Car Journalist Test Drives a 1914 Ford Model T and Discovers That They Are Fairly Complicated to Drive

Hannah Elliot, who covers car news for Bloomberg, recently test drove a 1914 Ford Model T and learned a few surprising things about the car. First she learned that they operate very differently than modern cars. They don’t have gas pedals, but they were rugged and get better gas mileage than some cars on the road today.

Starting in 1908, Henry Ford sold his novel Model T cars as the first to be really accessible to the masses. What’s more, he marketed them as easy to handle for casual drivers and (gasp!) women since they started with a button rather than a crank. Thing is, those old Model Ts were still pretty complicated to drive. Bloomberg Pursuits’ Hannah Elliott took a 1914 Model T for a spin but first she needed a driving lesson.