We have nearly completed our 1917 Ambulance

[ScottG]

Michigan's Military Heritage Museum has come to the finishing stages of our 1917 Ford Model T Ambulance restoration. This has been a 3 year project that started with an idea and a lot of research and computer design. Help was given by other collectors as well as the Henry Ford Museum Benson Ford Library Archives and of course our dedicated donors and volunteers. The ambulance is a true 1917 chassis and motor that has been rebuilt completely so it looks almost factory new!

All thats left are some accessories such as the spare tire and tools which we have. We also have a set of flags and the three stretchers to go with it. While it won't see much in the way of public events this year, we hope to have it out and about next year if all of this Covid madness dies down. Hope you all enjoy the article!    Scott

 

https://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/2020/08/museum-restores-1917-ford-model-t-into-world-war-i-ambulance.html?fbclid=IwAR1A7XqfGQU4mv7PDcehLXw-GrAeLRYle7tMTcFiuJfyZfQbwzhZCb_xfhs

[everforward]

Looks fabulous...!

[Scarecrow]

Fantastic restoration!

[Old Crow 1986]

Great teamwork, great dedication, great patience and a little bit of history is saved. 

Well done to everybody involved!

[ScottG]

Thanks to you all for the kind words. I will pass them along and will try to update this post as we add the accessories.   Scott

[M24 Chaffee]

It looks amazing! Great project!

 

Frank

[warguy]

Wow that is fantastic Scott! Great work. Kevin

[T Ambrosini]

That is a top-shelf restoration!  

[ScottG]

Thank you all so much, we appreciate the support. Still more to do but she is coming together nicely.    Scott

[cutiger83]

Amazing work! The ambulance looks bigger when it is pictured by itself. In the picture with you standing next to it, the scale is easier to see. I did not realize how small the were.

 

...Kat

[ScottG]

   Yes, they are pretty small at about 15 feet long and 6 feet tall. Room for 3 litters in the back with one suspended on straps above the other two. Weighs about 1800 lbs. Thanks for the kind words!   Scott

[Backtheattack]

Great, always like such restauration projects who work and set again a restored vehicle in the collectors world.

[P-59A]

Umm, Do we get to see the rest of it? It's a stunning restoration to be sure, but your holding out on us.  😍

[gwb123]

Great job!  Do you have any "before" photos?

[irish]

Indeed well done.

[ScottG]

On 12/7/2020 at 11:41 PM, gwb123 said:

Great job!  Do you have any "before" photos?

  Here are a couple of before photos. I will take a few pics at the museum today and try to get them on here. Still some more detail work to do. One of our volunteers that is working on the tools, tire pump, accy's etc... just had back surgery. That aside, since we are in the prison State of Michigan, there really isn't a hurry as we can't have any events or shows....Thanks for the kind words everyone.  Scott

[ScottG]

As promised some more of the ambulance as we do more of the detail work.    Scott

[Bugme]

As someone who spent 20 years doing auto restorations as a career and now over 20 years as a hobby, I can appreciate the hard work involved here. What most people may not know is that these old Fords have sheet metal with the thickness of boiler plate. Extremely hard to work with and nothing like more modern vehicles. Incredible work by all involved un this very worthy project.

[Brian Keith]

Beautiful, High Quality work! I can't imagine the thousands of hours involved. I guess I can't help myself but to "pick-nits", since it was originally a car, I think it would have to be properly called a replica of the ambulance. 

Congratulations on the excellent results!

Thanks for posting the great photos.

BKW

[ScottG]

4 hours ago, Brian Keith said:

Beautiful, High Quality work! I can't imagine the thousands of hours involved. I guess I can't help myself but to "pick-nits", since it was originally a car, I think it would have to be properly called a replica of the ambulance. 

Congratulations on the excellent results!

Thanks for posting the great photos.

BKW

       No worries on the replica moniker though I should point out that Ford made no ambulances in 1917. All were merely chassis and the "box" was added by the troops in France when the frames arrived. In 1918 Ford standardized and ambulance that was slightly larger and factory built.  Scott