Maybe the EM Drive is a step in that direction?
That is certainly NOT an old Ford Model T technology.
Not exactly. EM drive is very conventional technology, the basic electromagnetic principles behind which have been known since Michael Faraday.
The problem is that while it works for low energy densities - low propulsion forces - as you increase the magnetic fields and the fluid flow velocities you get magneto-hydrodynamic instabilities which disrupt the flow and destroy the efficiency. These instabilities are the same things that cause solar storms for instance and are rather universally observed. If one were clever enough to get it under control, one could create a fusion power plant - but all efforts to date have failed because they have not been able to control these instabilities.