Today on Gus’ Gear I present an item that is not German or original. For many years I sought an original Ford Model T ambulance. I knew there were many in museums around the country and have a friend who has an original GMC Model 16 ambulance. About 15 years ago, I found out that all the Ford Model T ambulances in museums around the country were made in the 1980s by a couple of farmers in Montana. With the help of a few friends, I was able to get detailed photos of two Ford ambulances in museums in California and Texas as well as measurements from the ambulance in Texas.
Using a number of period photos, I was able to determine some of the omitted details on the replicas built in Montana and after building my own replica I found that there were a number of errors in measurements that needed to be corrected.
This is a photo of Pvt John Gaenzle standing in front of his ambulance in 1918. He has a French helmet hanging on the kerosene lamp on the driver’s side and the two damaged places on the radiator were caused by someone pulling a folded stretcher from an ambulance parked too close in front of his.
This photo shows the windshield up. The chassis is an original 1919 Ford Model T. Ford was the first auto manufacturer that labeled the cars built from fall of the previous year as the next year’s model. I have not been able to determine if this chassis was made in late 1918 or in 1919, but it is the same as the ones used for the M1917 ambulances.
This is a view of the back of the vehicle, one of the benches is folded up and the other is in the down position. The rails for the upper stretcher is down and visible between the two rear window frames. These could be folded up and strapped to the wall to allow access of the benches. The body of the ambulance extends well behind the rear axle and because of that, the benches are short and onlyfour sitting passengers would be allowed so the weight on the rear axle would not be too much. Three stretcher casualties could be carried, two on the floor and one on the upper rails. The cut outs in the tail gate are to allow the stretcher handles to protrude through the tail gate, allowing the ambulance body to be a little bit shorter. There are also cut outs in the front panel to allow the stretcher handles to extend below the driver’s seat, to get the weight as far forward as possible. The center cut out in the tail gate is reinforced with angle iron and was used as a step to enter the back of the ambulance. The inside of the body was painted white or an off white to make it easier to see that it was clean, the floor boards have small gaps to allow fluids to drain through. This created a hazard that was not completely understood at the time. Some noncritical casualties died in transit during the winter and it was recognized that carbon monoxide was the culprit. It was thought that the exhaust heaters allowed carbon monoxide to pass through the sheet steel of the exhaust when it was hot. The real problem was the muffler was directly under the floor, without an exhaust pipe to carry the fumes away, and would rise up through the gaps in the floor. This problem was not noticed during the warmer weather as the side windows and rear flap would be left open, but on the cars equipped with the exhaust heaters in the winter, the side window and rear flap would be closed to keep the heat inside. A modification was ordered for all cars with exhaust heaters to drill 15 one inch holes, three inches apart on the front wall and the rear tailgate to get air circulation through the back.
This is one of the great photos found on the interwebs that helped with details of the side curtains and location of interior details by noting the location of the bolt heads on the outside of the body. This was an easy photo to get scale dimensions as the wheel base of the Ford Model T is 100 inches and this photograph was taken straight on from a location half way between the axles. This photo was taken in the United States, judging by the lack of vehicle identification, campaign hats and canvas leggins on the soldiers.
This is an interesting photo of an M1917 ambulance in France during the winter of 1918-1919.
With just the right amount of snow fall, I was able to recreate part of that photograph nearly 100 years later.
We take the ambulance around to events to help remember all the men and women who served then and now. This was a display set up at the Utah Gun Collector’s Association gun show in Ogden, Utah a few years ago.
And because Joe likes to see kittens, ducks and other wild life, here is a photo of a moose that wandered through our yard a couple of weeks ago.