how come they don’t make cars like 1925 modelT anymore cheap and simple and Reliable.
This is a joke isn’t it?
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All I can come up with as a response is…
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A car like that would be an absolute death trap nowadays
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…not to mention…much less durable than modern cars, and totally unfit for modern roadways.
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Those cars are made. But you can only get them in 3rd world countries where people can’t afford something more comfortable and reliable.
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You can still buy them, just not at your local Ford dealer. See the thread though on Model T transmissions first to see if that’s really what you want. Oh and bring blankets-no heater unless you bring your own bucket of hot coals. Didn’t your father or grandfather ever tell you about their travel adventures in these old cars? Oh and backing up hills, and changing tires on the way to a dance, and … . and. . .
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Assuming the consumer market wanted a totally bare bone cars with zero frills (or less…) the Feds would never allow it.
Even the windshield can be an expensive piece of engineering. Ever seen any pics of those old Model Ts and As after a collision?
Think about what the driver and occupants looked like after going head first through non-safety glass or the driver being impaled on a skinny steering column after the wheel broke off.
They do, except for the cheap criterion. Get the latest issue of Automobile magazine. The feds changed the rules and now allow low-volume specialty manufacturers to be exempt from the safety requirements, although not the emissions requirements.
Or you could move to the Isle of Mann… and get a Peel…
When the “Eisenhower” recession hit back in 1957, the sale of the VW Beetle really took off. Studebaker stripped all the chrome and frills off the Champion including the automatic choke and fresh air heater and replaced them with hand choke and a recirculating heater. This car was called the Scotsman and it outsold Studebaker’s expectations. In fact, the Scotsman kept Studebaker going until the Lark was introduced in 1959. I bought a strippo 1965 Rambler, the Classic 550 model in 1965 and was very happy with the car.
You can still buy a basic econobox that is light years better than the model T. The Mitsubishi Mirage and the Nissan Micra sell for just over $10,000 and are safe vehicles. They have a stick, crank up windows, no cruise control or air and are quite reliable.
In third world countries these are basic family cars for those upgrading from motorcycles.
The previous model Hyundai Accent was also sold as a stripper but it has now moved upmarket.
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Actually the Mirage starts about 13000.00 and has air, power door locks and power windows.
I"ll add to the above that there’s more gov’t regulations now on what safety and emissions features new cars must have in order to legally sell them in the USA. But your question remains sound in principle, that cars meeting all the gov’t requirements could still be designed to be simpler and less expensive to purchase, operate, repair, and maintain. A four door front wheel drive basic sedan with electronic fuel injection, 0-60 time of 10 seconds, 30 -35 mpg, a manual transmission, no AC, crank up windows, starts with a key, am/fm radio the only electronic gadget. I suppose the folks that sell cars at the dealership have informed their manufactures that cars like that would be hard for them to sell. They’d sit on the lot a long time taking up space. Plus lower priced cars on the lot would eat into the sales of the higher priced models.
It would take a maverick in the car industry willing to risk their career to get models like that on the dealerships lot. And the salesmen may indeed be right, they’d just sit there on the lot taking up space, unsold.
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(And the salesmen may indeed be right, they’d just sit there on the lot taking up space, unsold)
May indeed be right. There is no May involved here. They can’t hardly sell manual shift economy vehicles.
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would you rather drive a model T or your Jeep Cherokee?
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Well, for starters no one would want a car like that today. I’m absolutely certain that you would want your car to be able to go over 40mph, not need an engine overhaul every 30,000 miles, and have things like windows and heat.
I live in Los Angeles and firmly believe new cars WITHOUT ac would not sell well
Maybe it makes me a wuss to say this, but I believe ac is pretty much a necessity in certain areas
And to add onto what you already mentioned, there’s just not enough profit to be made on such a basic car
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Exactly!
But, even in Third World countries, once better economic conditions take place, people tend to gravitate away from the basic, strippo cars. The Tata company’s Nano model is no longer selling well in India because the populace as a whole has become more prosperous, and most of those newly-prosperous Indians no longer want that very basic car.
I live in a small town. no super highways no freeways small little town just like mayberry. I would like to have a model T to drive around on sundays.
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Have you driven a Model T?
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