In August, 1924, I was seventeen years old. My uncle had bought a new Model T Ford and wanted to sell me his 1916 Model T for $40.00. I bought it, providing he would teach me how to drive it. He said "Pull back the emergency brake, push the first pedal in, feed the gas to it and then when you release-away you go. The middle pedal is to back up and the third pedal is the brake." I left Detroit, Michigan, heading for Mitchells Bay, Ontario, a distance of about 70 miles. His parting words were "Bon Voyage."
About 20 minutes after leaving Detroit, I arrived in the city of Mt. Clemens at Cass Avenue. The light was red, so I put the brake on and the car stalled. I got out and cranked and cranked and cranked and finally got it started. When I got to the next street, the light was red, I stepped on the brake and it stalled. I got out and started cranking and perspiring for some time. By then, the horns were all blowing behind me because back then, the main street was very narrow and they weren't able to pass me. I again got it going and I next came to Market Street. The light was also red. I said "the hell with it" and went right on through.
When I got to the outskirts of Mt. Clemens, there was a railroad track with a very slow moving train. I brought the throttle up as far as I could to slow it down, but no, the caboose was still in front of me and I had to put the breaks on. It stalled. I got out and started cranking and the brakeman who was standing there said "Why did you stall it?" I told him every time I put the brakes on, it stalls. He said "Lift up that emergency brake and then it won't stall." I said "Thank you!"
I headed out of town to 23 Mile Road, a country road, and after a short distance I had a flat tire. I looked and found that I didn't have a jack or a pump so I hailed a farmer coming by who stopped and loaned me a jack and a pump. He waited patiently while I repaired the tube. I went on to Algonac on the St. Clair River. I blew both the tire and the tube as I reached town. I didn't have a spare, so I drove on the rim up to Robert's Landing on the river, put the sign down signaling the car ferry to cross the river and pick me up. The ferry came over and the captain looked at the tireless front wheel and said, "You should have bought that tire in Michigan. They're more expensive in Canada." We crossed over the river and I said, "What do I owe you?" He said "75 cents." I pulled out a fifty cent piece and a Canadian 25 cent bill. The ferry captain looked at it and said, "No, you better keep that."
So, I started on my way to Wallaceburg, Ontario. I soon picked up a hitchhiker. When I arrived in Wallaceburg, I stopped, pulled up the emergency brake and put the brake on. The hitchhiker said, "What are you doing that for?" and I said I do that because I didn't want to stall it. He said, "You don't have to do that. Put your clutch in halfway, with your brake on, and you won't stall it. When you want to back up, you do the same thing, put your clutch in halfway and put your reverse in." I said, "Thank you!"
I went in to Wallaceburg and I pulled into a tire shop, told them that I needed a tire but I didn't have any money. He said "Do you know anyone around here?" and I said, "Yes, the farm right outside of town are relatives of mine." So he called them up and the kinfolk said, "Yes, that's o.k., give him a tire." So the dealer installed it and there I was, hell bent for Mitchells Bay, running on all four tires, with 75 cents in my pocket and the best part...I knew how to drive a Model T.
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