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Model T Secrets In Plain Sight; Bring Cash or Go Home; Uncharted Subaru · In Wheel Time Podcast

• 0:05
  Don Armstrong: Time now for Jeff's Car Culture.
• 0:07
  Don Armstrong: Launch of the Model T Ford.
• 0:09
  Jeff Dziekan: It's about time.
• 0:10
  Jeff Dziekan: So the things that you really didn't know and the kind of speculation, but the Model T revolution revolutionized transportation and manufacturing in America when it debuted in 1908.
• 0:20
  Jeff Dziekan: While many know it was the first affordable automobile that put American on wheels, Henry Ford's vision created the new car for the common person.
• 0:28
  Jeff Dziekan: So here we go.
• 0:29
  Jeff Dziekan: Talk about price.
• 0:30
  Jeff Dziekan: Well, initially the car sold for$825 in 1908, equivalent to about$25,000 today.
• 0:37
  Jeff Dziekan: The affordable compared to other automobiles of the area, which typically cost about two grand.
• 0:42
  Jeff Dziekan: Ford managed the price point by focusing on simplicity and efficiency.
• 0:47
  Jeff Dziekan: And then you talk about the color.
• 0:48
  Jeff Dziekan: Well, despite the popular saying that customers would have had any color as long as it's black, the earliest model T's weren't actually black.
• 0:56
  Jeff Dziekan: The first production models came in gray, green, red, and blue.
• 0:59
  Jeff Dziekan: Really?
• 1:00
  Jeff Dziekan: Black became standard in 1914 because black paint dried faster.
• 1:05
  Jeff Dziekan: That's why?
• 1:05
  Jeff Dziekan: And it sped up production.
• 1:06
  Jeff Dziekan: Wow.
• 1:07
  Jeff Dziekan: Who knew?
• 1:08
  Jeff Dziekan: Who knew?
• 1:08
  Jeff Dziekan: So you talk about the people doing that?
• 1:10
  Jeff Dziekan: Well, workers were paid five dollars a day in 1914, which was just generous.
• 1:15
  Jeff Dziekan: It was revolutionary.
• 1:16
  Jeff Dziekan: The wage doubled and the industry standard uh to follow.
• 1:20
  Jeff Dziekan: Allowed workers to afford the very cars they were building, and that's what Ford wanted.
• 1:24
  Jeff Dziekan: He wanted uh understanding that the customers create what was important to them.
• 1:30
  Jeff Dziekan: Talk about the budget.
• 1:31
  Jeff Dziekan: Ford's budget was uh not anything uncommon, but modern vehicles launched with massive marketing campaigns.
• 1:37
  Jeff Dziekan: Ford spent almost nothing on advertising for the Model T.
• 1:41
  Jeff Dziekan: The car essentially sold itself through word of mouth and newspaper coverage.
• 1:44
  Jeff Dziekan: Ford relied on the product's quality and affordability to generate the buzz.
• 1:49
  Jeff Dziekan: The assembly line?
• 1:50
  Jeff Dziekan: Well, contrary to popular belief, the Model T didn't launch with the famous moving assembly line.
• 1:55
  Jeff Dziekan: The innovation came five years after the release in 1913.
• 1:59
  Don Armstrong: I was gonna say by 1914 when everybody got it right.
• 2:02
  Jeff Dziekan: Yep, yep.
• 2:02
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh before that, cars were built in stationary position with workers moving between them, taking about twelve hours per vehicle.
• 2:08
  Jeff Dziekan: Wow.
• 2:09
  Jeff Dziekan: The capacity?
• 2:10
  Jeff Dziekan: Well, Ford's factory could produce eleven cars per day by 1914 and implementing the moving assembly line.
• 2:16
  Jeff Dziekan: The numbers skyrocket to about 93 uh a car every 93 minutes, which was very good back then.
• 2:23
  Jeff Dziekan: Efficiency allowed Ford to continue dropping prices throughout production.
• 2:27
  Jeff Dziekan: The first global car, well, it's what they called it.
• 2:30
  Jeff Dziekan: It was designed as the world's first global car.
• 2:32
  Jeff Dziekan: Ford built factories across six continents, and the Model T was manufactured in twenty countries.
• 2:38
  Jeff Dziekan: That was that's pretty crazy back then in nineteen thirteen, nineteen fourteen.
• 2:42
  Jeff Dziekan: Talk about the procedures.
• 2:43
  Jeff Dziekan: Well, uh the Model T wasn't as simply as simple as turning the key.
• 2:47
  Jeff Dziekan: Drivers had to set multiple levels to adjust the throttle, physically cranking the engine by hand.
• 2:52
  Jeff Dziekan: The crank would kick back dangerously and sometimes breaking a wrist or a finger if the unprepared person was operating it.
• 2:59
  Jeff Dziekan: The innovations that they had, well, that the unique material solutions, it's a magneto, part of the ignition, was built in the flywheel using materials that had been used in automobiles before.
• 3:09
  Jeff Dziekan: The innovation eliminated the need for batteries in early mod in the early models through significant engineering achievements.
• 3:16
  Jeff Dziekan: Transfer transformation of it was uh the Ford specifically designed the Model T with high ground clearance, flexible suspension to handle America's most unpaved rural roads.
• 3:26
  Jeff Dziekan: Don't forget, there wasn't any concrete back then either.
• 3:28
  Jeff Dziekan: The Model T arrived before proper roads did, actually driving demand for better infrastructure nationwide.
• 3:34
  Jeff Dziekan: So kind of contributed to that for Now that's a Model A.
• 3:37
  Jeff Dziekan: Yeah.
• 3:37
  Jeff Dziekan: Mm-hmm.
• 3:38
  Jeff Dziekan: There's other pictures in there too.
• 3:40
  Jeff Dziekan: Uh the the source, many farmers used the Model T as a stationary power source by jacking up the rear wheels and attaching a belt to the axle, the Model T could perform uh farm equipment like saws, pumps, and threshers, effectively serving as a mobile generator.
• 3:55
  Jeff Dziekan: The name, well, the T designated s uh seems obvious now, but few know it represent represented the Ford's twentieth design attempt.
• 4:05
  Jeff Dziekan: This previous model ran through much of the alphabet.
• 4:08
  Jeff Dziekan: Several f several of them failed prototypes uh before the Model T was a success.
• 4:13
  Jeff Dziekan: The earliest prototypes from 1903 were simply named with letters in sequence.
• 4:17
  Jeff Dziekan: So the T finally was at the end of the alphabet, basically.
• 4:21
  Jeff Dziekan: Other milestones, the production ended in 1927.
• 4:24
  Jeff Dziekan: Ford uh manufactured an astounding fifteen million model T's.
• 4:28
  Jeff Dziekan: The record stood until 1972 when the Volkswagen Beetle finally surpassed it.
• 4:33
  Jeff Dziekan: No other single model dominated the market so completely for so long.
• 4:37
  Jeff Dziekan: So there you go.
• 4:38
  Jeff Dziekan: You're just gonna drive it through America, and that's little tidbits and facts about that, and that people didn't know all that, and now you do.
• 4:45
  Don Armstrong: That is that was interesting, actually.
• 4:47
  Don Armstrong: I didn't I didn't realize I always thought that the Model T was uh a assembly line made at the from the very beginning, but now five years later.
• 4:56
  Jeff Dziekan: He was very innovative back in the beginning, so you know thank you, Henry Ford and all the Ford family.
• 5:01
  Don Armstrong: You know, but he let's go recall something.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_02: He wasn't a very nice uh Mr.
• 5:11
  Don Armstrong: Mars, um it's time for your driving destinations and five swap meets, and it's time for you to go.
• 5:17
  Don Armstrong: You want me to get a mic?
• 5:18
  Mike Marrs: If you would, sir, I'll pull it up and get you started.
• 5:20
  Mike Marrs: There you go.
• 5:21
  Mike Marrs: All right.
• 5:22
  Mike Marrs: So swap meets are something that we used to.
• 5:25
  Mike Marrs: I remember when I was much, much younger that that was something that we always went to looking for parts.
• 5:30
  Mike Marrs: It was a big deal.
• 5:30
  Mike Marrs: It was almost like almost every car show had a swap meet, and it's not so much anymore.
• 5:36
  Mike Marrs: Now, if you're gonna find something generally it's tied into a flea market, but there are several swap meets.
• 5:42
  Mike Marrs: Or you go online and get it, yeah.
• 5:44
  Mike Marrs: It takes all the fun out of watching, walking through it.
• 5:47
  Mike Marrs: So, but one of them that's going on that is still a pretty big deal is the Southwest Swap Meet at Lone Star Park.
• 5:54
  Mike Marrs: Now, this is right between Dallas and Fort Worth.
• 5:56
  Mike Marrs: Happens twice a year.
• 5:57
  Mike Marrs: In fact, it's going on this weekend, is the spring event, and there'll be one later on in the fall.
• 6:02
  Mike Marrs: Now, this has been around since 1968, and it's set up on a six on a 300-acre horse racing facility.
• 6:10
  Mike Marrs: So it's not a lot of open fields and stuff.
• 6:13
  Mike Marrs: You've got parking lots and grandstand, the tracks all right there in the background, but there's like 5,000 spaces available for vendors, food trucks, and the auto corral.
• 6:22
  Mike Marrs: So if you want to go looking for something in a little bit more of a laid-back atmosphere that's not totally too big, put on your walking shoes and go check out this one.
• 6:32
  Mike Marrs: Now, getting a little bit closer to home down here in the Dallas part of the world, Hot Rods of Texas swap meet happens up in Conroe.
• 6:41
  Mike Marrs: Again, this one is twice a year, and this is the second largest swap meet in Texas.
• 6:46
  Mike Marrs: Now, uh the October event is set for October the 23rd and the 25th.
• 6:50
  Mike Marrs: Again, Montgomery County Fairgrounds out on Airport Road.
• 6:53
  Mike Marrs: We've been out there a couple of times with some other event.
• 6:57
  Mike Marrs: It is a real fairgrounds, it is a large place, and they use the whole thing.
• 7:02
  Mike Marrs: Hot rods, muscle cars, project builds.
• 7:05
  Mike Marrs: And the great thing about this one is if you're gonna be a vendor there, if you're gonna come in there and set it up, you've got to have at least 75% of your content or your stuff you're bringing in, it's gotta be auto-related.
• 7:16
  Mike Marrs: So you're not really gonna turn this into some sort of flea market with a lot of handicrafts on it.
• 7:21
  Mike Marrs: And uh usually draws a lot of a pretty big crowd because isn't that a cute person?
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of car on it.
• 7:30
  Mike Marrs: So um then we're gonna go to the big one.
• 7:33
  Mike Marrs: Now, this is the biggest in Texas, and it is considered one of the largest in the country.
• 7:37
  Mike Marrs: Now, this is the Pate Swap Meet.
• 7:39
  Mike Marrs: Happens April the 23rd through the 25th, so still got time to get there.
• 7:43
  Mike Marrs: Now, this was started in 1972 by several Texas car clubs who were going off to Pennsylvania, to Hershey, and places like that, and they got tired of making the drive.
• 7:52
  Mike Marrs: So they decided to set one up here, and it's been through several different places, and now is home at the Texas Motor Speedway.
• 7:59
  Mike Marrs: 14 clubs get together to put this together.
• 8:02
  Mike Marrs: They have 2,000 vendors, and they have 9,900 spaces for people to set up and swap parts and swap stories.
• 8:12
  Mike Marrs: Then they have an auto corral.
• 8:14
  Mike Marrs: And here's some pictures.
• 8:15
  Mike Marrs: Part of these pictures are from the top seating of the track looking out over the the field.
• 8:21
  Mike Marrs: It uses the in the whole track.
• 8:24
  Mike Marrs: And uh a lot of people, I mean, they now have uh golf carts, a lot of people use scooters, a lot of people to get around.
• 8:31
  Mike Marrs: Um last time I was up there, it wasn't quite this big, it was pre-COVID.
• 8:35
  Mike Marrs: I was there two days, it still didn't get to walk through all of it.
• 8:38
  Mike Marrs: So there's a lot of stuff up there and lots of things, and if you buy something, if you can't carry it, they got people that'll actually carry it to your car.
• 8:46
  Mike Marrs: So, one thing about these car these swap meets, whether it's these big ones or the small ones that you can find, the biggest thing you've got to remember is bringing cash.
• 8:54
  Mike Marrs: Cash is king because out there in the middle of the parking lot, you're not gonna necessarily have access to a credit card.
• 9:01
  Mike Marrs: And the other thing is if you want to get something in particular, if you're really looking for a hard-to-part find, you ought to get there a little bit early and get started on it.
• 9:09
  Mike Marrs: Bring your walking shoes.
• 9:11
  Mike Marrs: And um a couple other swaps.
• 9:14
  Mike Marrs: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 9:15
  Mike Marrs: You walk your feet off with that.
• 9:17
  Mike Marrs: A couple other things I want to mention quite real quick.
• 9:19
  Mike Marrs: Greenville swap meet, that's an old school option early in the spring that's up there.
• 9:22
  Mike Marrs: And then the other one is the Corvette Chevy Expo down in Galveston.
• 9:26
  Mike Marrs: It's pretty close.
• 9:27
  Mike Marrs: That one also has uh a swap meet, but it's primarily GM focused, uh obviously heavy into the Corvettes.
• 9:34
  Mike Marrs: But swap meets are still out there and you can find them.
• 9:37
  Mike Marrs: Uh you just gotta kind of look for them.
• 9:39
  Mike Marrs: They're not uh as plentiful as they used to be, but they're still a lot of fun.
• 9:42
  Don Armstrong: All right, thank you, sir.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_02: Gotta take it.
• 9:49
  unknown: There you go.
• 9:50
  Don Armstrong: All right, thank you.
• 9:52
  Don Armstrong: Time now for this hour's car review.
• 9:54
  Don Armstrong: I had an opportunity to drive something that's all new.
• 9:58
  Don Armstrong: All new.
• 10:00
  Don Armstrong: And it's the 2026 Subaru Uncharted.
• 10:04
  Don Armstrong: And you're thinking, that looks pretty darn good.
• 10:08
  Don Armstrong: And it does.
• 10:09
  Don Armstrong: So it comes in these trim levels premium, sport, and GT.
• 10:14
  Don Armstrong: I had the middle trim level, the sport, and it was orange like that.
• 10:18
  Don Armstrong: It is considered a subcompact SUV, about the size of the cross-trek.
• 10:26
  Don Armstrong: Seats including the driver, five.
• 10:28
  Don Armstrong: All new for this year, as I mentioned.
• 10:30
  Don Armstrong: Best looking vehicle for its size, period, according to Don Armstrong.
• 10:36
  Don Armstrong: I I really like it.
• 10:38
  Don Armstrong: Um, front fascia, clean design, doesn't look EV-ish, which is a big thing for me.
• 10:44
  Don Armstrong: Why do they have to have EV cars look different than the rest of them?
• 10:49
  Don Armstrong: Granted, you don't have to have a big opening in the front for cooling the radiator.
• 10:54
  Don Armstrong: It's not moving.
• 10:56
  Don Armstrong: But pardon?
• 10:57
  Don Armstrong: It's moving.
• 10:58
  Don Armstrong: It's moving.
• 10:59
  Don Armstrong: Okay.
• 10:59
  Don Armstrong: Um but this one, it does have kind of a grill-like thing.
• 11:03
  Don Armstrong: It's an air intake, but good.
• 11:05
  Don Armstrong: They put it in the front like it's supposed to be.
• 11:09
  Don Armstrong: Um the fastback rear hatch gives it a sports car look.
• 11:15
  Don Armstrong: The rear door handle is disguised in the C pillar.
• 11:19
  Don Armstrong: What I liked, just the right proportions of curves that will give it extra appeal, in my opinion.
• 11:27
  Don Armstrong: What could use improvement?
• 11:28
  Don Armstrong: Nothing.
• 11:29
  Don Armstrong: Don't touch it.
• 11:30
  Don Armstrong: I think they've got a home run here.
• 11:32
  Don Armstrong: Granted, it is a small SUV.
• 11:35
  Don Armstrong: Interior highlights.
• 11:36
  Don Armstrong: Dual horizontal phone chargers are superb.
• 11:41
  Don Armstrong: Yes, dual.
• 11:42
  Don Armstrong: So you can see part of it right up there.
• 11:44
  Don Armstrong: You can put two phones up there, one for you and one for your passenger.
• 11:48
  Don Armstrong: Isn't that nice?
• 11:50
  Don Armstrong: Huge screen on the center dash is easy to read and use.
• 11:54
  Don Armstrong: Comfortable seating, uh, but rear leg room is a bit tight.
• 11:59
  Don Armstrong: As you can imagine, this is a subcompact.
• 12:01
  Don Armstrong: Steering wheel controls are kind of hard to read, but I've got old tired eyes, so don't blame it on Subaru, blame it on me.
• 12:10
  Don Armstrong: Um as far as cargo, it's tight in the back, especially with its fastback design.
• 12:15
  Don Armstrong: So you give up a little bit of room back there in the back.
• 12:18
  Don Armstrong: But I'll tell you what, I I just I like the whole thing.
• 12:23
  Don Armstrong: Uh what I liked about it back there, um, the dial gear shift on the center console is handy, but why not use a stalk style shifter on the column that would save the center console space for something else?
• 12:42
  Don Armstrong: Just saying.
• 12:43
  Don Armstrong: Uh to me, this gets an urban vehicle award.
• 12:47
  Don Armstrong: Uh, it is awesome.
• 12:49
  Don Armstrong: Engine is a 3.47 kilowatt hour high capacity lithium battery that has drum roll, please, 338 horsepower.
• 13:02
  Don Armstrong: Dude, that's a lot.
• 13:03
  Don Armstrong: It's a direct drive, dual motor motor, uh, front or all-wheel drive.
• 13:08
  Don Armstrong: Uh all-wheel drive obviously is an option.
• 13:11
  Don Armstrong: Uh well, it got 3.8 miles per kilowatt or hour over 481 miles.
• 13:20
  Don Armstrong: Now I charged it both at home and at work.
• 13:23
  Don Armstrong: Uh, and obviously you have to charge it because it's strictly an EV.
• 13:28
  Don Armstrong: Nothing but uh electricity there.
• 13:30
  Don Armstrong: What I liked about it, plenty of power, plenty of power.
• 13:33
  Don Armstrong: What could use improvement?
• 13:35
  Don Armstrong: The range, 287 miles.
• 13:37
  Don Armstrong: Now I've got another EV that I'm driving.
• 13:39
  Don Armstrong: It'll be the third one in a row that I'm driving now.
• 13:41
  Don Armstrong: And it also different size vehicle, but it also has 287 miles of range on it.
• 13:48
  Don Armstrong: I think that that's just kind of like, oh, well, we'll just throw it 287 miles.
• 13:53
  Don Armstrong: Yeah, and that's 287 miles.
• 13:56
  Don Armstrong: Uh but it depends on how you drive.
• 13:58
  Don Armstrong: Do you floor it a lot?
• 13:59
  Don Armstrong: Do you drive it at high speed a lot?
• 14:01
  Don Armstrong: It ain't gonna do 287 miles.
• 14:04
  Don Armstrong: But for an urban vehicle, which this is classified as, in my opinion, uh, 287 mile range should be enough for you to get around town and one day of driving.
• 14:15
  Don Armstrong: One day.
• 14:16
  Don Armstrong: One day.
• 14:17
  Don Armstrong: Not two days, but one day.
• 14:20
  Don Armstrong: Ride and handling, eight inches of ground clearance gives it a true off-road look.
• 14:26
  Don Armstrong: Ride and handling, smooth ride for such a short wheel base EV.
• 14:32
  Don Armstrong: What could use improvement?
• 14:33
  Don Armstrong: Nothing.
• 14:34
  Don Armstrong: Okay, here comes the pricing.
• 14:35
  Don Armstrong: You ready?
• 14:36
  Don Armstrong: Base trim price.
• 14:37
  Don Armstrong: Now I had the sport model, which is middle of the road, 39, 795.
• 14:41
  Don Armstrong: The price is tested, 41,720 because of some extra options on it.
• 14:47
  Don Armstrong: Base model price you can get in this vehicle.
• 14:50
  Don Armstrong: 34,995 is where it starts.
• 14:54
  Don Armstrong: Excluding the tax title and license.
• 14:56
  Don Armstrong: Competitors, the Hyundai Ionic 5, the Tesla Model Y, and the Mustang Machi.
• 15:04
  Don Armstrong: Next week I'm going to review the Kia Sportage plug-in hybrid electric.
• 15:10
  Don Armstrong: And here's what I here's what I want to tell you about that.
• 15:12
  Don Armstrong: This is the first vehicle that I've actually made it an effort to plug it in.
• 15:18
  Don Armstrong: Because it's got a gasoline motor.
• 15:20
  Don Armstrong: Yeah.
• 15:21
  Don Armstrong: And so you plug it in, and it's going to give you, I don't know, 40, 50 miles.
• 15:27
  Don Armstrong: Yeah.
• 15:27
  Don Armstrong: So I've plugged it in, and I think that you're going to be surprised by what I have found by plugging it in.
• 15:32
  Don Armstrong: This one out here is a true EV, so you it has to be plugged in.
• 15:37
  Jeff Dziekan: So the plug-in hybrid, that is the same relation as having a donut spare, because the donut spare tire only goes about 50, 60, maybe 70 miles.
• 15:48
  Jeff Dziekan: So the hybrid plug-in is basically the donut spare for the car.
• 15:53
  Don Armstrong: But oh my gosh, what a difference it makes in the gasoline total calculations gives you higher mileage.
• 16:03
  Don Armstrong: I was shocked.
• 16:05
  Don Armstrong: And you know, I don't know why.
• 16:06
  Don Armstrong: I have not done it in the past because it's a pain.
• 16:09
  Don Armstrong: But I've got the pain worked out.
• 16:11
  Don Armstrong: I charge it at work, and then I charge it here at the house and I run an extension cord.
• 16:16
  Don Armstrong: And by golly, it works.
• 16:18
  Don Armstrong: So there's that.