101 not out!

August 31, 2021

Finally, we bring you a really heart-warming story of a 101-year-old driver!

His name is Harold Baggott – and this 101-year-old has taken the Ford Mustang Mach-E (Ford’s first all-electric SUV) for a test drive in the United Kingdom, 90 years after first learning to drive in a Model T! The extremely independent Baggott, who drives daily, took his great-grandchildren for a spin in the Ford.

Born in 1920, Baggott had his first taste of getting behind the wheel of the Model T aged 10, driving the family’s milkman’s delivery float on a farm. He went on to get his licence in 1936 (the first year they were introduced) and purchased his first car, a Ford 8 Popular, in 1937 for £100 (roughly R2 000).

Since then, the family has owned 20 Fords privately, as well as Ford commercial vehicles in chassis form, converted into coaches for a fleet of 140 vehicles run by their travel and coach business.

Baggott was reminded of his Model T experiences with rides in a 1915 model from Ford’s heritage collection, before moving bang up to date and behind the steering wheel of the Mustang Mach-E.

He was struck by the quietness of electric motoring while driving his 15-year-old great-grandson Felix, who has ambitions to be a racing driver, and his 12-year-old brother Charlie from the British Motor Museum in Beaulieu to former shipbuilding village Bucklers Hard.

“Since the age of 10, I’ve retained my interest in motoring and today find myself interested in the switch to electrification following the phasing out of the traditional combustion engines I’m used to. I have reminisced about my driving history with the Model T and seen what the future has in store. It was exciting to get behind the wheel of what I expect to see my great-grandchildren driving,” he proclaimed.

Well, we’re excited to see a 101-year-old hitting the road! Harold is our hero!