By day he was chief engineer at Edison Illuminating Company of Detroit, but at night Henry Ford labored over a gasoline engine. He successfully tested one on Christmas Eve, , with the help of his wife, Clara, taking a break from Christmas cooking.
The engine worked for 30 seconds, long enough to confirm for Ford that he was on the right track. Three years later, Ford developed the Quadcycle, a self-propelled vehicle. After two failed business ventures, the Ford Motor Company was born on June 16, The production of the Model T was preceded by eight car models through which Ford developed various aspects that would eventually come together as the Model T.
Released on October 1, , the Ford Model T was a self-starting vehicle with a left-sided steering wheel, featuring an enclosed four-cylinder engine with a detachable cylinder head and a one-piece cylinder block. Fashioned from vanadium alloy steel, it offered superior strength despite its light weight. It also featured a generous ground clearance that could take the worst roads, which made it particularly enticing to rural drivers.
The Model T was the first Ford with all its parts built by the company itself. After selling 10, Model Ts, Ford announced that the company would cease to sell the Model R or Model S cars, famously remarking that "Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black. Ford typically engineered publicity stunts to get his cars covered in British newspapers.
In , a Scottish car dealer proposed challenging his son Henry Alexander Jr. The bet was that if he failed to reach the summit Alexander would lose his allowance. Starting at nearby Fort William, the Model T drove over rocks, across bogs and through snow on a five-day journey.
The car ascended to the summit using a zig-zag driving pattern. Following the publicity, over 14, Model Ts were sold in the UK. Austin is a graduate of the University of Michigan. Restricted Content You must have JavaScript enabled to enjoy a limited number of articles over the next 30 days. Please click here to continue without javascript.. The torque tube provides an external tube around a thin drive shaft and it served the purpose of locating the rear axle properly.
The logic in using transverse leaf springs was to enable more wheel travel and thus enable the Model T to negotiate rough tracks competently. The Model T was not provided with brakes on the wheels but only on the transmission. Late production models were eventually provided with rear wheel brakes as an option. Initially after-market rear wheel brakes became available from third party manufacturers, and this ultimately pressured Ford into providing them.
The lights of the original Model T were not electric. The common lamps used on horse drawn vehicles were the lamps used on the Model T, this meant it used acetylene carbide headlights and oil side lamps. The Model T was made to be very useful in agricultural settings. It could be used as a stationary power source by removing one of its driving wheels and using a belt and pulley to power an electric generator, threshing machine, saw, conveyor belt or water pump for example. It was very much a predecessor of the utilitarian Land Rover and Jeep.
During its production life the Model T was adapted to all sorts of uses including being made into a rail car. Many after-market manufacturers offered ways to accessorize and adapt your Model T to your particular needs. There were even half-track conversions to enable a Model T to traverse snow. When first introduced the Model T was made using much the same methodology as the other cars of that era. It was made by hand piece by piece. In the first month just eleven cars were constructed.
These early hand built cars were available in a variety of colors and this would remain true through until By all Model Ts were painted in midnight blue with black fenders, and in Henry Ford decided that customers could have any color they liked as long as it was black, and so the cars produced after that time were black.
Paint technology was a developing science and the black paint is said to have been faster drying and therefore more convenient to use in the Ford production line environment at that time. We should also remember that the price of the Model T was constantly going down as mass production became more efficient. By 12, Model T cars had been produced but Ford were straining to keep up with demand.
New methods of building the cars were needed and so Ford moved to a new production facility, the Highland Park Complex. Martin, and Charles E. Sorensen set about creating a production line that would dramatically increase output. So Ford and his team analyzed the process of building a Model T and broke it down so that each worker had a limited range of skills to learn and apply, and thus could become very practiced at their job.
With these new production line methods the build time for a Model T was reduced from Henry Ford would not involve himself or his company in building specialized versions of the Model T for military use, but he was willing to sell Model T rolling chassis and spare parts to the military and ambulance services of nations involved in the conflict for them to convert however they wished. Examples in the Landmark Process. Gaps List for Landmark Nominators.
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