It started way back, all the way back,
Only eight years into the new century,
When grandpa was young and saved from his job,
Every last little penny,
And when he was sixteen,
He bought a machine,
It was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen,
He took it right home,
It was a little ten horsepower,
Painted black 1908 Model T.

Now, it didn’t take long for him to love the car,
He drove it for all to see,
He’d show it off to the townspeople,
His face sparkling with glee,
He drove it to school and then to work,
And occasionally, it’d have a quirk,
But it’d get fixed and grandpa would smirk,
Then he’d drive off,
In the little ten horsepower,
Painted black 1908 Model T.

There wasn’t a day he didn’t drive that old Ford,
Whether it was sunny or cloudy,
And sometimes on really rainy days,
It’d come home all muddy,
But he’d wash it,
And scrub it,
Dry and then polish it,
Then drive it to the barn to the space with the sign that read:
“For the little ten horsepower,
Painted black 1908 Model T.”

Then, when a war came, with a heavy heart,
Grandpa went off to his duty,
But when he came back and saw that little car,
He never had felt more happy,
With something akin to a squeal,
He got back behind the wheel,
Then the two tore off with dust at their heels,
They drove off into the sunset,
He and his little ten horsepower,
Painted black 1908 Model T.

Then grandpa found love and got married,
The couple was happy as could be,
They had six little ones all in a row,
And soon became a family,
The boys wanted new cars,
The ones owned by movie stars,
But before they could even go that far,
The first car they ever drove,
Was that little ten horsepower,
Painted black 1908 Model T.

Well, the boys grew up and they were quite different,
But on one thing they seemed to agree,
They wanted hot rods and so they bought them,
Quite to their father’s misery,
They drove at top speed,
The road signs they didn’t read,
Because the speed limit was the one thing that they never did heed,
But the only car grandpa ever drove,
Was his quaint little ten horsepower,
Painted black 1908 Model T.

The boys would enjoy these cars for a while,
Until they crashed and became history,
And grandpa often thought it a shame,
That the boys were not as lucky as he,
The barn was where he was often at,
Talking to the old Ford while he sat,
Up in the cab, then he’d give it a pat,
And smile at his trusty old friend,
The little ten horsepower,
Painted black 1908 Model T.

Try as he may, grandpa could never get,
The boys to care for their cars properly,
They didn’t understand why he wouldn’t sell,
That old Ford for money,
He said it was wrong to sell a friend,
And that they’d be together till the end,
And more and more, his time would be spent,
In the dusty barn,
With that little ten horsepower,
Painted black 1908 Model T.

And then one June evening,
Grandma suddenly noticed,
That he hadn’t come in for tea,
She slowly crept out to the barn,
And there was stunned to see,
Grandpa slumped in the cab in a heap,
Dead of a heart attack, in eternal sleep,
But she saw a note lying on the back seat,
Before he had died he’d just managed to scribble:
“Take care of the little ten horsepower,
Painted black 1908 Model T.”

And so when the old Ford turned one hundred,
I invited all the family to see,
My grandpa’s pride and joy,
Now that it was vintage and a part of history,
To me, my grandpa clearly passed the torch,
Like him, I drive it in winter or on summer days that scorch,
But sometimes in the evening when I sit on the porch,
I can still picture grandpa rambling down the road,
In that darned little ten horsepower,
Painted black 1908 Model T.