1913 Ford Model T Race Car Speedster Gowjob Bug Roof Laurel Rajo Frontenac Racer

This is the kind of car that young men for the most part raced at county fairs on dirt horse race tracks back in the 1920's through the early 1940's. I suspect this car started it's life as a touring car like about 8 out of 10 Model T Fords did back in the 1913. I suspect this car became nearly worthless by the early 1920's when most of the new Model T's and virtually all of the other new cars came with electric starters from the factory. Almost nobody wanted to hand crank an automobile by then. That was a bad enough chore in warm weather and very difficult if not impossible when the weather dropped below zero like it does here in Montana.

Evidently, some very dedicated racer wanted to have an advantage over his competition so he went to the work required to move the engine and transmission assembly 18 inches back in the frame to improve weight distribution. That rearward relocated engine and transmission assembly meant that the drive shaft, the rear axle torque tube and both brake rods had to be shortened by about the same amount.

Both of the rear radius rods were also shortened by a sightly lesser amount. As you can see, someone did not finish that installation and never got around to shortening the drive shaft, torque tube, brake rods and rear radius rods again. I don't think the auxiliary transmission is a Warford or Jumbo so please let me know if you recognize what company built it.

I suspect this gem in the rough was involved in a minor frontal collision at one time that wiped out the original Model T brass radiator, original round Model T gas tank and the original Model T hand crank at the same time. The left rear corner of the engine block was frozen and broken as you can see in one of the photos of this listing. The correct 1913 parts on this car include the frame with separate forged rear body mounting brackets, engine block #278,990 cast on 5-3-13 (frozen & broken on left rear), low cylinder head, needle nose pan, aluminum intake manifold, brass 4 ball carburetor, aluminum transmission cover, lettered clutch and reverse pedals, 12 rivet rear axle assembly, non-demountable 24" front wheels, non-demountable 23" rear wheels, tapered leaf front and rear springs, brass quadrant steering column assembly, wood rim steering wheel, brass steering wheel nut and no doubt some other early parts I have missed. Amazingly, the original engine in this car still turns over even after spending over 100 years in Nebraska which is a lot more humid than here in Montana. I will add more information soon.

The item "1913 Ford Model T Race Car Speedster Gowjob Bug Roof Laurel Rajo Frontenac Racer" is in sale since Saturday, January 30, 2016. This item is in the category "eBay Motors\Parts & Accessories\Vintage Car & Truck Parts\Other Parts". The seller is "toysanyone" and is located in Bozeman, Montana.

This item can be shipped to United States.

• Brand: Ford
• Manufacturer Part Number: Ruckstell
• Interchange Part Number: Warford
• Other Part Number: Jumbo
• Warranty: No
• Country/Region of Manufacture: United States