The famous Model T Ford, the car that changed personal transportation around the world, was introduced in 1908. Ford Motor Co. built sedans, roadsters and open touring cars that were dependable and inexpensive. Buyers, particularly farmers and business owners, began to modify their vehicles so they could haul supplies and equipment in addition to people.
San Francisco is known as the city of seven hills, and many of those hills are pretty steep. In those days, Ford was still using mechanical brakes and, of course, there was no power steering, so carrying up to a ton of dairy products and stopping on a hill could be a challenge for the driver.
The truck is now owned by Walnut Creek’s Shel Perham, whose father, George, and his grandfather owned and ran Borden’s Dairy. Perham’s father bought the truck when it was retired in about 1943. They had a fleet of trucks that delivered milk, cheese and other dairy products in San Francisco.
Later, George, who recently passed away at age 95, used the truck on a cattle ranch and with a construction company he owned in Los Altos. After its work years, the 1934 truck was used for family weddings when the bridal party would be hauled from the church to the reception location. Now it’s just used for fun.
“It’s so fun to drive around without the doors,” Shel said. “It’s a good town vehicle now.”
I was surprised when after the interview, Ann, George’s 91-year-old wife, wanted to drive the 90-year-old truck. She climbed into the driver’s seat beside Shel, her son, and started the truck. She drove it for about 10 minutes on the streets of Walnut Creek, with no “jack rabbit” starts, came back and parked it at the curb with no difficulty.
With a big smile on her face she said, “Wow! That was fun.”
I think the family now has an additional driver for the truck.
Have an interesting vehicle? Email Dave at MOBopoly@yahoo.com. To read more of his columns or see more photos of this and other issues’ vehicles, visit mercurynews.com/author/david-krumboltz.