Ford T Snowmobile 1923 Lego

Ford Model T, a car that is an icon of automotive history. It was created in many different versions. Many of these versions were the first vehicles of their type in the world. This vehicle was also one of them. In 1917, Virgil D. White received a patent for an attachment intended to transform the Ford Model T. He called it the "Snowmobile". The name was copyrighted by White. White was a Ford dealer in Ossipee, New Hampshire. He built his first snowmobile in 1913. He introduced it to the market in 1922, selling accessories exclusively through Ford dealers. The snowmobile attachment consisted of the complete package necessary to convert the Ford T into a snowmobile. The most visible difference was the skis at the front, made of metal and wood, and the tracks on the rear wheels. The rear axle and drive shaft of the passenger car, rear spring and radial rods were removed. They were replaced with a worm gear from Ford trucks, and special wheels matching the rear double axle with anti-slip chains were included. Ford T Snowmobile was offered in three different wheelbase sizes. A snowmobile has become an indispensable convenience for people who require fast and reliable transport in any weather. The largest users of this type of vehicles were rural doctors and rural postmen. Other customers for the manufactured snowmobile included utility companies, lumber companies, traveling salesmen, fire departments, school bus and taxi drivers, undertakers, grocery stores, milkmen, and truck drivers. In 1923, White produced only about 70 pieces. By 1925, the rights to produce snowmobiles were sold to the Farm Specialty Manufacturing Company of New Holstein, Wisconsin. This company began introducing its version of the vehicle in 1926. From 1924 to 1929, the Snowmobile Company produced approximately 3300 units per year at its West Ossipee factory and had a branch in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Snowmobile Company closed in 1929.

My Ford T Snowmobile model made of LEGO^®bricks is based on a vehicle from the times when it was produced by Virgil D. White. When designing, I used the original technical documentation and old photos. Drawings from advertising brochures from that time were a great help in determining what the original vehicle looked like. I'm aware that my model may have features common to various copies from different years of production. However, I had as a model a model from around 1923. It's already a hundred years old! When I started designing the model, two very important blocks were missing in real life: #77182 Wedge 10x2x2 Right, #77180 Wedge 10x2x2 Left. They didn't come in black at that time. When I finished the model this changed. Set 76215 Black Panther offers both of these bricks in black from 2022. This means that after introducing a few color, insignificant changes, the model can be built in reality. The color of the wheels is also a color variation. I haven't found any information about what colors the wheels were painted in the Snowmobile. Old photos are b&w :\ However, in many photos of restored copies, the color of the wheels and skis is red. Perfect, because there could be only one choice of wheels for the model - #35 Wheel Spoked Large. I wanted to reproduce the lightness of the suspension in the model, so I couldn't use blocks with bushings to mount the wheels: #7049b Brick Modified 2x4 with Wheels Holder. I decided to use #32054 Technic Pin 3L with Friction Ridges and Stop Bush. A rigid axle connection was created without the possibility of turning the wheels. This is the only aspect of the illegal connection of the blocks in this model. The inscription "Snowmobile" in the model is reproduced in its original form and was probably, like the name, protected by copyright.