BIG FUN IN THE ‘BIG BOY’
’27 Model T brings joy to Calgarian
Ford’s Model T helped put a nation on wheels.
With millions of the solid and reliable, go-anywhere Model Ts built between 1908 and 1927, the vehicle put middle-class North Americans on the road and opened a world of touring opportunities.
Around the time the T was gaining popularity, so were wooden board tracks; highly banked oval tracks constructed of planks.
The first lumber track was the Los Angeles Motordrome, built in 1910. Over the next two decades the number of wooden circular and oval circuits across North America exploded. In Canada, the quarter-mile Toronto Motordrome opened in May of 1915.
Cars — such as Model Ts — and motorcycles were raced on the tracks. The wood surface would rapidly deteriorate, however, and the consequent maintenance was expensive and ongoing. By the early Thirties, most of the wooden tracks had disappeared. But not the race cars.
Harry Lillo of Calgary is passionate about Model Ts. About two years ago he became aware of a 1927 Model T board track race car that had spent its life in New York. The car was for sale, and after speaking to the owner three times on the telephone Lillo was allowed to become the next custodian.
“He was selective about where the car went, and I think the fact that we use our cars, and that I do all my own engine and bodywork helped seal the deal,” Lillo said.
Lillo’s car, nicknamed Big Boy by his wife, Rosalie, includes some special components that set it apart from other Model Ts and also help indicate it has a racing pedigree.
First is the Faultless speedster body. Built and sold by the American Top & Body Co. of Delphi, Indiana, during the 1920s, a Faultless body could be bolted directly to a Model T chassis, making it an instant race car.
“The car had been maintained its whole life,” Lillo said of the Faultless-bodied Model T that looks to have last been repainted some 40 years ago. It has a few dents and other scars, and Lillo spent 103 hours restoring the unique split grille.
Second, and probably most important, is the cylinder head. It’s an aftermarket Roof Model C, with 16 overhead valves. An original Ford Model T engine has eight valves, two per cylinder, in a side-valve arrangement.
“The Roof head gives four valves per cylinder,” Lillo said. “In the simplest terms, a stock Model T is about a 40-miles-perhour car. One with a Roof C head conversion could be a 100- to 110-miles-per-hour car.”
There were other aftermarket cylinder head makers, including Rajo and Frontenac. What these suppliers were offering was more power, and the overhead valve conversions were popular with Model T truck owners, as well as tuners who just wanted their Model Ts to go faster on the street.
The Roof C head, however, is meant to be a full racing item, and it’s rare.
“I’ve been involved with Model Ts for more than 30 years, and in that time I’ve seen one other Roof Model C head (at the Museum of American Speed in Lincoln, Nebraska), and the one on this car is the only one I’ve heard run.”
When Lillo bought the Model T race car, the seller, who had owned it for more than 30 years, told him it was a thoroughbred.
It takes some effort to get ready to go, as each of the 16 valve guides, eight pushrods and all of the rockers have to be lubricated by hand before starting. There’s an oil can on the firewall of the car, filled with castor oil, and each lube job is good for approximately 145 kilometres before it needs to be done again.
“At times, the engine frustrates me, and other times it runs very well,” Lillo said. “It can be a bit cantankerous, and I think that has all got to do with the intake system and the ambient air temperature.
“Of course, when it’s running at its best, it’s still a Model T and it steers and stops like one. It’s made to go, but it’s not made to stop.”
Little is known of this Model T’s racing career, but it reportedly spent time on the Woodbridge Speedway and Hammonton Speedway board tracks, both near New York.
Headlights and tail lights were installed on the car after its life on the track. It is registered and insured in Alberta, and Lillo has taken Big Boy on many drives. For now, he plans to preserve the car as it is, and enjoy the historic ride.