Buzz
The Ford Model T revolutionized the automobile industry by making cars affordable for the average person. Henry Ford famously declared that his vehicle was designed for the common man. Before the Model T, cars were a luxury only the wealthy could afford. However, the price dropped significantly during its production, starting at $850 in 1908 and eventually falling below $300 by 1925.
This remarkable price drop was made possible by Henry Ford's invention of the moving assembly line. But the Model T’s legacy isn’t just about its affordability. There are many intriguing details about this iconic vehicle, from the origins of its nickname, 'Tin Lizzie,' to the theory that it played a role in the Prohibition era.
10. The Model T Did Not Lead to Prohibition
There are rumors suggesting that Henry Ford initially designed the Model T to run on ethanol instead of gasoline. Proponents of this theory argue that Ford only turned to gasoline after the prohibition of alcohol during Prohibition.
Some conspiracy theorists claim that oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller persuaded the US government to enforce Prohibition so that the Model T would rely solely on gasoline. These theories are untrue, along with other similar claims that the Model T could run on fuels like diesel, benzene, and kerosene. Some even suggest the car had a mechanism to switch between different fuel types.
In reality, Henry Ford did experiment with using fermented plant material as fuel for the Model T, and he made statements hinting at a possible shift from gasoline to ethanol. However, these remarks were made in 1916 and 1925, long after the Model T had already been in production. Ford never followed through with the change because gasoline was incredibly inexpensive at that time.
9. It Was Remarkably Adaptable
The Model T was an exceptionally versatile vehicle, which meant it was put to use for far more than just transportation. It was repurposed as a tractor, snowmobile, grain mill, sawmill, and much more.
The widespread repurposing of the Model T led to businesses emerging to offer aftermarket kits that allowed people to transform their Model T into something other than just a car. Magazines of the era even featured sections dedicated to showing how to modify the Model T for various other functions.
Owners also customized their Model Ts in creative ways. For instance, one minister converted his Model T into a traveling church. Rail companies replaced the wheels with metal tracks, turning them into railcars that were used to inspect tracks and swap engines between trains in yards.
Other owners modified their Model T into mills by swapping one rear tire for a leather belt drive connected to a pulley. Even the engines from damaged Model Ts were repurposed to power boats and pumps.
8. It Was Surprisingly Hard to Drive
The Ford Model T was remarkably hard to drive. It might actually be easier to operate a modern excavator today than to drive a Model T. However, people of the time didn’t mind this because there were no standard practices for how cars should function. They considered the Model T to be perfectly normal, even though it seems anything but to those attempting to drive it today.
The Model T lacked gauges, so drivers had to manually check the levels of water, oil, and gasoline. Starting it was another challenge. The driver had to crank the engine by hand to get the vehicle going. Sometimes, the engine would backfire, which could cause serious injuries like a broken arm. An electric starter was included in the models produced from 1919 onwards.
The throttle of the Model T was operated by hand, and so was the ignition of the spark plugs. The driver had to manage both controls while driving the car.
The Model T featured three pedals. One was for the brake, and the other two were used for shifting gears. The brake pedal was located on the far right, where the gas pedal is today. One of the gear pedals controlled the transition between first, second, and neutral, depending on how far the driver pressed it. The other pedal was for reverse.
7. Henry Ford Once Said, ‘You Can Have Any Color, As Long As It’s Black’
Initially, Model T cars came in a variety of colors, including red, blue, green, and gray. However, later versions were only offered in black. Henry Ford made the switch to an all-black vehicle because varying paint colors slowed down the production process on the assembly line.
Dealers were not pleased with the change, as they wanted to offer more color options to their customers. Some customers were also disappointed. Eventually, dealerships asked Ford to bring back additional color choices and to offer different versions of the Model T—something that car manufacturers do today.
Henry Ford is famously quoted saying, 'Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants, so long as it is black.' He also declared that he would continue to manufacture only the Model T, without any modifications of any kind.
In his 1922 autobiography, My Life and Work, Ford revealed that he had actually made the famous statement in 1909, a year after the first Model T was produced. However, Ford didn’t fully commit to releasing only black Model Ts until 1914. He wrote that at the time, no one believed it was a good decision. Ford acknowledged the importance of considering customer feedback but emphasized that “when the suggestion is only about style, one must determine whether it’s just a personal whim being voiced.”
6. It Was Eventually Replaced by the Model A
Henry Ford originally named his first car the Model A, followed by the Model B, and so on until he reached the Model T. In 1927, Ford introduced a new vehicle called the Model A, which was different from the original Model A. The 1927 Model A is often labeled as 'Model A (1927–1931)' to avoid confusion with the earlier version.
Ford named his cars from Models A to T, with each new model being a modification of the previous one, until the Model T hit it big. The Model T was such a success that Ford initially intended to keep producing it indefinitely. However, competition from other car manufacturers led to a decline in the Model T's sales by the mid-1920s, prompting Ford to reconsider.
In May 1927, Henry Ford ended the production of the Model T and introduced the new Model A that November. The Model A was partly designed by his son, Edsel, who had been urging Henry to halt Model T production a few years earlier. Though Henry had resisted, Edsel continued his work on a new car, which eventually became the foundation for the Model A.
Ford transitioned from the old naming system to emphasize that the new Model A was a completely new design, not just a modification of the Model T. The Model A featured innovations such as a speedometer, a water pump, and a gas gauge. Like its predecessor, the Model A achieved great success, with Ford producing up to 9,200 cars per day at its peak.
5. It Earned the Nickname ‘The Tin Lizzie’ After Winning a Race
The Ford Model T was known by several nicknames, including 'flivver' and 'Leaping Lena.' However, the most popular nickname was 'Tin Lizzie,' which it earned after winning a race.
In the early days, car dealerships frequently organized automobile races to draw attention to the vehicles in their showrooms. One such race took place at Pikes Peak in Colorado in 1922, where Noel Bullock competed with his Model T, which he affectionately named 'Old Liz.'
Old Liz was far from new. Its body paint had faded, and the hood was missing. The spectators, noticing its worn-out condition, began referring to it as the Tin Lizzie, likening it to a tin can rather than a car. Despite its shabby appearance, Old Liz triumphed over the more polished and expensive cars in the race. The victory made headlines, but the car became known as the Tin Lizzie, a name that stuck.
4. It Was Not the First Car Produced on an Assembly Line
Although the Model T is often credited with assembly line production, it wasn't the first car to be built this way. Henry Ford didn't invent the assembly line. What he did was create the moving assembly line. The concept of the assembly line itself was invented by Ransom E. Olds of Olds Motor Vehicle Company, who used it to mass-produce the Oldsmobile Curved Dash.
The Oldsmobile Curved Dash was a pioneering car in the early 1900s, much like the Model T was later on. However, Olds struggled to keep up with the growing demand, prompting him to invent the assembly line to expedite production. This innovation helped Olds increase his output from 425 cars in 1901 to 2,500 the following year. By 1904, he was producing and selling 5,000 cars annually.
Henry Ford expanded on Olds’s invention by introducing conveyor belts that moved the cars throughout the factory. This marked the creation of the first moving assembly line. As a result, Ford managed to reduce the time it took to assemble a Model T from 12 hours and 30 minutes to under three hours. Ford was inspired by conveyor belts used in industries like flour mills, meatpacking plants, and other factories.
3. Poland Transformed It Into a Military Vehicle
In June 1920, Poland developed an armored version of the Model T, which became known as the Ford FT-B or the Model 1920, and sometimes referred to as the Ford Tf-c. This modification was the result of the work of Tadeusz Tanski, who collaborated with the Polish Ministry of Military Affairs at the time to create this military adaptation.
The Ford FT-B was created as part of Poland’s urgent strategy to combat the ongoing war with the Soviet Union. At the time, Poland and Ukraine had formed an alliance against the Soviet Union, but the Soviet forces had nearly conquered Ukraine. Poland feared it would be the next target.
Poland realized that its 120 Renault FT tanks were too slow to keep up with the fast-moving Soviet cavalry. They needed something more agile. Tanski proposed welding steel armor—captured from the German Army during World War I—onto the chassis of a Ford Model T, which resulted in the creation of the Ford FT-B.
The Ford FT-B was designed to be small and fast, exactly what the Polish army needed. It required only a driver and a machine gunner to operate. However, the vehicle was far from comfortable. The machine gunner had to crouch down, unable to stand upright while firing. A post-war plan to build 90 upgraded versions was scrapped after the war concluded in 1921.
2. Ford Never Advertised the Model T
Ford’s Model T was the equivalent of Tesla in its era. The Model T achieved such overwhelming success that Ford didn’t feel the need to advertise, relying instead on word of mouth to generate sales—a strategy similar to the one Tesla uses today.
Ford did engage in some advertising from the time he first created the car until 1917. However, he stopped all advertising efforts after that, not running any ads between 1917 and 1923. This was logical, given that the Model T was the top vehicle at the time, and anyone in the market for a car was looking at Ford.
Interestingly, while Ford himself refrained from advertising, many of his dealerships still ran ads to attract potential buyers to their showrooms. Meanwhile, Ford's competitors, General Motors and Chevrolet, launched large advertising campaigns to promote their vehicles. This led to Chevrolet surpassing Ford in sales by 1931, with Ford reclaiming the top spot in 1957.
1. The Model TT
Many people are unaware that Henry Ford created a truck version of the Model T. The Model TT was essentially a Model T with a truck bed instead of rear seats and a sturdier frame.
As we noted earlier, Ford was initially reluctant to produce any variant of the Model T. However, he changed his mind after noticing that many Model T owners had been modifying their cars by replacing the rear seats with a wooden bed. The first Model TT truck was introduced on July 27, 1917, with 209 units sold by the end of that year.
Chevrolet entered the pickup truck market just a year later, in 1918, and Dodge followed suit in 1924. Production of the Model TT ceased in 1927, with the Model AA truck taking its place that same year. The Model AA was later rebranded as the popular F-series in 1948, which has been one of the top-selling vehicle lines in the US since 1977.
