Edythe and the Model T

Randy Lioz presents Edythe Kirchmaier with a scale replica of a Model T

Edythe Kirchmaier recently turned 107 years old and, while discussing her car ownership history – dominated by Fords – with me, it came to light that her driving experience began in and with the first mass-produced car: the Model T. She learned to drive on one and had fond memories of it.

It was thus ideal when the oppor- tunity presented itself to arrange for Edythe to reunite with that car by con- tacting Roy Miller, owner of a 1915 Ford Model T. Upon hearing about 107-year-old Edythe and my desire to put her together with his vehicle, Roy graciously offered to give Edythe a ride. We arranged to surprise her at the Direct Relief offices during her usual Tuesday visit, with a big assist from Hannah Rael, who handles the charity’s media relations.

At first, I presented Ms. Kirchmaier with a tiny replica of the Model T that I’d recently assembled, which positively lit her up. She then described her uncle’s car, a hardtop with curtains around the cabin she had learned on.

The ultimate thrill, though, was her joy when we brought her out to her personal parking spot to see the real deal pulling up. The entire Direct Relief staff emerged from the office to see us help Edythe get into the car. Roy was thrilled, as this was his first opportunity to pilot the car with a passenger who was alive when it was constructed. The two of them talked about what it was like to drive during that era – Edythe revealed that she didn’t even need a license.

The Model T is not an easy vehicle to start. When it was time to set up, Roy hopped down to hand-crank the motor with a lever sprouting from the radiator grille, careful to adjust the spark timing in order to avoid the signature kickback that leads to tales of broken wrists.

We putt-putted out of the lot and down the lane, never reaching the T’s top speed of 45 mph, but Edythe was giddy the whole time, reflecting on cascading memories as we trundled along.

The author, with Edythe and Roy in Miller’s Model T

After Edythe exited the car, Roy offered to hand me the wheel. But first, he said, an in-depth lesson would be required; piloting a Model T is a different endeavor from driving a modern car. Yes, there’s a steering wheel, a handbrake, and three pedals arrayed on the floor at your feet. But this control setup is deceptive, since those pedals bear little relation to those of a present-day stick-shift.

That one on the right? That’s the brake. And where the brake should be, in the middle? Well that’s actually reverse gear. A clutch pedal on the left? No way; that’s the gear selector. So where the heck is the throttle? That’s actually the little lever mount- ed right behind the steering wheel. It points to 2 o’clock at idle and swings down to bring the revs up. There’s another lever on the left side of the wheel that controls the spark timing.

I eased down the throttle lever and leaned on the center pedal with my left foot, easing off the brake with my right, and the T puttered gently back- ward out of the spot. Next, I cranked the wheel the other way – clockwise does actually turn the car to the right! – and gently toed the left-most pedal to get the car into low gear. Keeping the car in that gear requires you to have your foot planted, but once we got to a more open space I was able to ease off, the pedal backing through neutral and into high gear.

At this point, I got to experience the T’s full-bore acceleration, all 20 horsepower worth, which would have been plenty for an era when there was no such thing as a highway on-ramp. We made our way back into the parking lot after a few laps, and I managed to ease it back into the space without much drama. In fact, the drive was surprisingly anxiety-free, and I took to the task more quickly than expected.

I’ll give most of the credit to my esteemed instructor, Roy, who arrived in Santa Barbara three decades ago, having spent time in Germany during his Army days, and Los Angeles and Las Vegas on many interesting ven- tures, including as a successful SCCA racing career. Lured here by a friend who owned a Lotus workshop, Roy bought his own auto shop in Santa Barbara shortly thereafter.

Getting a lesson from Roy Miller in piloting the 100-year-old car

He bought the Model T some 15 years ago, and because the car wasn’t running at the time, so he got a great deal on it; he says it only took around 20 minutes of work for him to get it to crank. Restoring the vehicle was a labor of love that took several years to complete, particularly with Roy’s appreciation of the significance of the task. More than most old cars, preserving a Model T is akin to translating a manuscript of history.

It helped, too, that he’d been working on pre-war cars for more than a decade at his shop, East-West Motors. Aside from plenty of local events, perhaps Roy’s most high-profile gig is as a judge for the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. With this association comes a network of some of the most knowledgeable car experts in the world. And he certainly tapped this network to help guide him in his restoration of the antique Ford.

The Model T isn’t just a car; it is a symbol of America’s industrial might, which helped to launch our nation’s trajectory as the most powerful force of the 20th century. While car people get riled up about a classic Corvette, everyone goes gaga over a Model T.

And it was for this reason that it was such a privilege to experience the car with the incomparable Edythe Kirchmaier. As humans, we’ve grown to treasure the links to our past, tracing the path of our evolution. It’s a thrill to be able to ask a woman like Edythe, “What was it like?” And it’s even more of a thrill to relive it with her. 

If you have a story about a special car or piece of car culture in the local area, email Randy at rlioz11@gmail.com.  

Classics, Getting Better With Age

Edythe Kirchmaier at the Direct Relief office, with a stack of birthday cards from friends and admirers

Edythe Kirchmaier just turned 107 years old. If you’re a Santa Barbara local, you may well have heard of her. In fact, even if you’re not (wait, where did you get this paper?) you may have seen coverage of her in national outlets from ABC News and Fox News to Hot Rod Magazine.
 
That’s right, Hot Rod.
 
The enthusiast rag’s website did a feature on Edythe’s car ownership history. It highlighted one of the most fascinating facts about her: Edythe learned to drive on a Ford Model T. Now, nearly nine decades later, she’s still driving and is the oldest living licensed driver in California, and probably the whole country.
 
A look at the Guinness world record for licensed male drivers reveals that there was a man who was licensed until 108 years old, and another who held a valid license until he died, either at age 105 or 110. There are no records specifically for female drivers, nor a general record.

Also remarkable is that in that time, Edythe has never been so much as pulled over for an infraction. She verified this when I had the chance to sit down with her at the headquarters of Direct Relief, a Goleta-based medical aid organization where she has been volunteering for roughly 40 years.

Edythe has the only reserved spot at the office

First, a bit of background on Edythe. She’s had a remarkable life of volunteerism, starting at 10 years old, knitting lice-catching “cootie belts” for WWI troops. Forty years ago, she began volunteering for Direct Relief, spending three years in Taiwan teaching English. And she still comes to the office every Tuesday to write thank you notes. They’ve even given her the best parking spot in the lot.

Edythe came to Santa Barbara in 1938 with her husband, Joe. They were tired of the snowy Chicago climate, and figured it was time for a change.

“He said, ‘Shall we get married, or you wanna come with me and live in sin?’ ” Edythe recalls. “So we got married.”

As an automotive columnist, though, I gently steered the conversation toward her car history. The Hot Rod spread details much of it, and it’s dominated by Fords, including Model A’s and Mustangs. Why Fords?
“They were cheap!” she says. But Edythe also insists that they were quite reliable. She truly loved her Mustangs, though, and she and her husband owned a couple of them in the 1960s.
 
 Looking at a picture of the new Mustang next to the original, she thought that the car sitting in today’s showroom is much better-looking, a contrast to the nostalgia I’ve often heard from older drivers. In general, Edythe feels that car design has gotten better and better through the years, and the Honda Civic that an anonymous donor gave her a few years ago is a great example.

“I think it’s a very good-looking car,” she proclaims. “And not a mark on it.”

Back to that Mustang, though...

Edythe confirmed that the car looks great, and as someone who’s seen the entire evolution of the Ford brand, I’ll grant her authority status. But does it move the bar in driving experience, too? I recently had the opportunity to drive the all-new 2015 model, courtesy of Perry Ford. The dealership has sold every copy it could get of the four-cylinder EcoBoost turbo and the V-8 GT, but they had a 3.7L V-6 on hand for me to sample.

To start out, the price was right. At just over 25 grand, it came in over $5,000 less than the Focus ST sitting right next to it. The most expensive versions that Perry has sold have crested $55,000, but with the Mustang you get a lot of car for the money, and I have a feeling Edythe would think Ford has lived up to the value story that won her over. 
 

The suspension was a bit soft in this base model car, and for someone who wants a real sports car I’d suggest upgrading to either the EcoBoost or GT, with a Performance Package. But Edythe would value a smooth ride more, and there’s a level of refinement that can’t be matched by the outgoing model, due to improvements such as increased chassis stiffness and – finally – an independent rear suspension. The outgoing model had a solid rear axle, just as her car did five decades ago.

The 2015 Ford Mustang in the hills above Santa Barbara

The V-6, even though it’s basically carried over from last year, happens to be a great motor, with a smooth and muscular sound and an eager response to the go pedal. The 6-speed auto transmission could stand to be quicker, even in sport mode, but flicking the steering wheel paddles to change gears through the hills proved more fun.

Inside, the thoroughly modern design has some pleasing retro touches, like a row of toggle switches. These reside next to the red-bordered start button, which may have you calling the dealer for some launch codes.

And while some of the interior materials of this base model car were cheap-feeling hard plastic, there was a nice faux-carbon fiber weave across the dash that added a sense of sportiness.

Perhaps the pièce de résistance is the Track Apps program in the cluster, which lets you track your acceleration and quarter mile times, and watch a real-time g-meter.

But our friend Edythe is probably less concerned with g-meters and soft cornering attitudes, and I wouldn’t expect her to know what to do with a steering wheel paddle. In fact, she believes that today’s drivers aren’t as careful as they used to be, so it’s probably a good thing that she wasn’t riding with me as I put the Mustang through its paces in the hills.

But that’s okay; Edythe doesn’t need a shiny new sports car to feel young. Her spirit of giving and all the love she gets from her adoring Facebook fans – that’s right, she’s reportedly the oldest social network user, too – keep her spritely. But maybe when her Civic lease is up we’ll see her peeling out of Direct Relief’s parking lot in a new Mustang. 

If you have a story about a special car or piece of car culture in the local area, email Randy at rlioz11@gmail.com.