Deryl Honecker is the first to admit that he didn’t know much about Model Ts.
But he does have a wealth of restoration experience so he applied this talent to this 1926 Model T.
He did this truck for a client so he doesn’t actually own this example of Henry Ford’s legendary Model T… but Deryl treated it like he owned it during the restoration process.
And now he treats it like he still owns it because the client insists that Deryl show this 84-year-old Ford at every show possible.
So he gets to drive it-not many guys can say that after the job is done and the customer’s check clears.
Deryl is a meticulous restorer so he started by learning every possible technical issue associated with the Model T. As he said he “didn’t know anything about it so he learned about it as he did it”.
Clearly he’s a fast learner because he did discuss the color change on the truck with the owner–the owner wanted the factory black because “that’s a T color” even though the truck showed up in a purple color.
Deryl spent 475 hours on this truck and the quality shows down to the wooden spokes-he went off factory with them. Deryl thought that at $15.00 apiece he wanted to showcase the wood with a stain instead of paint. Although “T guys” will pick that off, most of them will probably agree that the results are spectacular-mere mortal car guys sure like the look.
Deryl was fairly matter of fact about the project but it’s clear that the Model T world has a new disciple-he loved the way the T project came together in a logical and timely manner. That shouldn’t be a surprise because these old Ts were probably the most logical vehicle ever invented in terms of construction, value and reliability.
His biggest hurdle was getting used to the actual driving facet of the Model T experience-in particular the 30 mph top speed.Because Deryl is a big Coke artifact collector, the truck is done with a Coca Cola delivery nostalgia theme-right down to the magnetic Coke signs.Deryl surmised that the deliveries didn’t have to happen in an extremely timely fashion back in ’26.
At this point Deryl doesn’t have another T restoration on the agenda but the quality of this job suggests that he might…
Until then he’s living the restorer’s dream-building a vehicle for a client and driving it when the job is done.
Jerry Sutherland @mystarcollectorc.com
