T stands for terrific

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Model T takes on a HUMMER in hill climb

Posted Jul 30th 2007 1:29PM by Chris Tutor (http://www.autoblog.com/bloggers/chris-tutor)
Filed under: Ford (http://www.autoblog.com/category/ford/), HUMMER (http://www.autoblog.com/category/hummer/)
http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2007/07/modelt.jpg It wasn't a fair fight at all, but for funsies, a vintage-car hill-climb allowed Forbes (http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2007/0813/112a.html) Magazine to enter a late model HUMMER H2. You know, just to see how the 316-hp, 4WD SUV would do against, say, a 100-hp 1921 Model T driven by a 70-year-old man. Like we said, it wasn't fair at all.

The HUMMER climbed the 475-foot-tall hill in 10.74 seconds and didn't even break a sweat. Among those not surprised at the HUMMER's prowess was Gary Le Fever, the Model T driver who was waiting at the top of the hill for the H2. Le Fever and his 86-year-old Ford had finished the climb in 9.96 seconds!

Not a huge difference in a conventional match-up, but considering the participants, an amazing triumph for the Model T's engineering simplicity over the HUMMER's hefty muscle.

BTW, the photo is for illustration only. The hill climb was, we understand, much larger.

[Quiggers]

For some unknown reason, I've always wanted a T model...

[cartm58]

l always found it fascinating that they had to build roads for people to drive their model T's on to give them somewhere to got to like the New York expressway.

That unitl Dwight Eiesnhower in the 1950's built the national highway grid in USA for cold war defence reasons of moving men and equipment across the USA there was no continuous strip of highway bitumen across the USA.

That Hitler built the autobahns in Germany for the same reasons Bismarck built ther ailway lines in the 1890's to provide a direct, high speed method of moving armies to invade France and Europe.

Final point to ponder is we are still using the dimensions of the Roman war 2 horse chariot to build our vehicle widths and roadways.

[p38arover]

, a 100-hp 1921 Model T driven by a 70-year-old man. Like we said, it wasn't fair at all.


100 hp? :eek:

Ron

[Bigbjorn]

More like 25hp.

[ladas]

Dressed in white coveralls and wearing a crash helmet, Gary Le Fever, 70, sat gripping the wheel of his 1921 Model T speedster. Before him loomed a 475-foot-tall hill that in Evansville, Ind. passes as a mountain. He revved his engine, waiting for the climbing contest to begin. Competing with him were other vintage racers and, at FORBES' request, a 2003 Hummer H2.
Le Fever's speedster had 100hp, rather than the Model T's customary 20. Its transmission, wheels, chassis, frame and radiator all came from 1921. But it also had some non-original parts, including Model A cranks and rods, an overhead valve unit built for 1920s dirt-track racing and dual carburetors from the 1930s.

[solmanic]

That unitl Dwight Eiesnhower in the 1950's built the national highway grid in USA for cold war defence reasons of moving men and equipment across the USA there was no continuous strip of highway bitumen across the USA.

And then in 2007 look at our sad, sorry excuse for a national highway system...

[Chenz]

And then in 2007 look at our sad, sorry excuse for a national highway system...

A mate of mine's dad worked on the Snowy Scheme in the design section and he tells the story of the yank project manager telling the minister of the day that when they finish the Snowy they can move onto the higway from Melbourne to Brisbane. The minister said "No that will be an Australian Project"........Still waiting