Have you heard the term ‘revenge travel?’ Well, the expression is quickly catching on in the travel industry. More and more people were saving to make trips and explore the world beyond, even before Covid reared its ugly head in 2020 and had most people confined to their homes, spending their savings on spin bikes instead. With the Covid restrictions loosening in many parts of the world, data shows that vacation-starved Americans are making up for lost time, ergo, revenge travel.

The travel insurance company Allianz Partners projects a 600% jump in the number of Americans traveling to Europe and this is despite the sharp uptick in plane-ticket prices and everything else.

But we all know you can have just as much, if not more, ‘going away’ experiences without spending a dime on airfares. That's why social media overflows with ‘vanlife’ posts about audacious young people setting off on adventurous expeditions aboard everything from a modest camper conversion to a full-on motorhome. But as this converted Ford Model T caravan from 1914 shows, the ‘vanlife’ trend isn’t new at all. Let’s check it out.

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A Detailed Look At The Ford Model T Caravan

1914 Ford Model T Caravan
Via Bonhams

If you’re a gearhead reading this, please don’t confuse the Model T caravan with the Blue Oval’s body-on-frame “T” platform that debuted in 2006 with the model year 2007 Ford Expedition. Produced from 1908 until 1927, the Ford Model T is much older and – dear God – how it changed the public perception of automobiles.

Automobiles have been around since the 1880s, but before the Model T, they were prohibitively expensive, both to purchase and to own, and therefore not a mass public thing. Ford changed all that with the introduction of the Model T caravan in 1908. This is what Henry Ford had to say about the Model T:

“I will build a motor car for the great multitude. It will be large enough for the family, but small enough for the individual to run and care for. It will be constructed of the best materials, by the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise. But it will be so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one – and enjoy with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in God's great open spaces.”

1914 Ford Model T Caravan
Via Bonhams

That’s a picture of freedom in multiple ramifications. Ford could achieve this goal by utilizing the assembly line in lieu of handcrafting. It was the Blue Oval’s first-ever vehicle to be mass-produced on moving assembly lines, the first to come with completely interchangeable parts, and the first affordable car for the middle-income class. The market responded by blessing the Model T with nicknames such as "Tin Lizzie," "Leaping Lena," and "flivver.”

As for the marque itself, the Model T was thus named because Ford named his first car the Model A, and proceeded through the alphabet up through the Model T, although the production model immediately before the Model T was the Model S, and the Model T was rather followed up with another Model A. The automaker explained at the time it was because the Model T was such a departure from the old that Ford chose to start all over again with the letter A.

The Ford Model T Engine, Transmission, And Drivetrain

1914 Ford Model T Caravan Engine
Via Bonhams

Ford equipped the Model T with a front-mounted 2.9-liter inline-4 engine that could run on gasoline, kerosene, or ethanol. It could make a decent 20 horsepower and reach a maximum speed of 42 mph. The engine propelling the first 2,447 units of the Model T was water-cooled, while the subsequent models, with a few exemptions, utilized the thermosiphon cooling on which the modern air-cooled system is based.

Ford continued to produce the engine for replacement needs and marine applications well after withdrawing the Model T from the production line. The car is equally remembered for its unusual ignition system whereby a low-voltage magneto in the flywheel supplied alternating current to the buzz coils to drive the spark plugs, with no need for a starting battery.

It was more cost-effective than the expensive high-voltage generators used in some cars. It also allowed the Model T to run on various types and qualities of fuel. An epicyclic transmission system, regarded as 3-speed at the time, delivered power from the engine to the Model T’s rear wheels.

The geartrain, also known as planetary gear, comprised two gears mounted such that the center of one gear revolves around the center of the other. It’s considered 2-speed today because one of the three speeds is reverse. In the Model T, the throttle is a lever on the steering wheel.

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This Ford Model T-Based Motorhome Can Be Yours For $24,000

1914 Ford Model T Caravan
Via Bonhams

The Bentall family (yes, same wealthy British family that owns the Bentalls department store chain) commissioned the Ford Model T you see in these pictures. Nomads lived in horse-drawn vans much longer before the Bentall family thought of making the Model T an RV. This isn’t technically the first motorhome, per se.

1914-Ford-Model-T-Motor-Caravan
Via Bonhams

The Pierce-Arrow Touring Landau is considered the first production RV, but this 1914 Ford Model T conversion is the earliest surviving full-size combustion-engine motorhome. As such, it’s the true ancestor of every motorhome on the road today, and it can be yours for $24,000 if you set your calendar for Bonham’s upcoming auction at the National Motor Museum, UK.

The British family commissioned the vehicle just as the First World War was about to start. It can reach a top speed of 45 mph riding on an extended and beefed-up Model T chassis designed to withstand the extra weight due to the special wooden caravan body. The Dunton of Reading-built new bodywork includes storage compartments under the car for extra storage space, a leather sofa at the front, and a wood-burning stove for heating.

1914 Ford Model T Caravan leather couch
Via Bonhams

As Bonhams says, the caravan has enough room for four passengers to sleep. The windows sport velvet-green curtains, and antique-style furniture lines the walls. A multi-function leather couch that can be flipped to serve as seating complements additional lockers both beneath the floor and at the rear of the caravan. Bonhams says this Bentall-commissioned RV was abandoned in the 1920s only to be restored by the duo of Leo Smith and Robin Tanner in the space of four years in the 1970s.

1914 Ford Model T Caravan
Via Bonhams

As you can see, the cream-painted walls and roof are Timber, and the bodywork mimics period-correct railroad carriages. A Bonhams rep told Insider magazine that this 1914 Model T caravan is "a very rare machine and offers a chance to own an important piece of motoring leisure history." Analysts believe the vehicle should fetch $23,400 to $35,100 at auctions. That’s a fair price for the most influential car of the 20th century.