Perfect for the current climes.
With temperatures still icy in parts of the US, some drivers are wishing they had invested in a set of winter tires or at least a car with all-wheel-drive, but who needs a Ford F-150 Raptor or Jeep Wrangler if you can drive a dedicated snowmobile? That’s right, back in the 1920s, inventor and authorized Ford dealer Virgil T. White decided that enough was enough, and started offering a snowmobile conversion kit for its Model T. This conversion is as rare as hen’s teeth these days and would fit perfectly in the national museum of steampunk paraphernalia. The best part is, a restored one is now up for sale.
Mr. White lived in West Ossipee, N.H, an area known for getting snowed in during winter months. The man knew the Model T like the back of his hand and decided to turn one into a snowmobile. He patented the conversion kit in 1913, but the kit only went on sale in the winter of 1922, and a struggling driveway snow scraper could buy one of these bad boys for only $750. That’s the car and the conversion all rolled into one. The conversion ended up being offered by several dealers, and White only produced around 73 of these cars during his time. By 1925 he sold the manufacturing rights to a Wisconsin-based farming manufacturing company, after which around 3,300 of these snow heroes were constructed per year.
The kit added a set of metal and wood skis at the front and added an extra rear axle in the back mated to a Ford truck driveline. These Model T cars even came with a cold-weather package, which included removable side panels. This conversion was massively popular with those living in rural, hard-to-reach areas, and was snapped up by doctors, mailmen, and tax collectors alike. If this sounds like a good deal to you, the guys over at the Legendary Motor Company are selling one for $59,000. This example saw a full restoration in 2014 and features a 2.9-liter four-cylinder engine.
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