Sitting inside looking out on a vista of snow-covered cars and rooftops, watching news reports of cancelled trains and impassable motorways, I was suddenly reminded of my vehicle of choice that I would use to overcome these conditions - the Ford Model T Snowmobile!Designed and sold by a New Hampshire Ford dealer in 1922, the Snowmobile could apparently travel over snow 2½ feet deep at a speed of about 18mph. Sounds like the perfect machine for this weather, doesn't it? Just imagine sailing past everyone on the M5 in one of these!
The conversion kit (donor cars were standard Ts) was expensive, though - almost as much as the car itself! Still it was popular with country doctors, utility companies, public services and anyone who lived in areas subject to heavy snowfall. Over 3,000 were built between 1922 and 1929 and many still survive today.
Thankfully I don't need to go out today so I can stay in, cosy and warm, and marvel at these historic solutions to problems that continue to trouble us even now. If it's still like this when I have to go out, I'll wish I had a Model T Snowmobile waiting in the car park!
