Mixed among the Jeeps and muscle cars at the Clarion County Fair’s Vintage Car and Jeep Show Sunday was a stately relic from the early days of motoring, a 1923 Ford.
Jim Neece’s COVID-19 project was to restore the 98-year-old Ford Model T couple. Neece had a tie to the car from his youth.
“I bought this off the Keith Snyder estate about three years ago,” he said. “I remember when he was running for Jefferson County commissioner he would drive it around. I had forgotten all about until I saw it sitting out there.
“During COVID you couldn’t do much of anything else so I cleaned out every nut and bolt and built it back up. It took about a year and a half,” he said.
Considering the age of the vehicle, it wasn’t in bad shape. “The engine was loose and I had to put new valves in it, a new carburetor, and new rings on the pistons,” he said.
Neece’s Model T has an electric starter, an unusual feature at that time. “I have never had to crank it and don’t want to,” he said.
Neece said to drive the Model T you have to “forget everything you know about driving.” There are three pedals on the floor none of which are a brake or an accelerator. The throttle is by the steering wheel and the foot pedals are to shift gears and adjust the transmission.
Neece said he avoids main highways. “I like to take the back roads,” he said. “I drive it to get ice cream on Sunday. The grandkids like it and so do I.”