Car History 4U - History of Model T Ford

Design and development of the Model T started in late 1906.
The first factory built Model T car was produced on 24 September 1908. It achieved 20 mpg (gasoline/petrol) and 85 mpg (oil).
The first production standard Model T engine was produced on 27 September 1908.
The first production Model T was “announced for release” on 1 October 1908 in Detroit, USA. It was priced at $850.
The first public showing was at the Olympia Exhibition held in London on 13 November 1908. A Double Phaeton Touring Model was priced at £225.
By 1910 Ford had 9 sales branches in the US; in Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Kansas, New York, Philadelphia and Seattle.
The Model T was Henry Ford's ninth production model. Previous production models were the A,B,C,F,K,N,R & S.
The Model T was the first Ford vehicle with the steering wheel on the left.
It is a rear-wheel drive vehicle.
The Coupe model produced in 1909 was the first fully enclosed Model T”.
Two other 1909 models, the Town Car and the Landaulet, had an enclosed compartment but only for the passengers, not the driver. See www.mtfca.com/encyclo/1909.htm”.
The first engine fitted with an electric starter was produced on 11 December 1918 and was fitted to closed cars in 1919. It was available as an option on open cars.
Prior to then the Model T was started using a hand crank .
In 1909 there were only about 300 miles of artificially surfaced roads in the US.
In the 1920s the average life of a car in the US was 6.3 years. The average life of a Model T was 8 years.

9.3.2 Types of Cars

All cars were built with essentially the same engine and chassis.
The Model T car came in eight main body styles; Touring/Tourabout, Runabout (Roadster), Landaulet, Town Car, Coupe/Couplet, Sedan, Fordor Sedan & Tudor Sedan.
The five models produced in 1908-09 were, in order they were first built: www.mtfca.com/encyclo/1909.htm
Five-passenger Touring
Seven-passenger Landaulet
Two-passenger Coupe
Seven-passenger Town Car
Two-passenger Runabout/Roadster
Note: A Landaulet is a limousine in which the passengers sit in an enclosed section, the rear of which has a hooded portion.

9.3.3 Other Model T Vehicles

In 1911-12 and 1917-18 Ford in the USA and Great Britain produced 8,604 model T delivery vehicles.
In July 1917 the company produced a one-ton Model T truck chassis, its first chassis designed for trucks.
Previously trucks had been produced using the same chassis as the Model T car.
The basic Model T chassis was extended by two foot and a new and stronger frame fitted.
The rear suspension was stiffened and artillery-type rear wheels with solid rubber tires fitted.
Production of complete Model T trucks started in 1918, with 3 produced that year.
Note: The first Ford truck (the third vehicle to be built by Henry Ford) was produced in 1900.
It wasn’t until January 1924 that the company started to produce bodies for their trucks.
Up to then Ford used independent body suppliers.
In 1925 the first truck with a fully closed body was produced.
Also in 1925 Ford produced their first factory-assembled pickup; billed as the "Ford Model T Runabout with Pickup Body."
34,000 were built in the first 12 months.
Between 1918 and 1927 over 1.6 million Model T trucks were produced by Ford in the USA.
Trucks represented about 11% of all Model T vehicles produced by Ford in the USA and an even greater percentage in Great Britain. British & Canadian % required.
In addition Ford sold Model T truck chassis; chassis’ which were later converted into trucks of various types.
Over the years Model T chassis’ were used to produce Fire Tenders, School Buses, Buses, Milk Wagons, Grocery Trucks, Delivery Trucks, Petrol Bowsers and others. What else?
Other applications included a Model T that was fitted with flange wheels to run on railway tracks, a model fitted with handsaws for use by timber-jacks and one adapted to provide power for milking machines.
During WW 1 (1914-18) the company produced chassis’ for scout cars, machine gun carriers and ambulances.
Between 1916 and 1919 26,515 Model T ambulances were produced by Ford in the USA and Great Britain; 20,700 in 1916.
Walt Disney and the writer Ernest Hemingway were Model T ambulance drivers.
What other Model T vehicles were produced in Canada? Ambulances?

9.3.4 Engine & Performance

The Model T had 2,896 cc (176.7 cubic inches) four-cylinder engine.
The car’s top speed was about 45 mph (72 kph).
The owner’s manual of 1911 stated that whilst the Model T was originally rated at 20 hp, the horse power based on the “now generally accepted formulae” is 22.5.
The engine has a bore of 3.75 inches (95.2 mm) and a stroke of 4 inches (101.6 mm).
Up to 1912 the compression ratio was about 4.5 to1. Between 1912 and 1916 it was 4.1 to 1 and 3.98 to 1 after 1916.
Valve covers were fitted to engines from 1910.
In 1920 lighter weight rods and pistons were fitted. New, lighter, pistons were also introduced in March 1924.
In 1920 a racing car fitted with a modified Model T engine achieved a top speed of about 90 mph (144 kph).

9.3.5 Weight & Size

The first cars weighed 1,199 lbs (545 kg).
In 1915 the chassis weighed 1,200 lbs (545 kg), reducing to 980 lbs (445 kg) in 1916. By 1923 the weight had increased to 1,262 lbs (573 kg).
By August 1920 a Sedan weighed 1,725 lbs (784 kg), a figure that had increased by August 1921 to 1,875 lbs (852 kg).
The 150 lb increase in the Sedan’s weight being due to the inclusion of an electric starter (95 lbs.), demountable rims and a tire carrier (55 lbs).
Weights of other models in 1920 were: Touring (1,500 lbs), Runabout (1,400 lbs) and Coupe (1525 lbs).
The introduction of all-steel bodies in 1926 increased the weight of a Model T. The 1926 Tourer model assembled in Australia weighed 1804 lbs (820 kg).
The wheelbase of a Model T is 100 inches (254 cm).
Wheelbase is the distance between the centre of the front wheel and the centre of the rear wheel.
The track width is 56 inches (142 cm). 60 inch (152 cm) track was available by special order.
Track is the distance between the centre of the left and right tire.
The length of a Model T car is 134 inches (340 cm) and the standard width 66 inches (168 cm).

9.3.6 Fuel and Cooling

The fuel capacity is 37.9 litres, 8.3 imperial gallons, 10 US gallons.
Fuel consumption is 20 to 25 mpg (US) at 35 mph.
Note: One US gallon = 3.76 litre. One imperial gallon = 4.55 litre. One imperial gallon = 1.21 US gallon.
Gravity fed (no fuel pump).
There have been four types of fuel tanks.
Round tanks (1909-19), Oval tanks (1920-25 and 1926-27 on the trucks), Irregular shaped cowl tank on most 1926-27 cars (except Fordor models) and Square tanks on Tudor/Fordor, centre doors and most Coupe model.
There are numerous web site reports that, in addition to petrol/gasoline, the Model T was designed to also run on alternative fuels such as ethanol (ethyl alcohol).
Special Note: Evidence to support such a claim was not uncovered whilst preparing this history of the Model T Ford. Evidence required.
There are also web site reports that Ford established an Ethanol Fermentation Plant in Atchison, USA, in 1908.
Special Note: Atchison Country’s records have not revealed the existence of such a plant. Evidence required.
It is possible that Henry Ford first started experimenting with alcohol as a fuel in about 1915 at his Fair Lane estate. Further information is required.
In an interview reported in the Detroit Evening journal of November 5, 1916 Henry Ford is quoted as saying:

“We have found that 160-proof alcohol works very well in the ordinary gas engine on our cars and tractors. Using alcohol in an ordinary Ford car, we are able to get 15 per cent more power than with the present gasoline”.
Other than kerosene, no evidence was uncovered whilst preparing this history of the Model T that it used any fuel other than gasoline/petrol during the period 1908 to 1927. Evidence required.
Kerosene could be used and a required attachment that pre-heated the kerosene fuel was advertised by the Burn Oil Device Company in 1918. “No new carburettor required. Burn 8c Kerosene in Fords”.
The Model T employs a water cooling system.
After the first 2,500 models the centrifugal water pump was removed and replaced with a thermo-siphon circulation system.
Prior to the US entering WW1 in 1917, kite-shaped brass radiators were fitted. They were replaced by black painted steel shell radiators.

9.3.7 Lights & Horn

The initial price of $850 for a Model T included one rear and two side oil lamps. Headlights were optional extras. A spare tire was not provided.
Up to 1914 a generator supplied acetylene gas to the headlights.
Kerosene oil was used to illuminate the tail and side lights.
Up to 1915 Model Ts were fitted with a bulb horn.
The change to electric, magneto, powered head lights and horn began in 1915. From 1919 a battery powered horn was fitted to the electrically equipped Model T cars.
From 1920 kerosene oil lamps were not fitted to Model T’s fitted with an electric starter.
When the electric starter became standard fit in 1926 kerosene oil lamps were discontinued.

9.3.8 Electrics & Gauges

The Model T was fitted with a low tension magneto, which generated electricity for the ignition system.
The first instrument panel and battery (6 volt) were fitted in 1919. They were initially installed in the closed cars being fitted with an electrical starter.
Prior to 1919 starters operated by acetylene gas, compressed air and powerful springs were sometimes fitted.
The instrument panel included a large size ammeter (1919-25) and a smaller version from 1926.
From 1916 the speedometer ceased to be a Ford supplied optional extra. It was available as a dealer installed option.
Both gasoline and oil gauges were soon being supplied by other manufacturers for use on the Model T.
The petrol/gasoline “gauge” consisted of a stick with numbers on it that was dipped into the top of the fuel tank.

9.3.9 Tires & Wheels

In the USA 30 inch (76 cm) diameter tires were used up to 1926 when 21 inch (53 cm) wire wheels were introduced as an option.
The rear tires are 3.5 inch (8.9 cm) wide, the front tires 3 inch (7.6 cm). Who supplied the first tires? Michelin?
Between 1908 and 1925 the wheels were wooden, with steel wire wheels available in 1926-27.
In 1919 30 inch (76 cm) diameter, 3.5 inch (8.9 cm) wide demountable wheels were offered as an option for all the four wheels.
All 1927 Model T’s were fitted with 21 inch (53 cm) tires and wheels.
Initially (1912-13) the Model T cars assembled in Britain were fitted with metric size (760 mm x 90 mm) tires. From the 1914 model year 30 x 3 inch (front) and 30 x 3.5 inch (rear) tires were fitted.
All Canadian produced Model Ts used 3.5 inch (8.9 cm) tires front and rear. Is that true of the very first Canadian produced cars?
From 1918 trucks were supplied with either pneumatic or solid tires.
At a meeting of the French Society of Civil Engineers in the early 1900s, Michelin reported: “If the weight of a car is increased by 33% the life of a tire is halved”.
In the early 1920s the average life of a tire fitted to a 20 hp car was 3,000 miles (4,800 km). The average life of a tire fitted to a Model T car was 7,000 miles (11,200 km). Is that correct?

9.3.10 Doors

In late 1911 front doors were added to the Touring models. The rear seat had doors on both sides.
On the US models the doors were removable but only the right door opened. On the Canadian models both doors opened and were removable.
The first four-door Model T was produced in 1912. Later models had removable front doors. When?
In 1913 Ford in the US introduced the three-door Touring model, with one door on the left and two on the right.
Canadian produced Model Ts in 1913 had driver’s doors, American produced cars did not. In what year was the first US car fitted with driver’s doors?
Canadian Touring models retained two operable front doors up to 1925.
In 1926 doors that opened on both sides were fitted to the US Touring models.
The basic open two-seater Roadster/Runabout had no doors. One door was added as an option to the deluxe model.
Town Car: No doors in the drivers section.
Tourabout: No doors.
Torpedo Runabout: One door on each side.
Open Runabout: No doors.
Sedan: Two or four doors.

9.3.11 Windscreen & Wipers

The $950 price of a Touring car in October 1909 included a windscreen.
Windscreen wipers were first introduced as a factory accessory in late 1924. They were manually operated.
Automatic, vacuum-operated wipers became a Ford accessory in April 1926.

9.3.12 Heating

Heating could be provided via a grating in the floor but this was only available after delivery.
Heat being extracted from a stove pipe that was fitted around the car’s exhaust pipe.
During WW1 a similar system was used to provide heating in Model T ambulances; raising the temperature 17 degrees F in about 30 minutes.

9.3.13 Colour

Between the start of US production in October 1908 and June 1909 Model T cars were produced in three colours: Red, Green and Grey: Touring (Red), Runabout (Grey), Town Car, Landaulet & Coupe (Green). www.modelt.org/tcars.html
Between July 1909 and during 1910 all US cars were Brewster Green (very dark, almost black).
In 1911 and up to the start of the moving production line in 1913 all US cars were Blue (again very dark, almost black).
One report states that the colours Red and Grey were phased out from 1911 and replaced with Blue, Brewster Green and Black.
Between the start of the moving production line in 1913 and 1926 the US Model T was only available in Black.
The black paint used in 1913 was called “Japan Black”.
Ford report at the time indicated that the colour black was chosen because it was cheap and durable and not because of it’s faster drying time.
In 1926, when closed models became available, the US Model T was available in Windsor Maroon and Channel Green.
Later in the same year open cars were available in Phoenix Brown and Gunmetal Blue. In 1927 Black was available in the USA by special order only.
From 1924, in addition to Black, the Model T was available in Empire Grey in Great Britain (open cars only) and Grey in Denmark.
British built cars were Dark Blue (1912 Touring Models), Mid Green (1913) and Black (from 1914).
Between 1925 and 1927 British built cars were also available in Dark Red, Cobalt Blue and Coach Green.
In Great Britain, when only black was available, it was fairly common to get the dealer to repaint the car before delivery.
From 1926 Danish models were also supplied in brown/red.
What colours were the Canadian produced Model Ts?

9.3.14 The Controls

Up to about the 500^th model (1909) the Model T had two pedals and two levers.
The left pedal controlled the forward gears and neutral, the right pedal was the brake.
Subsequent models had three pedals and one lever. The three pedals controlled two forward gears/neutral (clutch), a reverse gear and a foot brake.
The single lever was the hand brake.
Fuel was controlled by a lever located on the right hand side of the steering wheel. When pulled down the car speeded up, when moved up the car slowed down.
The lever on the left hand side set the spark advance – timing.
A foot operated accelerator was not fitted by Ford but one could be obtained and fitted after delivery.
In 1911 the diameter of the steering wheel was increased from 13 to 15 inches. It was increased to 16 inches in 1920 and 17 inches in 1926.

9.3.15 The Chassis

In 1910 the US company started to sell a body-less Model T chassis, producing 108 in the first year.
A total of 450,432 Model T chassis that were sold separately were produced in the USA between 1910 and 1927.
This total includes the standard and one-ton TT truck chassis.
The chassis moved along the production line at six feet per minute.
It took 41 separate tasks to produce a chassis.
The side members of the Model T chassis are 100 inches (39.4 cm) long.

9.3.16 Price

When first introduced in 1908 the price of the Tourer model was $850 (equal to about $17,000 in 2007).
The open Runabout introduced in February 1909 was priced at $825.
A 1912 sales brochure shows: Touring Car ($690), Commercial Roadster ($590), Town Car ($900) and a Delivery Car (($700).
By 1915, soon after the introduction of the moving assembly line, the price of the open Tourer model had reduced to $440, reducing to $360 in 1917.
A December 1925 sales brochure shows: Runabout ($260), Touring Car ($290), Coupe ($520), Tudor Sedan ($580), Fordor Sedan ($660), Chassis ($225) and a Truck Chassis ($365).
When production ended in May 1927 the price of the Touring Car was $280 (a third of the 1908 launch price).
Prices (kroner) in Denmark in January 1925 were; Open Runabout (2,575), Open Touring (2,750), Closed Coupe (4,050), Closed Tudor Sedan (4,325) and Closed Fordor Sedan (4,975).
In Great Britain the Touring model was priced at £225 (1908), £190 (1911), £135 (1915), £250 (1919) and £125 (1924-27).
Prices for Model Ts in other countries are required.

9.3.17 Manufacturing Sites

USA (Detroit)

Cars: September 1908 to May 1927
Model T engines: September 1908 to August 1941
Delivery Vehicles: 1911, 1912, 1917 & 1918
Ambulances: 1916 to 1919
Trucks: 1918 to 1927. In what month did truck production cease? August 1927?

Canada (Ontario)

Cars: 1909 to 1927
Trucks: From (date required) to 1927
Model T engines: 1913 to 1927

Great Britain (Manchester)

Cars: Late December 1911 or January 1912 to 19 August 1927 (initially assembly only. Manufacturing from about September 1912).
Other vehicles: From 1914
Note: Engines were not manufactured

Ireland (Cork)

Model T engines: 1920 to 1927.
Note: Vehicles were assembled (1923 to 1927), not manufactured in Ireland.

9.3.18 US Production