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They say the first speeding ticket was given for someone going 8mph. I thought that was ridiculous but after watching the POV of driving the Benz Patent, oh my god, 8mph in an early car is terrifying lol

Sorry to nitpick but the Deutschmark was created in 1949. From 1871 to 1923 the currency was simply called "Mark". And 1 Mark was as much worth as 0.358423 grams of gold, so depending on the current price of gold, 600 Mark would be about $14,000. And yes, of course I am German. Who else would care about this kind of details? ;-)

I had to giggle when you started having trouble driving uphill. That problem was discovered by Bertha Benz. The wife of Carl Benz. She "borrowed" Patent Motorwagen No.3 visit her mother. She drove that thing 65 miles. No one had ever driven that far before. So she kinda invented the road trip and the test drive. The story is awesome and worth a read.

"It has a total loss oil system......like a Subaru" Classic Robert! Hilarious.

Fun fact: Well into the 1960s, you could buy replacement parts for the model T. Ford went out of its way to make sure it supported all vehicles it had made up until that time. My father grew up in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, a small college town. The fraternity house across the street had somebody go to the Ford factory every weekend and by a couple parts from their model T warehouse and he ended up constructing the only 1965 Ford Model T.

I could spend hours and hours listening to Robert talk about Lane’s cars

7:27 correct, there were no gas stations. Those things used petroleum the drivers bought at the pharmacy 😁👍 (I strongly suggest you read the story of the first ever „long distance“ drive with the first car, which his wife bertha benz undertook. It’s a great story, and the pharmacy she bought petroleum on the way still exists today. I know it, because i work just around the corner 😉)

Fun fact: In Germany, it's common knowledge Daimler and Benz invented the car. In France, it's equally common knowledge the Renault brothers did that. Truth is, they both filed their patents to their local authorities a few weeks apart. Not a lot of time in world that barely even knows electricity, let alone telephones or the internet. Who of the two really had the first working modern car parked outside their house, is lost to history. I like to think it's someone else entirely who just tinkered something in the farmyard for the fun of it, and never bothered to publish it.

Technically the Model T wasn't the first car made on an assembly line, that actually started with Oldsmobile. Ford was the first to start using a moving assembly line with conveyor belts.

About a month ago I saw a Benz bike like that and that night i had a dream where mercedes started producing it again and it was ultra luxurious. It came with an automatic choke, an umbrella hat to keep you dry, an engine block heater, and it was electric. I woke up laughing

Hey Aging! Fun fact : us, Europeans, have our own version of the Ford Model T. It was the Citröen Type A, which was André Citröen's response to the Model T. It hasn't been produced as much as the Model T, but it does take the same building techniques and drive a bit more like a "modern" car

3:25 True to Mercedes Benz form, their first car is over-engineered in the rack and pinion tiller for a linear actuator steering module instead of a regular bicycle steering mechanism.

For those interested in the big green army vehicle in the background at 2:04, this seems to be a BARC, an 80 ton amphibious vehicle mainly used in Vietnam. If you're ever in the Netherlands, there's one at the Overloon War Museum in Overloon that you can get up close and personal with. There's a short section on their website about the BARC if you're interested.

11:54 correction, the oldsmobile curved dash was the first car produced on an assembly line. Another fun fact; the reason for black being the only color option for a time is because the black paint was the only paint that would dry quickly enough to keep up with production.

As a Model T owner and enthusiast, I'd say you did a respectable job explaining the basics of how a T works.

Former company owner had a Model A he drove to the office sometimes (it was his first car- and he still had it)... he explained all the driving controls to me once and I just stood there still confused. I guess that's one big advantage of owning one of these early cars- nobody could steal the damn thing since they would have no idea how to even drive it. Lol.

These were both absolutely fun subjects... These videos often make me curious as to whether you knocked out tons of principal photography and got it all in the can on one long trip to Tennessee, or whether you bounce in and out of town for lots of smaller filming trips from time to time.

Im so happy we are in the universe where Robert became a youtuber, you sir are a blessing for us weird automobile enthusiasts

“Total loss oiling system, like a Subaru” 😂

My uncle actually owns a T that he restored that has a bit of a storied life- originally it was apart of our family, was sold off the farm, modified, stashed in a barn, and traded around at local swap meets until he tracked it down. We once- ONCE- had it up to 35MPH when my great aunt and uncle visited for their last plane trip (in their late 80s at the time) where we all dressed up like 20s gangsters and fucked around with revolvers. Having it up to 35 was fucking horrifying, you're never riding "in" one but rather, "on top" of one because the seats are so springy to absorb all the road defects. EDIT: one thing Robert might not have fucked with much is how odd it is to control the ignition alongside the throttle. You have to do both *at the same time* to increase speed, because if you don't increase the spark rate eventually you'll drown the spark in gas and kill the engine. When learning to drive these, you'll repeatedly get up some speed and then kill the engine accidentally because you just didn't move the lever in time lol

I believe the black paint also dried faster than other paints, so not only was it cheaper, but it also sped up production.

The Mark that was used at the time of the Benz Patent Motorwagen isn't the same Mark that was used after the wars in Germany. It's best to look at its gold value at the time: 0,358 grams of gold per Mark. 600 Marks would have been about 215 grams of gold, which in todays US dollar is worth a bit over 14.000 dollars. That's still not a lot for a car, but it is quite a lot for a tricycle with a stationary engine bolted to it.

1:00 Mom, I’m famous!!

I just love a random Technology Connections video in the background during the top notch sponsor spot.

Thank you for the video. I remember my Great Grandfather (Grandpa Miller) showing me his son-in-law's Model T round about 1974. It was in the garage of the house that he shared with my Grandfather's mother (Grandma King). He showed me how to start it, and what the pedals did. He also showed me how to gather eggs from his ducks. I strongly remember him reading to me on his lap, and his pipe rack. I have the tool-shelf/ drawers that he made when he was younger; the same shelf that was hanging in his garage in front of the Model T.

Can't get enough of Lane Motor Museum videos, Robert. So many cool cars. They had an Innocenti Spyder for sale when i was there!

I own a Model T. They are a lot of fun, and a lot easier to start if you have the optional electric start installed, which I don't think was available for the 1918 version you are driving. I think the electric start first became available in 1919 or 1920. For cars that have it, the electric start is a stomp switch is on the floor under your left foot. The Touring version (the one you drove) usually had a spare tire installed over the fake front "door" which made it even more obvious that it wasn't supposed to be used as a door. The Tudor model, as well as the four-door version called the "Fordor" (I'm not making that up) that I have both have functional driver's side doors, but I never use that door because I am nowhere near tiny enough to fit past the brake lever. The controls make sense when you realize that the pedals are all for controlling the transmission and the hand controls on the steering column are all for the engine. There are two additional very important controls that you didn't mention. The first is the "air conditioning", which is that the top half of the front window flips out to allow air to flow directly onto you, and the second is the manually operated windshield wiper, though it looks like that one doesn't have that installed. It is literally just a crank that you flip back and forth to make the wiper move. Also important to note is that the gas tank is under the front seat, and there is no fuel pump. Fuel is gravity fed. That means that if you are low on fuel and you go up a steep enough hill, the engine can end up higher than the fuel level, fuel stops flowing, and the car stops. If that happens, coast back down to the bottom of the hill, turn the car around, and reverse up the hill. That will keep the tank up higher than the engine no matter how steep the hill is and how close to empty your tank is. Your Touring version was $290 back in the day. My Fordor was $660. That works out to a bit over $5000 for the Touring and $11,000 for the Fordor in today's money.

The Panhard-Levassor of 1901 was one of the first "standard cars". It has a manual transmission, shifted through a clutch, drive to the rear wheels based on a shaft, and braking on the rear wheels through drums. It took until the 1920s before we had the relative safety of 4-wheel drums, and until the 1950s before disc brakes made an appearance. That Model T steering is definitely a precursor to the recirculating ball steering of the 1930s and onwards.

I simply adore it when Robert films at that museum. I'm always fascinated by a lot of the cars sitting in the background (besides whatever he's actually demonstrating, of course!). Lots of gorgeous machines, curious ones and plenty of adorably cute looking ones! I'd love to visit that place myself, someday.

Now the part about Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot inventing the car in 1769, this is debatable too since many historians consider the car to be invented even earlier than that - in 1672 by a Flemish missionary in China named Ferdinand Verbiest, although this vehicle was a toy rather than a full-sized vehicle. But anyways, it's a great thing knowing automobile history, thank you for this video 👍

Aging wheels showing aged wheels, very on brand! Loved it.

I want a horse and carriage review next time 😄

I would be nice for you to cover the Austin 7. It was one of the first mass produced cars to have a control layout similar to what you might find in a modern car. I think it's an interesting stepping stone after the Model T to modern cars

My cousin is a car restorer. He has a 1929?? Model T truck that was made in Canada. I know it was made in Canada as that is stamped on the engine, the radiator cap, the running boards, the tailgate, and the manifold. They must have been really proud of its lineage. The truck is in excellent condition as it spent most of its life as a prop in a mens clothing store. Cheers from Canada. ~ulrich

"The complexity of the drive system in this thing frankly astounded me" Well, it's German...

"It's has a total loss oil system. Like a Subaru!" I died right there 😂😂 Don't forget Harley Davidson lol

Aging Wheels lives up to its name big time. As an owner of a Model A and wanter(?) of a Model T, I really loved this one. Thank you!

For anyone wondering, the first "car" is called the french cugnot. It was built in 1769 and looks kinda like a 3 wheeled wagon being powered by a huge barrel

6:33 I felt that. Just put 2 1/2 quarts of oil in after the last oil change 2500 miles ago.

It’s amazing how much your channels mess with my feed. I don’t drive, I don’t have space for a woodshop, yet I’m addicted to your humor

Absolutely loved the video! I can't get enough of your presentation style!

My aunt has 42 Model T cars in on old metal barn on her property. It is her long term retirement. When she exhausts her other sources she plans to start selling them to museums. Most of them worked when they were packed with grease and covered in tarps.

Fun fact: On her first, and in fact the first ever, cross country drive, where Bertha Benz covered around 100km in 12 hours* * * she actually sourced the fuel from pharmacys. It was called Ligorin, was basically petrol light, and was primarily used as a stain remover. Which is also why you could only get it there.

16:18 and at other times. That little boxy mini-motorbike looks cool.

Man, I love these vintage cars. I always love looking closely at them to see what bizarre and brilliant solutions they came up with to make them work before there was any such thing as doing it "by the book." Back then they were just trying stuff and seeing what worked! Nobody knew yet what would catch on, so there was endless creativity in their mechanical solutions. I was looking at a 1908 Buick a while ago at a car show, and it had a massive flat twin mounted transversely under the floor, with the chain drive to the rear sandwiched between it and the flywheel and transmission. The hood was bolted down and only contained the gas tank and radiator. The two-cylinder engine had nearly the same displacement as some V8s nowadays, but made 30 hp - quite a lot when you consider model Ts made 20 with two more cylinders. I know most kids these days aren't interested in such old archaic cars, but anyone with a passing interest in mechanical engineering really should look into various antique cars, the engineering in them is really fascinating and clever and wildly different from what we have today, even if that's sometimes for good reason ;)

This is the only channel that I won't skip advertising. Robert, if you read this, you even make adverts funny and entertaining!

“It doesn’t have a throttle” - but, it has exactly a throttle! It’s just multiple holes in a tube instead of one big butterfly valve. What it doesn’t have is an air filter. And also a good way to modify the throttle on the go.

A while back Fully Charged got to play with a 1901 Waverly Model 22, one of the very first EVs around. You'd love it. You should persuade the Lane Motor Museum to get one so you can do a video on it.

15:27 As far as I know, only the US built model T's have no drivers door, in Canada they actually have one there.

@14:55 That would also happen in 70's Ford Trucks if the cab mounts were rusted out. The steering column was a main cab support (if cab mounts were gone) and the whole cab would move when you moved the steering. I've experienced that- it is not good. Lol.

The T actually has two ignition systems. It's got magnetos, like a lawnmower, but those are hard to get going fast enough to be of any use when you crank-start it. That's where the battery ignition comes in, and it uses vibrator coils, so, bad mother of multiple spark discharge. The key goes one way for battery, other way for magneto. My dad and I drive one for a local museum, and we'll start it on battery, get the mixtures and timing right (mad dash before the engine chokes itself out), and then flip it over to magneto--being careful not to linger in the middle, because that's off, and it will stall if you're not quick about it. The box in that one looks the same as what we're working with.

15:22 They made it that way to accommodate RHD markets in the UK and some other places, so when they put steering wheel on the right side, the left door would have hinges, and right door would be welded. Small detail to save production cost.

Splendid seeing you speak about these two cars. Found out some cool info on the model T. :)

The story of the first ride of the Benz Patent Motorwagen is insanely funny. To give a little hint, it was the first GTA and joyride. By his wife... Yeah... Benz was such a perfectionist, he didn't want to show it to the world 'unfinished'. His wife was quite fed up with this because she realized it would never see the light of day. He also squandered the family fortune, to make matters worse. So one day she decide to get her eldest sons out of bed early morning, steal the car for a joyride to her mother. And along the way she had to do roadside repairs as well. look up the story, because I cannot tell the story well enough to do it justice, it is an incredible story!

I talked to a gentleman in Cooper, Texas 20 years ago that still daily drove a Model T. He had other modern cars, he did drive those on long trips, but around the tiny town of Cooper and going just a town or two over, he would drive the T. His 1920 model Model T was a 2 door sedan, and it had some period correct (ish) mods to allow it to work better on modern roads, such as an extra gear (I believe it was something like that) to allow his to do nearly 58 MPH.

0:11 the flexing of the entire vehicle is amazing

I'm glad you talked about the transmission bit @17, earlier in the video when you were describing the gear shifting and such I was like "wait is that like an automatic transmission, but with ... manual input" .. so that answered that question... It's interesting to see the evolution of these parts and pieces in context to modern equivalents. Great video as always!

Thank you to the museum, it's great getting to see these things and look how happy you've made him :)

For many years the car museum at Como Gardens, in The Basin Victoria Australia had a restored (not replica) 1896 Mercedes. Very occasionally the owner, George, would give it a squirt on the local roads.

The original gas stations were pharmacies in Germany, as they sold Ligroin. Bertha Benz, Carl Benz' wife and frankly, the more entrepneural of them both - and he was no slouch in that regard - took the Patentwagen Number 3 out on a 104km long tour with a halfway point at the pharmacy in Wiesloch. Her route has been memorialized, you can follow it today. I hope you have less issues than her, to quote wiki: On the way, she solved numerous problems. She had to find Ligroin, a solvent available only at dispensing chemists' shops, to use as fuel.[11] Thus the still existing Stadt-Apotheke (Town Pharmacy) in Wiesloch, some kilometres south of Heidelberg, became the world's first filling station.[12] A blacksmith had to help mend a chain in Bruchsal.[13] Brake linings were replaced in Bauschlott/Neulingen north of Pforzheim.[14] And Bertha Benz had to use a long, straight hatpin to clean a fuel pipe which had become blocked, and a garter to insulate a wire.[15]

Model T doesn't have separate dampers but leaf springs are damped by the friction between the leaves.

This was the first video I found on explaining the DETAILS of the Benz-Motorwagen! Thank you SO much! I love this machine, it's sooo beautiful. Perhaps the only Mercedes I like. I'm a Citroënist (Citroën fan). Fords Model T was also a genius thing. I like best the "improved" Mod. T's from the last 2 years 1926 and 1927. Cordial greetings from a north german living in Switzerland/ lake geneva.

It might be worth your time to visit the Stanley Hotel at Estes, CO and check out some of the original Stanley Steamer cars. I was happy to check them out when I visited.

I'm so glad you can experience what you love. Merry Christmas, friend!

I live near Wiesloch in Germany where Bertha Benz made her first fuel stop at a pharmacy there, thus making it the first fuel station (Clarkson voice) in the world…. Come and visit! :) Her son was with her on the trip and he had to push it up hills so your findings are very much correct. Btw there is a classic car club in Wiesloch and their logo is Bertha barreling and bounding about in her Patentwagen…

Greetings from Argentina! You're right IT was assembled in LA BOCA, Buenos Aires

It does have a throttle. The amount of holes open as it's running increases or decreases the vacuum thru the carb, metering the amount of fuel drawn into the intake

The blue car with 2 white stripes down the bonnet iss a Midas Bronze kit car. Thought at first it was a GTM kit car. Fun cars based on a mini.

Legend has it, and I do stress the word legend, that you could have the Model T in any colour, provided it was black, because it was the only colour that would dry fast enough for the production line.

This is the ultimate Aging Wheels episode.

Electrek conversion to lithium you say. 🤔 Never knew such "cross overs" existed.

"Pre-road days" Ancient Rome would like to have a word with you about that one lmao

Vehicle shifts in EVERY MODERN CAR as well if you rotate steering wheel while the car is stationary.

I was lucky to have very brief drive of a Model T last summer. All is well once you get your head around the controls, but as the car accelerates and mild panic sets in, the temptation to stamp on the middle (reverse) pedal to slow down is so strong!

I feel your happiness through the screen and I'm so jealous.I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas from sweden.

You could review every single car in that museum, I would watch everyone with joy.

Camp fuel is actually pure gasoline with absolutely no additives. Something like 50 octane. It’s nothing like kerosene which is more or less a fuel oil like diesel/home heating oil/common jet fuel.

Dude, I can't even tell you how important your videos are to me as an amateur enthusiast. Such charming delivery and personality, accessibility of information, even if I don't follow all of the tech babble, you make it easy to enjoy the process of learning. I have passed your videos on to so many people who aren't car people and they're always well received. Love your stuff!

Merry Christmas Robert, and thank you for another wonderful video.

i love the background cars in that museum. Citroen CX? A Multipla, an autozam, all the various micros...

That backfiring thing with the model t happens a lot when you start a dirt bike. Anyone who had started one knows the pain it causes too, I imagine a thumb would be so much worse.

When my father (B 1909-1994)) told me about his trip from PA to Ca. in T , in the 30's. I asked him how long it took. He only measured the trip by how many flats he had to fix...😄 He said you could get a used T for $25.

I got to visit the Lane Motor Museum while on vacation a few weeks ago and was not disappointed.

On the Benz, a recent episode of "A podcast of unnecessary detail" had a large chunk about it, Helen Arney has made a song. All about Mrs Benz stealing the prototype and driving to her mother as a publicity stunt. Very funny and worth a listen.

4 cylinders, 2 rows of seating and 3 doors? The model T is basically my Hyundai Veloster N!

Most underrated video on KZfaq. THANK YOU!❤

Pro tip, to avoid breaking your arm in case of backfire, please use only your left hand to start a model T

I just like driving those cars in Gran Turismo 4, the problems start when there's a slight hill and it takes ages to get up them. Fitting a turbo would be a good idea except I don't know if there's enough exhaust to run one. But total respect to the guy that drove the motor wagon around the Nordschleife, the video is on KZfaq. 🤔

I knew a guy here in Pennsylvania that was the one and only owner of a 1929 Ford Model A.........supposedly the car now is in the collection at the car museum in Hersey PA.

There's a big time model T collector in Ottawa Illinois that has some ww1 variations. We were doing a military vehicle show and he just decided to take a model T up a almost 40° incline

You really should make a video about the East German mopeds from Simson. Those things are super cool and still very popular with the youth over here due to some favorable laws.

I love the Model T. A few weeks ago, I managed to see one on the road in the UK. A much larger vehicle than they look in these videos. I hope I get the privilege of driving one someday.

@agingwheels wrt the Model T and suspension damping, a cool thing is that unlike coil springs, leaf springs provide a level of inherent damping themselves due to how the leaves slide over each other as they deform... Or so I read while panic learning how to calculate requirements for specifying springs for a railway wagon.

If you go to the wonderful Gilmore Motor Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan you can take a class in how to drive a Model T. I've done it and it's really cool.

1970s VW Beetles were also available with a "manulated automatic" transmission. I remember we had one when I was a kid, and ours had a regular four-speed manual, but the handbook described the operating procedures for a three-speed "Automatic Stick Shift" model as well. I don't know how it worked mechanically, but I assume it must have had a torque converter of some kind, since it could idle in first gear with the car held motionless by the brakes. (Yeah, I was the kind of kid who read the car's handbook while waiting outside the store or whatever. What else was there to do in the cars of the 1970s and '80s? :)

A 1959 Skoda Octavia! That's super rare! That grille type was only made for the 59 (and very early 1960) year but is way better looking that the much more common classic Octavia grille. It's absolutely STUNNING! Edit: Oh my god, I didn't even see the Skoda Popular Monte Carlo next to it! That's absolutely gorgeous! I've never seen one in person, I always manage to miss the one at the Mlada boleslav museum when I'm there.

Cool beans, honestly would love to find an old T or an A to fix up, I can remember my dad telling me he used to rebuild the engines on a kitchen table. He said he used to find old strips of bacon in them all the time, as they used to use it as DIY gaskets during the Depression.

Robert, you have the best job in the world. I would love to experience those vehicles 1st hand. Merry Christmas to you and I look forward to more shenanigans in 2024

the Model T flexes so well it wins the 4x4 suspension flex competitions in keeping all 4 tires on the ground pre conventional control cars are a trip