On the Road: 1926/1927 Ford Model T Depot Hack

Calgarian Millennial uses 'luggage and passenger hauler' as his daily driver

Greg Williams

Jul 11, 2021 • July 12, 2021 • 4 minute read • Join the conversation

Darren Lloyd and Sujung Kim included the 1926/1927 Ford Model T in their engagement photos taken in June of 2018. Photo by Andrea Justine

After giving up stock car racing at age 18, Darren Lloyd was looking for something else to do. That’s when he asked his grandfather, Bill Lloyd, if he could drive the 1926/1927 Ford Model T Depot Hack that was stored in a shed on his parent’s property in Barrie, Ontario.

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“I asked if I could take his Model T out and he said, ‘Sure, any time’,” Lloyd explains, and adds, “I took that quite literally.”

From then on, Lloyd, who now lives in Calgary, began driving the Model T on an almost daily basis. He drove it to college and around town – but it did have its limitations.

“It is an open Depot Hack, so I couldn’t use it every single day,” Lloyd explains.

This particular Model T has been in the Lloyd family for decades. Bill Lloyd bought the project when he was in his early 20s. It started life as a Model T Touring, but Bill eventually built it up as a Depot Hack, a version of the Model T with a wooden body that was used to haul luggage and passengers from train stations to hotels.

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“This Depot Hack has an earlier hood, but I’m not concerned about it being absolutely correct,” Lloyd says. “I’m looking to preserve the car the way my grandfather built it, rather than how Henry (Ford) did.”

Grandfather Bill completed the restoration of the Depot Hack in the early 1980s when Lloyd was still a child. After it was done and stored at his parent’s house, Lloyd recalls playing in it, pretending he was driving down the open road. When the Depot Hack would come out of storage, Lloyd was there to watch how it all worked. By the time he started driving it himself, he knew his way around an engine and understood the intricacies of adjusting the manual ignition and fuel/air mixture as a result of his time spent racing stock cars. In 2005 Lloyd moved to Lake Louise and the Depot Hack stayed in Barrie. When he’d return for summer visits, the Depot Hack would get started and driven.

“I just kind of took ownership of it,” Lloyd says, and adds, “but when I was in my early twenties, the same age my grandfather was when he bought the car, he officially gave it to me.

“When I’d have to do any work on it, my grandfather would often walk by and, I’m paraphrasing here, tell me when I was about to hit the self-destruct button.”

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Darren Lloyd and wife Sujung Kim in their Model T Depot Hack on a run with the Foothills Model T Ford Club, a group celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this September. Photo by Jim Porter
Car night at A&W and Darren Lloyd shows off his 1926/1927 Ford Model T Depot Hack, a car his grandfather Bill Lloyd restored in the early Eighties. Photo by Darren Lloyd
A bevy of Ford Model Ts out for a run in Southern Alberta as a group activity with the Foothills Model T Club. Photo by Tom VanDijk

When Lloyd moved to Calgary seven years ago, he brought the Depot Hack with him. The house he bought doesn’t have a garage, but the car lives in an enclosed trailer for the winter, and under a canopy during the summer.

“When it got here, I knew it had an oil leak at the starter,” he says, and continues, “it was a 30-year-old restoration at that time, and it needed some work, but I didn’t take it completely apart to fix everything. It went through a bit of a rolling repair period.”

One of his happiest discoveries, however, was the kind of mentorship provided by his grandfather was available from helpful members of the Foothills Model T Club.

“I found the club Googling for Model T information,” Lloyd says. “I found their website and joined the club. Being able to text photos to someone during a repair and having people to call mid break down is invaluable.”

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Formed in the fall of 1971, the Foothills Model T Club celebrates its 50th anniversary on September 29.

“The club’s gone through three generations, and I think that (kind of longevity) is important,” Lloyd says.

Darren Lloyd under the hood of his grandfather’s 1926/1927 Ford Model T Depot Hack, a vehicle he began driving when he was 18 and continues to use in Calgary on an almost daily basis. Photo by Robb Wolff

According to the club’s website, one of its goals is to, “keep the ‘Ford T’ alive, and on the road with continuing club events and activities.”

I’ve never had a negative reaction from anyone about being slow...

Lloyd spent a year as a member and then several as webmaster. Last year, he took over the reins of presidency from Harry Lillo. Although COVID-19 has made doing much of anything difficult, the club remains active. In Calgary, Lloyd continues to use his Depot Hack on club runs, and he’s back to driving it on an almost daily basis. In fact, he’ll drive it to work at the university, and he and his wife Sujung Kim often take it shopping to the South Calgary Costco and to local car nights at A&W.

“Obviously, you plan your route and stick to the 50 km/h roads as much as possible,” Lloyd says, and concludes, “I’ve never had a negative reaction from anyone about being slow, I think people are just fascinated that it’s moving at all.”

Greg Williams is a member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Have a column tip? Contact him at 403-287-1067 or gregwilliams@shaw.ca