Ford Model Ts for Sale - Hemmings

Ford Model Ts for Sale

In the fall of 1908, Ford Motor Company introduced car...

In the fall of 1908, Ford Motor Company introduced car that would put the world on wheels with its new Model T, the model that made Ford Motor Company into an industrial powerhouse. The Model T was initially offered as a touring car, a Tourabout, a Runabout, a Town Car, a Landaulet, and a Coupe, with other open and closed bodies, plus a bare chassis and even a one-ton truck coming and going in later years.

Ford made style a secondary or even tertiary consideration for the Model T. It was always intended as a practical, attainable car that an owner could purchase for little money and then keep essentially forever. To that end, the Model T?s underpinnings were changed very little from the first, 1909 models through the end of production in 1927. Owners could purchase new Ford parts that would fit their older Fords, and the less well off could keep their Model T?s going by mixing and matching components of various years.

Although intended for cruising speeds in the 25 to 35 mph range, performance, too, soon became an essential part of Model T?s DNA. Ford itself raced a Model T cross country in 1909, and many private actors constructed T-based race cars and speedsters in the 1910s and ?20s. Used, often nearly free, Model T?s also formed the basis of the modified-car hobby in the ?20s and ?30s when they became gow jobs and lakes modifieds. The distinctive Model T body (and fiberglass replicas) also formed the basis of the popular ?T-bucket? hot rods of the ?50s, ?60s, and ?70s.

From the basic 20-hp, 177-cu.in. flathead four-cylinder engine, aftermarket components developed in the 1920s and ?30s permitted enthusiasts to make 100 hp or more. Some modified Ford Model Ts even ran in the Indianapolis 500, placing as high as 5th and running average speeds of nearly 90 mph.

Model T enthusiasts tend to divide the car up into three time periods: the brass-radiator cars of 1909-?16, the black-radiator cars of 1917-?25, and the Improved Cars (Ford?s term) of 1926-?27. In terms of collectability, the brass cars tend to have the highest values?especially those constructed before the advent of the moving assembly line, circa 1914. The stylish, but heavy Improved Cars tend to be the next most desirable, while the black-radiator cars are tops in affordability.

Mass production, often called ?Fordism? at the time, allowed Henry Ford to repeatedly drop the price of the Model T over the years. At its introduction, a Model T roadster (?Runabout?) was priced at $825. By 1919 that price had dropped to $500 and by 1923, the peak year of Model T production, a roadster without an electric starter and demountable rims was priced at a mere $265 ($350, with those items).

Despite the ever-decreasing price, Ford began to lose market share in the 1920s. Competitors like Chevrolet discovered that while they couldn?t compete head-to-head on sheer price, they could inexpensively add on style and luxury features and justify the differential in the customer?s mind. Ford?s refusal to sell on credit also hurt it, as the General Motors Acceptance Corporation made it easy to buy a new Chevrolet ?on time.?

Ford started re-styling the Model T to compete beginning with revised fenders and nickel radiator shells on some 1925 models, but the big changes came in 1926 with a lower, far handsomer Model T now available in colors other than black and with steel-wire wheels in place of the traditional wooden units. The market was moving on, however, and, after 15,000,000 Model T?s, Ford stopped passenger-car production on May 26, 1927, in order to convert its factories to produce the new and radically different Model A. Model T engines would continue in production through 1941.

Throughout its run, certain characteristics of the Model T went from being mainstream technology to notable outliers. Most memorable is the foot-controlled ?planetary? transmission, which used bands clamping against drums instead of conventional gears. The standard Ford transmission offered two speeds forward and one in reverse, plus a band intended as the service brake, but a variety of aftermarket add-ons like the Ruckstell axle and Warford transmission could be attached to provide more gearing in both directions, including under- and overdrive to permit users to haul heavy loads or obtain higher speeds. Many owners also supplemented the factory transmission brake with mechanical drum brakes like the Rocky Mountain setup.

The Model T ignition system was another increasingly anachronistic part of its mechanism. Instead of a battery and distributor, the Model T utilized a low-tension magneto mounted to the flywheel, which put its current to four individual coil boxes via a timer on the front of the engine. As road speeds increased, many owners replaced this system with an aftermarket distributor retrofit, such as those produced by radio maker Atwater Kent.

Today, Model T remains an easy to own collectable with strong aftermarket support, a devoted hobbyist following, and strong recognition from the non-motoring public.

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