Day 149 - Genevieve

Row of Model Ts ready for instruction

The films we showed on Monday evenings were not normally ones seen in theaters anywhere in the world, with one exception: Genevieve, a 1953 British comedy that the British lecturer, Chris, got from the British embassy. The film involves two couples participating in the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, not a race, but a drive in vehicles made during the veteran era which spanned the late 1880s to about 1904. Genevieve was one of the Veteran cars. a Darracq. The plot involves the competition between the two men which result in a number of tricks being played by one on the other. Most memorable to me was the result when the cancelation of their reservation in a posh hotel left Genevieve's owner and his wife having to check into a dingy local hotel. When Wendy, the car's owner's wife, discovers there was no running water in their room, she storms up the stairs, making it very clear that she is disgusted with how events are turning out. Her husband follows her upstairs rather sheepishly while one of the women behind the hotel counter asks the other, "Are they Americans?"

Even as early as 1953 we Americans apparently had a bad reputation overseas, even in a country where we shared a language.

This morning Alex and I got a taste of what driving Genevieve from London to Brighton was like. We were guests of the Histerical Auto Works of Santee, California, which offers an annual opportunity to learn how to drive Model Ts. This morning was this year's event.

Six owners of Model Ts brought their vehicles to the Histerical Auto Works and offered driving lessons. The cars were from 1912 through 1915. One was from all those years as it was built from donated parts.

Norm and his Model T

Norm was my instructor. Even before the lessons began, Norm was eager to show us all the distinctive features of his car compared to others. His was from one of the later years which was obvious, once Norm pointed it out, because the seat was lower than in earlier cars. Ford had moved the gas tank which in older models was under the seat to the front of the car. This was a strategic move by Ford because other cars with a lower profile were beginning to take a bite out of the car market. Norm pointed out that Gary's 1913 model with the gas tank under the seat and only one door must have been very inconvenient for any passenger because this model still had to be started with the hand crank which means either the passenger had to crank the car to life, or the passenger had to get out to allow the driver to do so. Since we had many opportunities to watch Gary crank start his car, we appreciated the amount of effort involved.

Norm's Model T had an ignition button on the floor in front of the driver's seat. All Model Ts continued to have cranks and could always be started using them, but later models didn't require cranking. For that I was very glad since I managed to stall the car several times during my lesson.

Sandra and Norm in Norm's Model T

Model Ts have two levers just behind the steering wheel, much like the turn signal and windshield wiper controls on a modern car, but their functions are quite different. The left lever is the spark lever which must be pressed before depressing the ignition button. The right lever controls the gas.  I could remember that until we approached an intersection where I had to make a right turn. Then I found my fingers heading automatically for the spark lever to signal my intention to turn.

There are three pedals on Model Ts. The right one is the brake. The middle one is reverse. And the left one is neutral, low, and high gear, depending on how deeply it is depressed. Norm described the gears as slow and slower. And then there is the lever that is part brake, part gears. I admit that I never did manage that one. Norm called is the brake at least once, but the right pedal is the brake. He kept moving the lever for me before I could accelerate, telling me it needed to be in the central position which I couldn't find - I only found two positions which never seemed to be the ones I needed.

My certificate, a bit of hyperbole

One thing I did learn is that if I needed to press a pedal, I needed to PRESS it. I kept hovering my foot over the brake, but then discovered my foot thought that pedal was the accelerator.  My feet wanted to do what my hands had to do and my hands wanted to do what couldn't be done.

I suggested to Norm that I might have learned as much as I needed to learn by that time. I was eager to get back to parking position which I knew meant that I was going to have to tackle the last pedal - reverse. It might have looked like a smooth landing to those on the sidewalk, but I was shaking inside as I backed up and then put on the brake.