some time with Randall Pitman and discovered how his passion for perhaps the most significant automobile in history still continues to shine after all this time.
When Pitman was 17 years old, he worked at a gas station and earned 10 cents an hour. He eventually saved up $50 (the equivalent of $538 now) and headed to a nearby auction where he knew a Model T was set to be sold.
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“Eventually, I bid $45 and the auctioneer, as auctioneers do, kept saying, ‘Forty-five! Who will give me 50?,” he describes of the day. “I stupidly said ‘Forty-seven fifty,’ and he said ‘Sold!'”
Cars of this age are very different to those you find nowadays and even feature controls radically different than what modern drivers would be familiar with. As Pitman describes, the left-most pedal engages first gear when depressed fully, neutral in its half-way position, and second when all the way out. In the middle is a separate reverse gear pedal, while on the far right is the one used for the brakes. As for the throttle, you’ll have to use your right hand…
Pitman still drives his Model T frequently and, earlier this month, put it on a trailer and took it more than 600 km (372 miles) away to a vintage car show. He doesn’t know how many kilometers he’s covered in it during the past 70 years, but believes it will keep chugging along for quite some time.
Randall Pitman bought this 1927 Ford Model T when he was 17 and has kept it for 70 years. | @CBCNS pic.twitter.com/rUNrueNnXW
— CBC (@CBC) July 9, 2019