The Villages - August 2020 - 15

CHARLIE DOLAN

1913 Ford Model T
The Ford Model T is credited with being the
first affordable automobile, making inexpensive
vehicle travel available to millions of people in the early
20th century.
Village of Sunset Pointe resident Charlie Dolan is happy to own a part of automotive history - a 1913 Model T
that has been in his family for decades.
"I've had it for 11 years now," Dolan said. "My father
found the car in Brooklyn in 1964, and he ran it for many
years on Long Island and then brought it up to Maine with
him when he moved. My twin brother took over, and he ran
it for probably 8-9 years. Over the course of a couple years,
I bought it from him and brought it down here in 2009."
Dolan says the car even sat for nearly a decade after his
brother stopped driving the car due to an illness, and when
he purchased the car and brought it to The Villages, the car
started right back up with very little maintenance needed
- fresh fuel and a new battery.
"It fired right up," he recalls. "That's a Model T."
The 1913 Model T is just one of a few of the classic cars
Dolan and his family have owned and worked on throughout the years.
"Before (this car), I had a 1922 (Model T) station wagon, so we got into the hobby early," Dolan said. "My father
decided that when my brother and I were going to learn to
drive, to appreciate an automobile, we'd build one."
Dolan says he, his father and brother built the 1922 station wagon from the ground up using parts they found at
auctions and auto shops throughout the 1950s and 60s.
"We would vacation in Maine, and we would visit all
the shops that had Model T parts," he said. "We'd
buy parts, and finally over the course of about two
years, we built a car from the ground up. We've
been playing around with these things for ages."
Both cars remained in his family for decades, and
though both cars spent time in different locations,
Dolan was able to reunite both vehicles in the same
car show years later in 2009 at one of The Villages
Cruise Ins.
Introduced in 1908, the Model T revolutionized
the auto industry, which at the time was mostly reserved for the affluent. The Ford Motor Company
used assembly line production methods, building
cars faster and cheaper than other auto companies
at the time. With the car being so affordable, the average American could buy one, and more than 15

million Model Ts were sold throughout its production run
from 1908 to 1927.
Equipped with an inline 4-cylinder engine that produces
20 horsepower, the Model T has a top speed around 40-45
mph. The car had several body styles, including a flatbed truck, a two-seat runabout and a seven-seat town car,
among others. With a high ground clearance, the car also
could navigate rougher terrain, making the Model T enticing for rural drivers at the time.
For Dolan, The Villages is the perfect place to drive a
Model T since drivers already are accustomed to seeing golf
cars on the roads.
"I've had it up to 38 miles per hour, but that's too fast,"
Dolan said, laughing. "25 is nice - so The Villages is perfect for it. It's been a lot of fun."
Dolan is a member of the Tin Lizzie Club of North Central
Florida, a group for owners of Ford Model Ts, Model As and
other vintage vehicles, and he and other club members often
participate in car shows or take drives throughout the area.
Dolan's Model T also was in a film, "Walt Before
Mickey," which was filmed here in Central Florida.
"This is the car in which Walt's family left the farm in
1908 (in the movie)," Dolan said. "(The film crew) took it
up to a farm in DeLeon Springs and tied all kinds of suitcases to the fenders and back seat and he goes sailing off
into the field with the car. I also taught the fella who plays
Walt's father how to drive it."
More than a century after it rolled off the Ford assembly
line, Dolan's Model T is showing no signs of giving up any
time soon.

MAGAZINE

The Villages - August 2020

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