Ford owners host a Model T party

RICHMOND, IND.–It wasn't the first mass-produced car and wasn't the first built on an assembly line. But once the public saw the Ford Model T for the first time on Oct. 1, 1908, it took the world by storm.

More than 15 million were produced before its 1927 retirement. This week, about 900 were gathered in Richmond, Ind. for the "T Party," a six-day centennial celebration that wraps up today. Held by the Model T Club of America and sponsored by Ford, the event drew participants from 47 states and eight countries.

"We believe this is the largest gathering of Model Ts since they left the factory," says Jay Klehforth, who heads the club. "This is the car that changed the world. It was cheaper than a horse and, prior to the T, some 94 per cent of people never went more than 20 miles (30 km) from home."

Like many participants, Klehforth owns several cars, including a British-built 1923 currently parked in the Model T Museum in nearby Centerville. Also like many, he was an early adopter, buying his first when he was only 13 – a car he still owns.

It's almost impossible to comprehend the Model T's world and the effect it had. In 1908, only 63,500 cars were built in the U.S.; five years later, it was up to 461,500. In 1921, 57 per cent of all vehicles in the world were Model Ts, and Antarctica was the only continent where they weren't being built.

Ford further revolutionized the industry in 1913 when it introduced the moving assembly line, including a "body drop" to automatically mate body to chassis. The system reduced build time from an average of 12 hours to just 90 minutes.

The T also standardized the left-hand steering wheel, spawned the auto aftermarket industry, and introduced the first factory-built domestic pickup truck.

Above all, they were tough. Ben and Nancy Hardeman brought their 1926 pickup from Bryan, Tex. The truck has twice travelled from Texas to Alaska and back, under its own steam.

"It took 72 days," Ben says. "We said, `What's the farthest we can drive as a challenge?' We took our 9-year-old daughter, but we had to go again in 2001, because our other daughter didn't get to go the first time. By then, they were in college, and they drove the pickup. Nancy and I took a 1927 Ford."

His pickup sports a very rare "Bird Dog Palace," a cage on the running board that let hunters transport their dogs. "I've only ever seen two," he says. "On the first Alaska trip, we stopped and a woman came out and said, `Stay there, I've got something to show you.' She had one, but we couldn't get it home. A while later, a fellow I worked with said his dad had bought one for hunting back then and he came back with this one."

Although the T was designed and first built at Ford's plant in Detroit, the Indiana party site was chosen for its central location and rural setting, where the car's top speed of about 70 km/h can be comfortably accommodated.

Ford took a huge gamble on the car, replacing its multi-model lineup with this single, low-priced model. It first cost $825, but eventually dropped as low as $260.

The earliest soft-top Ts had no doors, just openings in the body. But when they did get doors, in late 1911, there wasn't one for the driver – it was impossible to squeeze in around the wheel and handbrake anyway, so Ford saved money by just stamping the outline.

But Canadian-built cars were often exported to right-hand-drive countries, so all got a driver's door – a quick way to identify a Canadian entry at international shows.

I spotted Cliff and Marie Proctor's 1909 Touring from Red Deer, Alta. easily enough, finished in the bright red that was common before all Ts went to cost-effective black-only in 1913. The Proctors had arrived with several Alberta club members.

"I like being around Model Ts and going on tours," Cliff says. "This is the biggest meet of all, and it'll never happen again.

"This is one of five Ts we own. It's an original car, bought by a doctor in Salem, Ore. His son went in for psychiatry and when he graduated in 1962, he got the old man's car. He drove it, but when he got cancer, he sold it to a friend, and when the friend passed away, I got it from his widow.

"The roof had been replaced, but they tell me it's the original leather on the seats. I've put on two new tires and did a motor job, but that's all."

Motor jobs were common on early cars, which needed to have their valves ground down regularly. The task was simple on a T, which had its four cylinders cast in a single block, with a removable head. All cars are built that way today, but it was revolutionary in the T's day.

It's that sense of history that has many owners leaving their cars in original, "barn-fresh" condition, including Dan Killecut's 1914 Touring from Hannibal, N.Y.

"It gets more attention than the shiny ones," he says. "I bought it this way in 1975. I think it was in the late 1980s that people started leaving cars unrestored. That's how the car was back then. People come up to this car and say, `Whatever you do, don't restore it'."

Known affectionately as Tin Lizzies or Flivvers, with songs written to them and roles in silent movies, the Model T reached a status unique in the automotive world.

"This is rolling history and we're only temporary custodians," Klehforth says. "People smile when they're in the car. The world looks a lot different at 25 miles per hour (40 km/h). It's not about the destination, it's about the trip."

jil@ca.inter.net

 

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