Young Rodders in the Teen Years
For young builders of limited means, even purchasing a coachbuilt body from a catalog, speed shop, or a body manufacturer was a challenge. Prices in the nineteen-teens ranged from $50 to $150 for something that would cover the chassis and enclose the passengers, an expensive proposition for the youth of this period.
1922 Ames Racer body for the Ford Model T. Pretty good deal compared to other possibilities.
The ready-made open platforms, such as Tapco and others, were less expensive at $35-$100, but still, out of reach for many.
The Tapco down-market cutdown kit offered an a-la-carte option for the budget-minded hobbyist. This targeted the middle tier of tinkerers who often bought one piece at a time. But it still added up!
Hence, the third option emerged; the “By gum, let’s do it ourselves!” route!
Concurrent with trends in Model T Fordism as seen in the experimentation by backyard tinkerers – stripping off T bodies, fitting aftermarket bodies, or even making one’s own homebuilt body - newspaper and magazine folks soon started to chronicle this emerging phenomenon.
Fordowner to the Rescue
Beginning in 1915, Murray Fahnestock, technical editor of a monthly publication called the Fordowner, took it upon himself to publish articles about what was being accomplished with Model Ts, specifically street speedsters and track racers. His invaluable work gives modern readers an insight regarding what was being done at that time to make the Ford fast and fun.
One aspect that he covered was the transition from cutdown to sport-bodied speedsters, including ideas for those at home who would rather make their own bodies.
Homebuilt Model T speedster body.
Extensive coverage of how to shorten the frame, lower it, and reinforce it for better performance and safety were written about by Fahnestock as well as guest writers in the industry such as Robert Roof, chief engineer of Laurel Motors Corporation,
… and Louis Chevrolet, race driver, designer, and partner with his brother Arthur in the Frontenac Corporation.
Chevrolet Brothers portraits in their 1926 Frontenac catalog. Note the photo of Henry Ford in a Fronty Ford at Indy.
Articles by Fahnestock and other contributors over several years covered several topics, such as engine and transmission modifications to beef up drive trains, fitting fenders and wheel coverings for safety, current refinements in body design as seen by comparing various body manufacturers, and detailing how to create a top to guard against bad weather.
With a copy of the Fordowner in hand, there wasn’t nothing that a young enthusiast couldn’t do. All he or she needed was a tossed flivver to tinker with!
The Red-I-Kut System
However, in his August 1923 article, Fahnestock went right to the heart of the matter that addressed how one could make a low-cost body for his or her speedster. As Fahnestock stated:
Many Ford speedster bodies are thrown together by impatient builders who are anxious to try-her-out on the road, resulting in the haphazard eyesores so frequently seen on the road. But better and more beautiful bodies have been made – and perhaps even more easily – if a little planning and foresight had been used in the design.
Fahnestock’s article featured the Red-I-Kut system, produced and sold by the Kuempel Co. of Dubuque and Guttenberg, Iowa.
Kuempel Red-I-Kut Model T speedster options
For only $6.40, a princely sum in 1920 for a young soul just starting out, and using this product that consisted of a set of numbered patterns, one would cut out the patterns for the K9 as instructed. Then, as Fahnestock wrote:
Paste the sheets together using flour or library paste, taking care that no buckles occur, and that the lines which continue from one sheet to another make a perfect continuation.
And:
Make a thorough study of the patterns, the shape of the parts they represent and the position these parts occupy in the completed body.
The photo below shows the young hobbyist fitting pattern pieces to the body as directed. Although not specified, one assumes that the material would be a thin plywood, although fabrikoid or canvas were options at that time.
Imagine wearing a striped shirt, tie, and a newsboy hat while you assemble your Red-I-Kut!
Fahnestock provided detailed information which may have been word-for-word directions from the pattern kit. One can see from the oblique-angled cutaway drawing that a well-framed taper-tail speedster would be duly constructed; the illustration in the ad above confirms that it would be the smart-looking Model K9.
Red-I-Kut K9 Speedster body in oblique cutaway view
Red-I-Cut ads were written for the young at heart. Take a closer study of the copy in the ad below, as Cal Fortune of Columbia Kentucky is quoted in it:
…It’s some jass boat. I go where a goat can’t…I can run thru mud on high where others can’t go on low… I am called the ‘Ace’ of Fords, for I skip by them all kind of like a rabbit.”
Talk about period slang!
Snappy use of graphics and marketing language peg this ad as one for the 1920s!
Fahnestock’s work has been reproduced in three books that are still available:
Model T Speed Secrets: The Fast Ford Handbook
Model T Ford in Speed and Sport
The Model T Fordowner
These are published by Lincoln Publishing and found though many online booksellers.
A Red-I-Kut for the 21st Century
Recently an intact Red-I-Kut came up for sale, and its current owner, who believes that this may be the only surviving example, related its history:
This speedster was built by Francis A. Mesker in the early 1920’s using a body kit supplied by the Kuempel Hardware Company of Guttenberg, Iowa. The Mesker family operated one of the largest architectural metal foundries in the midwest and were prominent society members in St. Louis. This car was kept by the Mesker family until the 1980’s when it was donated to the St. Louis Museum of Transportation.
Kuempel Model K9 side view. Photos courtesy Motoring Icons
This is a mostly original car was probably not disassembled since it was first built in the 1920s, as it was in a museum. At some point, the museum repainted it to have its current red color, but the insides of the body appear to be in original black paint.
The museum owned the speedster until 2005, when they sold the car at auction to a well-known St. Louis collector who owned it until last year.
The current owner describes the car’s components and build:
This car has many period modifications and accessories including the original Kuempel Red-I-Kut two-man speedster body with its matching hood, radiator, radiator shell and full frame skirting.
The Kuempel Model T Speedster as seen from the driver’s side rear quarter. Note the horn. Ah-oogah!
Like most Model T speedsters, the Ford chassis components are from a variety of years. The chassis uses rare Rajo “self steering" spindles, lowered (underslung) front and rear end assemblies using original pieces which are ex-Morton and Brett, and four matching 30 x 3 1/2" House wire wheels. It has a 1915 block with the casting date of 7-14-15 and an engine number of 851802.
Kuempel K9 as seen from the passenger’s front quarter. The bench seat allows for snug fitting for two!
The current owner has mechanically freshened the car’s electricals and mechanicals. This historic Model T speedster, one of a kind, is currently offered for sale and is located near Detroit, Michigan. For interested parties, more details can be found by emailing the owner at motoringicons@hotmail.com.
Now, who wouldn’t want to own a piece of motoring history such as this!
Thanks to GZ at Motoring Icons who kindly shared photos and information about his Kuempel Red-I-Kut Model K9. And may this Model T speedster be around to greet the next century!
Beginning next issue, we will be embarking on Year Three of our speedster journal. Happy birthday to us!
And, my book on classic speedsters is going to the editors next month. Publication expected 2021. News will be posted on this website. Email me if you want to be put on the pre-purchase list. Stay tuned and please spread the word.
If you haven’t yet subscribed to our journal, please use the subscribe box at right to sign up. For your security, we use a two-step subscribe system. Leave a comment below, or share this post by clicking on an icon to the left.