1925 Model-T - Ranger, TX - Permanent Car Displays on Waymarking.com

They're called "Safety Rest Areas" because there are storm shelters to be found, a change from the classical rest stops along the Interstates that are just facilities with picnic areas and vending machines They are a good place for those on long drives to practice safe habits by taking breaks and taking in some local history, in the form of signs and exhibits for notable attractions in the area. When the two Ranger Safety Rest Areas (the other is just across the Interstate) were opened in 2016, the idea was to add some background for the old Bankhead Highway, once a major thoroughfare through the area, now absorbed primarily by I-20 and other roads, although some sections have been reclaimed by Mother Nature. The Model-T was placed here as nod to its significance to the area back in the day, but there is no suggestion as to its provenance. They don't mind touching, but please, don't play on the car or sit in it.

There are two interpretive signs standing in front of the Model-T. One relates to Ranger's Oil Boom, while the other is more pertinent to the automobile. Entitled "Sweet Chariots," it reads:

The automobiles that drove the old Bankhead Highway were mobile sculptures, extraordinary works of art. With their flowing curves, rakish lines and technical innovations, they were created by a generation of artist-mechanics the like the world would never see again. One of the most popular cars to set out on the Bankhead in those years was the Franklin Touring Car, among the most advanced automobiles of the time. Like most models of the era, this upscale motor car was essentially handmade and featured many innovations like the first six-cylinder engine and a light aluminum body. Paint colors and color schemes were based on English horse-drawn coach livery. Never before had cars been so colorful. Even Henry Ford said he would offer his cars in any color as long as it was black.

Ford was the first to build motor cars on an assembly line. Of his Model-T Ford he said: "I will build a car for the great multitudes. It will be large enough for a family, but small enough for the individual to run and care for it ... It will be priced so low that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one and enjoy with his family the blessings and hours of pleasure in God's great open spaces."

It is easy to fall in love with these beautiful machines. But not everyone does. Note J.D. Salinger. "I don't like old cars," he wrote, I'd rather have a damn horse. A horse is at least human, for God's sake."

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Insets show photos of a 1928 Franklin and a Ford Model T, in black, of course.

Car make/model: 1925 Ford Model-T Interaction with car: yes Admission price: No charge Is the car an original?: yes Viewing time: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   05/21/2022 The Snowdog visited it 01/14/2022 KidWrangler visited it

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