Pin hoax on model-type and the French (7)
I believe the answer is:
skittle
'pin' is the definition.
(I know that skittle is a type of pin)
'on model-type and the french' is the wordplay.
'on' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'model' becomes 'T' (Ford Model T car).
'type' becomes 'skit' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'the french' becomes 'le' ('the' in French).
't' put after 'skit' is 'skitt'.
'skitt'+'le'='SKITTLE'
'hoax' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. It may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for skittle that I've seen before include "Pin in bowling game" , "A pin for the bowling alley" , "Wooden pin set up to be bowled down" , "Pin to be knocked down" , "Knock down" .)