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90-471: The company began as the Kelley Kar Company founded by Les Kelley in 1918. Kelley started the company with three Model T Fords . His younger brother, Buster, worked with Kelley as a lot boy. By using data collected from the dealership, Kelley published the company’s first Blue Book in 1926, which became a standard guide in automotive trade in determining car value. Kelley Blue Book was formed in 1926, and

180-726: A MotorCities National Heritage Area Award of Excellence in the Preservation category. Around 2016, the National Park Service considered adding the Piquette Avenue Plant to a list of places in the United States eligible for UNESCO World Heritage Site status. It was ultimately not added, because it did not have enough of its original factory equipment, and because of recommendations that its nomination be expanded to include other Detroit-area Ford Motor Company sites, such as

270-603: A fair market range and fair purchase price , based on actual transactions of what others are paying for a vehicle and adjusted regularly as market conditions change. For new automobiles, Kelley Blue Book also provides information about a car's MSRP and dealer invoice price. For used cars, Kelley Blue Book provides typical listing price, certified pre-owned price, trade-in value and private party value. Kelley Blue Book also offers expert and consumer vehicle reviews and ratings, and 5-year cost to own information for new cars. In 2012–2014, Harris Poll recognized Kelley Blue Book as

360-447: A National Historic Landmark in 2006. The building has also been a contributing property for the surrounding Piquette Avenue Industrial Historic District since 2004. The factory's front façade was fully restored to its 1904 appearance and revealed to the public on September 27, 2008, the 100th anniversary of the completion of the first production Model T. On August 11, 2011, Model T Automotive Heritage Complex membership chairman Tom Genova

450-555: A few months before the Model T's introduction, a group of Piquette Avenue Plant employees experimented with the concept of using a moving assembly line to make cars, where the chassis would be moved to the workers for components to be installed. This effort was led by Charles E. Sorensen , the assistant to Peter E. Martin , who was the factory's superintendent. Sorensen believed that a moving assembly line would make car assembly faster, simpler, and easier. The experiments consisted of tying

540-521: A final batch of six Model Ts as part of their 2003 centenary celebrations. These cars were assembled from remaining new components and other parts produced from the original drawings. The last of the six was used for publicity purposes in the UK. Ford Piquette Avenue Plant The Ford Piquette Avenue Plant is a former factory located within the Milwaukee Junction area of Detroit , Michigan, in

630-406: A floor-mounted lever which provides an underdrive gear for easier hill climbing. The heavy-duty Model TT truck chassis came with a special worm gear rear differential with lower gearing than the normal car and truck, giving more pulling power but a lower top speed (the frame is also stronger; the cab and engine are the same). A Model TT is easily identifiable by the cylindrical housing for

720-593: A great success: Within a few days after release, 15,000 orders were placed. The first production Model T was built on August 12, 1908, and left the factory on September 27, 1908, at the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant in Detroit, Michigan . On May 26, 1927, Henry Ford watched the 15 millionth Model T Ford roll off the assembly line at his factory in Highland Park, Michigan . Henry Ford conceived

810-621: A modern service brake. The right foot pedal applied a band around a drum in the transmission, thus stopping the rear wheels from turning. The previously mentioned parking brake lever operated band brakes acting on the inside of the rear brake drums, which were an integral part of the rear wheel hubs. Optional brakes that acted on the outside of the brake drums were available from aftermarket suppliers. Wheels were wooden artillery wheels , with steel welded-spoke wheels available in 1926 and 1927. Tires were pneumatic clincher type, 30 in (762 mm) in diameter, 3.5 in (89 mm) wide in

900-405: A moving assembly line to make cars were also conducted there. It was also the first factory where more than 100 cars were assembled in one day. While it was headquartered at the Piquette Avenue Plant, Ford Motor Company became the biggest U.S.-based automaker, and it would remain so until the mid-1920s. The factory was used by the company until 1910, when its car production activity was relocated to

990-528: A moving assembly line to manufacture cars would be fully implemented at the Highland Park Ford Plant, starting on October 7, 1913. Over 15 million Model T's would eventually be built, and the first 14,000 made in the United States were assembled at the Piquette Avenue Plant. The Ford Piquette Avenue Plant was sold in January 1911 to Studebaker, a major maker of various horse-drawn road vehicles since

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1080-525: A powerful symbol of the United States' age of modernization. With over 15 million sold, it was the most sold car in history before being surpassed by the Volkswagen Beetle in 1972. Early automobiles, which were produced from the 1880s , were mostly scarce, expensive, and often unreliable. Being the first reliable, easily maintained, mass-market motorized transportation made the Model ;T into

1170-654: A pulley fastened to the hub for a flat belt to drive a bucksaw , thresher , silo blower, conveyor for filling corn cribs or haylofts, baler , water pump, electrical generator, and many other applications. One unique application of the Model T was shown in the October 1922 issue of Fordson Farmer magazine. It showed a minister who had transformed his Model T into a mobile church, complete with small organ. During this era, entire automobiles (including thousands of Model Ts) were hacked apart by their owners and reconfigured into custom machinery permanently dedicated to

1260-529: A purpose, such as homemade tractors and ice saws. Dozens of aftermarket companies sold prefab kits to facilitate the T's conversion from car to tractor. The Model T had been around for a decade before the Fordson tractor became available (1917–18), and many Ts were converted for field use. (For example, Harry Ferguson , later famous for his hitches and tractors, worked on Eros Model T tractor conversions before he worked with Fordsons and others.) During

1350-503: A rail journey in India on such a railcar. The New Zealand Railways Department 's RM class included a few. The American LaFrance company modified more than 900 Model Ts for use in firefighting, adding tanks, hoses, tools and a bell. Model T fire engines were in service in North America, Europe, and Australia. A 1919 Model T equipped to fight chemical fires has been restored and

1440-406: A result, Ford's cars came off the line in three-minute intervals, much faster than previous methods , reducing production time from 12 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours before to 93 minutes by 1914, while using less manpower. In 1914, Ford produced more cars than all other automakers combined. The Model T was a great commercial success, and by the time Ford made its 10 millionth car, half of all cars in

1530-424: A rope to a Model N chassis and pulling it across the factory's third floor on skids until its axles and wheels were added. The chassis would then be rolled across the floor in notches, where specific components would be attached. At least one Model N was completed at the Piquette Avenue Plant using this process. Although Henry Ford encouraged these experiments, he did not implement a formal moving assembly line at

1620-458: A series of cars between the founding of the company in 1903 and the introduction of the Model T. Ford named his first car the Model A and proceeded through the alphabet up through the Model T. Twenty models in all, not all of which went into production. The production model immediately before the Model T was the Model S , an upgraded version of the company's largest success to that point,

1710-469: A top speed of 42 mph (68 km/h). According to Ford Motor Company, the Model T had fuel economy of 13–21 mpg ‑US (16–25 mpg ‑imp ; 18–11 L/100 km). The engine was designed to run on gasoline , although it may also have been able to run on kerosene or ethanol , although the decreasing cost of gasoline and the later introduction of Prohibition made ethanol an impractical fuel for most users. The engines of

1800-419: A transversely mounted semi-elliptical spring for each of the front and rear beam axles, which allowed a great deal of wheel movement to cope with the dirt roads of the time. The front axle was drop forged as a single piece of vanadium steel. Ford twisted many axles through eight full rotations (2880 degrees) and sent them to dealers to be put on display to demonstrate its superiority. The Model T did not have

1890-418: Is a planetary gear type known (at the time) as "three speed". In today's terms it is considered a two-speed, because one of the three speeds is reverse. The Model T's transmission is controlled with three floor-mounted pedals , a revolutionary feature for its time, and a lever mounted to the road side of the driver's seat. The throttle is controlled with a lever on the steering wheel . The left-hand pedal

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1980-597: Is on display at the North Charleston Fire Museum in South Carolina. The knowledge and skills needed by a factory worker were reduced to 84 areas. When introduced, the T used the building methods typical at the time, assembly by hand, and production was small. The Ford Piquette Avenue Plant could not keep up with demand for the Model T, and only 11 cars were built there during the first full month of production. More and more machines were used to reduce

2070-435: Is used to engage the transmission. With the floor lever in either the mid position or fully forward and the pedal pressed and held forward, the car enters low gear. When held in an intermediate position, the car is in neutral. If the left pedal is released, the Model T enters high gear, but only when the lever is fully forward – in any other position, the pedal only moves up as far as the central neutral position. This allows

2160-561: The Cork, Ireland plant in December 1927. Model T engines continued to be produced until August 4, 1941. Almost 170,000 were built after car production stopped, as replacement engines were required to service the many existing vehicles. Racers and enthusiasts, forerunners of modern hot rodders, used the Model Ts' blocks to build popular and cheap racing engines, including Cragar, Navarro, and, famously,

2250-589: The Frontenacs ("Fronty Fords") of the Chevrolet brothers, among many others. The Model T employed some advanced technology, for example, its use of vanadium steel alloy. Its durability was phenomenal, and some Model Ts and their parts are in running order over a century later. Although Henry Ford resisted some kinds of change, he always championed the advancement of materials engineering , and often mechanical engineering and industrial engineering. In 2002, Ford built

2340-401: The Model N . The follow-up to the Model T was another Ford Model A , rather than the "Model U". The company publicity said this was because the new car was such a departure from the old that Ford wanted to start all over again with the letter A . The Model T was Ford's first automobile mass-produced on moving assembly lines with completely interchangeable parts , marketed to

2430-411: The chassis for final assembly. Completed cars were shipped to the company's distributors and dealers by rail using a spur line behind the building, which connected to a Michigan Central Railroad main line . Due to variations in demand and car model changeover, the number of employees varied constantly, ranging from as low as 300 to as high as 700. The company did not recognize labor unions at

2520-717: The decline of Detroit , which began in the mid-20th century. The Ford Piquette Avenue Plant was sold to the Model T Automotive Heritage Complex in April 2000. Model T Automotive Heritage Complex is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that has run the building as a museum since July 27, 2001. The Piquette Avenue Plant is the oldest purpose-built automotive factory building open to the public. The museum, located north of Midtown Detroit at 461 Piquette Avenue, attracted 31,018 visitors in 2018. It contains over 40 early automobiles built by Ford Motor Company and other Detroit-area car makers, as well as recreations of Henry Ford's office and

2610-463: The middle class . Henry Ford said of the vehicle: I will build a motor car for the great multitude. It will be large enough for the family, but small enough for the individual to run and care for. It will be constructed of the best materials, by the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise. But it will be so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one – and enjoy with his family

2700-659: The original Ford Model A , began to be assembled that same month at the Ford Mack Avenue Plant , a rented wagon manufacturing shop in Detroit, Michigan. The company quickly outgrew this facility and, on April 10, 1904, bought a parcel of land off of Piquette Avenue in Detroit to accommodate a larger factory. The land was located in the Milwaukee Junction area, whose name is derived from a railroad junction within it. The Ford Piquette Avenue Plant's construction started on May 10, 1904. The company moved into its new factory

2790-541: The "running gear" (the chassis, engine , transmission , drive shaft , and axles ), which was supplied by the Dodge Brothers Company . That began to change in early 1906, when the Ford Manufacturing Company, a new, separate company created by Henry Ford and some Ford Motor Company stockholders, started to make engines and transmissions for the upcoming Ford Model N. The Ford Manufacturing Company

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2880-463: The 1850s. That same year, when the railroad spur line serving the factory was raised above street level, the loading dock behind the building was replaced with an elevated platform, level with the second floor. Also in 1911, Studebaker acquired the E-M-F Company , which owned a different car manufacturing complex on Piquette Avenue. Studebaker began to put its name on the cars formerly produced by

2970-561: The E-M-F Company in 1912. In 1913, the plant was one of the sites affected by the 1913 Studebaker strike , the automotive industry's first major labor strike . In 1920, Studebaker built a four-story, reinforced concrete building, known as the Studebaker Detroit Service Building , immediately west of the Piquette Avenue Plant. In 1926, the elevator-stairwell combination on the Piquette Avenue Plant's southwest side

3060-605: The Kelley family continued its dealership business in Southern California for several decades. By the 1960s, the company moved from a car dealership to a specialty publisher and focused on the production of its automobile price guide. Kelley Blue Book guide became the first publication to use mileage to determine a car's value. In 1995, Kelley Blue Book created its company website, which contained tips and pricing information from its hardcopy guide. In December 2010, Kelley Blue Book

3150-477: The Model N made Ford Motor Company the largest automaker in the United States by the end of 1906, a distinction that it would hold for twenty years. In January 1907, in a room located on the Piquette Avenue Plant's third floor in the northeast corner, the design process began for the Ford Model T, the car credited with starting the mass use of cars in the United States. Much of the design and experimental work for

3240-429: The Model T lost market share and became barely profitable. Design changes were not as few as the public perceived, but the idea of an unchanging model was kept intact. Eventually, on May 26, 1927, Ford Motor Company ceased US production and began the changeovers required to produce the Model A . Some of the other Model T factories in the world continued for a short while, with the final Model T produced at

3330-644: The Online Auto Shopping Brand of the Year. In addition, the company received a WebAward in the automotive category of Outstanding Website for two consecutive years. Ford Model T The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by the Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first mass-affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relatively low price

3420-512: The Piquette Avenue Plant on September 27, 1908. On May 1, 1909, due to overwhelming demand, Ford Motor Company stopped taking Model T orders for two months. To satisfy the unprecedented demand for the Model T, the company moved most of its car production activity to the new, larger Highland Park Ford Plant in Highland Park, Michigan , by January 1910. The company completely vacated the Piquette Avenue Plant by October 1910. The concept of using

3510-473: The Piquette Avenue Plant to the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M) , a producer of rubber auto parts and non-adhesive paper tape. Around 1937, the powerhouse and several other small buildings previously built by Ford Motor Company west of the factory were demolished. The Cadillac Overall Company, a work clothes supplier, purchased the building in 1968. The Heritage Investment Company bought

3600-411: The Piquette Avenue Plant, as all of his attention was focused on getting Model T production started on time. Despite not having a moving assembly line, the Piquette Avenue Plant, aided by the usage of interchangeable parts and other production improvements, produced 101 completed cars in a single day on June 4, 1908, an auto industry record at the time. The first production Model T was completed at

3690-410: The Piquette Avenue Plant. Ford models B and C were the first car models produced at the factory starting in late 1904, and production of the Ford Model F began the following February. Most of the factory tasks were done by men, except for magneto assembly, which was done by women. Hand tools were used for the assembly work at fixed stations, and the completed components would be brought by hand to

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3780-475: The United States. Built in 1904, it was the second center of automobile production for the Ford Motor Company , after the Ford Mack Avenue Plant . At the Piquette Avenue Plant, the company created and first produced the Ford Model T , the car credited with initiating the mass use of automobiles in the United States. Prior to the Model T, several other car models were assembled at the factory. Early experiments using

3870-613: The beginning of the United States automotive industry . The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002, became a Michigan State Historic Site in 2003, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006. Henry Ford , Detroit coal merchant Alexander Y. Malcomson , and a group of investors formed the Ford Motor Company on June 16, 1903, to assemble automobiles. The company's first car model,

3960-517: The blessing of hours of pleasure in God's great open spaces. Although credit for the development of the assembly line belongs to Ransom E. Olds , with the first mass-produced automobile, the Oldsmobile Curved Dash , having begun in 1901, the tremendous advances in the efficiency of the system over the life of the Model T can be credited almost entirely to Ford and his engineers. The Model T

4050-474: The building in 1989 and owned it until 2000. Since the early 1990s, a company named General Linen & Uniform Service has occupied part of the Piquette Avenue Plant's first floor. The Detroit Service Building next door is now used by Henry Ford Health System to store medical records. The openings that previously allowed direct access between the two buildings on the second and third floors are now sealed. The Piquette Avenue Plant still stands in spite of

4140-400: The car to be held in neutral while the driver cranks the engine by hand. The car can thus cruise without the driver having to press any of the pedals. In the first 800 units, reverse is engaged with a lever; all units after that use the central pedal, which is used to engage reverse gear when the car is in neutral. The right-hand pedal operates the transmission brake – there are no brakes on

4230-448: The cars in the U.S. were Model Ts. In his autobiography, Ford reported that in 1909 he told his management team, "Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black." However, in the first years of production from 1908 to 1913, the Model T was not available in black, but rather only in gray, green, blue, and red. Green was available for the touring cars, town cars, coupes, and Landaulets . Gray

4320-529: The complexity within the 84 defined areas. In 1910, after assembling nearly 12,000 Model Ts, Henry Ford moved the company to the new Highland Park complex . During this time the Model T production system ( including the supply chain ) transitioned into an iconic example of assembly-line production. In subsequent decades it would also come to be viewed as the classic example of the rigid, first-generation version of assembly line production, as opposed to flexible mass production of higher quality products. As

4410-496: The crank as the car crept forward, although it was nominally in neutral. As the car utilizes a wet clutch , this condition could also occur in cold weather, when the thickened oil prevents the clutch discs from slipping freely. Power reaches the differential through a single universal joint attached to a torque tube which drives the rear axle ; some models (typically trucks, but available for cars, as well) could be equipped with an optional two-speed rear Ruckstell axle, shifted by

4500-619: The drivetrain and engine, which auxiliary transmissions could smooth out; their bodies acted as sounding boards, echoing engine noise and vibration at higher engine speeds, which could be lessened with intermediate gears; and owners of the enclosed cars spent more to buy them, and thus likely had more money to enhance them. He also noted that auxiliary transmissions were valuable for Ford Ton-Trucks in commercial use, allowing for driving speeds to vary with their widely variable loads – particularly when returning empty – possibly saving as much as 50% of returning drive time. Model T suspension employed

4590-643: The era, the Model T engine was also used on home-built aircraft (such as the Pietenpol Sky Scout ) and motorboats . An armored-car variant (called the " FT-B ") was developed in Poland in 1920 due to the high demand during the Polish-Soviet war in 1920. Many Model Ts were converted into vehicles that could travel across heavy snows with kits on the rear wheels (sometimes with an extra pair of rear-mounted wheels and two sets of continuous track to mount on

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4680-432: The expensive high-voltage ignition magnetos that were used on some other cars. This ignition also made the Model T more flexible as to the quality or type of fuel it used. The system did not need a starting battery, since proper hand-cranking would generate enough current for starting. Electric lighting powered by the magneto was adopted in 1915, replacing acetylene gas flame lamp and oil lamps, but electric starting

4770-498: The factory. Ford Motor Company was a member of the Employers’ Association of Detroit, an organization that prevented most of the city's factories from unionizing until the 1930s. In 1905, Ford Motor Company was the fourth-largest car producer in the United States, behind Cadillac , Rambler , and Oldsmobile. In the company's early years, most major components in its cars were manufactured by outside companies, including

4860-442: The first 2,447 units were cooled with water pumps; the engines of unit 2,448 and onward, with a few exceptions prior to around unit 2,500, were cooled by thermosiphon action . The ignition system used in the Model T was an unusual one, with a low-voltage magneto incorporated in the flywheel, supplying alternating current to trembler coils to drive the spark plugs . This was closer to that used for stationary gas engines than

4950-488: The first Model Ts as 1909 models. This is a retroactive classification scheme; the concept of model years as understood today did not exist at the time. Even though design revisions occurred during the car's two decades of production, the company gave no particular name to any of the revised designs; all of them were called simply "Model T". The Model T has a front-mounted 177-cubic-inch (2.9 L) inline four-cylinder engine, producing 20 hp (15 kW), for

5040-724: The following October. The Detroit-based architectural firm Field, Hinchman & Smith designed the Piquette Avenue Plant. It is an example of late Victorian-style architecture and was modeled after New England textile mills. Designing factories based on this type of mill was common practice in the United States at the time. The building is three stories high, 56 feet (17.1 m) wide, and 402 feet (122.5 m) long. Its load-bearing exterior brick walls contain 355 windows, and its maple floors, supported by square oak beams and posts, cover 67,000 square feet (6,224.5 m ). The Piquette Avenue Plant contains two elevator-stairwell combinations, one located on its northwest corner and

5130-525: The metal and another as a final finish. Paint choices in the American automotive industry, as well as in others (including locomotives, furniture, bicycles, and the rapidly expanding field of electrical appliances), were shaped by the development of the chemical industry . These included the disruption of dye sources during World War I and the advent, by the mid-1920s, of new nitrocellulose lacquers that were faster-drying and more scratch-resistant and obviated

5220-518: The most noted were the Ruckstell two-speed rear axle, and transmissions by Muncie, Warford, and Jumbo. Aftermarket transmissions generally fit one of four categories: Murray Fahnestock, a Ford expert in the era of the Model T, particularly advised the use of auxiliary transmissions for the enclosed Model T's, such as the Ford Sedan and Coupelet, for three reasons: their greater weight put more strain on

5310-459: The need for multiple coats. Understanding the choice of paints for the Model T era and the years immediately following requires an understanding of the contemporaneous chemical industry. During the lifetime production of the Model T, over 30 types of black paint were used on various parts of the car. These were formulated to satisfy the different means of applying the paint to the various parts, and had distinct drying times, depending on

5400-405: The new car was done by Henry Ford, draftsman Joseph Galamb , engineer Childe Harold Wills , and machinist C.J. Smith. Vanadium steel , an alloy lighter and stronger than standard steel, which was first used sparingly with the Ford Model N, R, and S, was used extensively with the Model T. The company revealed the plans for the Model T to its dealers on March 19, 1908. During July 1908,

5490-455: The new, larger Highland Park Ford Plant . Studebaker bought the factory in 1911, using it to assemble cars until 1933. The building was sold in 1936, going through a series of owners for the rest of the 20th century before becoming a museum in 2001. The Piquette Avenue Plant is the oldest purpose-built automotive factory building open to the public. The museum, which was visited by over 31,000 people in 2018, has exhibits that primarily focus on

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5580-560: The next decade, Model T tractor conversion kits were harder to sell, as the Fordson and then the Farmall (1924), as well as other light and affordable tractors, served the farm market. But during the Depression (1930s), Model T tractor conversion kits had a resurgence, because by then used Model Ts and junkyard parts for them were plentiful and cheap. Like many popular car engines of

5670-474: The now-tandemed rear wheels, essentially making it a half-track ) and skis replacing the front wheels. They were popular for rural mail delivery for a time. The common name for these conversions of cars and small trucks was "snowflyers". These vehicles were extremely popular in the northern reaches of Canada, where factories were set up to produce them. A number of companies built Model T–based railcars. In The Great Railway Bazaar , Paul Theroux mentions

5760-536: The other located on its southwest side. Recalling a fire in March 1901 that destroyed the Olds Motor Works factory in Detroit, Henry Ford and the architects included a fire sprinkler system in the building's design, a rare feature for industrial buildings of the period. This and several other original safety features in the factory, such as its firewalls, fire doors, and fire escapes , are still present. Water for

5850-454: The part, paint, and method of drying. Although Ford classified the Model T with a single letter designation throughout its entire life and made no distinction by model years, enough significant changes to the body were made over the production life that the car may be classified into several style generations. The most immediately visible and identifiable changes were in the hood and cowl areas, although many other modifications were made to

5940-419: The pre-Civil War track gauge for many railroads in the former Confederacy . The standard 56-inch track being very near the 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in (143.5 cm) inch standard railroad track gauge, meant that Model Ts could be and frequently were, fitted with flanged wheels and used as motorized railway vehicles or "speeders" . The availability of a 60 in (152 cm) version meant

6030-434: The rear, 3 in (76 mm) in the front. Clinchers needed much higher pressure than today's tires, typically 60 psi (410 kPa), to prevent them from leaving the rim at speed. Flat tires were a common problem. Balloon tires became available in 1925. They were 21 in × 4.5 in (530 mm × 110 mm) all around. Balloon tires were closer in design to today's tires, with steel wires reinforcing

6120-438: The requirements and design of the Model T based on contemporary realities. Consequently, the Model T was (intentionally) almost as much a tractor and portable engine as it was an automobile. It has always been well regarded for its all-terrain abilities and ruggedness. It could travel a rocky, muddy farm lane, cross a shallow stream, climb a steep hill, and be parked on the other side to have one of its wheels removed and

6210-439: The room where the Ford Model T was designed. One of the cars on display is Model T Serial No. 220, which was built at the factory in December 1908, and is one of the oldest surviving examples of that car model. The museum's regular operating days are Wednesdays through Sundays. The Piquette Avenue Plant was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002, designated as a Michigan State Historic Site in 2003, and became

6300-408: The same could be done on the few remaining Southern 5 ft (152 cm) railways – these being the only nonstandard lines remaining, except for a few narrow-gauge lines of various sizes. Although a Model T could be adapted to run on track as narrow as 2 ft (61 cm) gauge (Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington RR, Maine has one), this was a more complex alteration. By 1918, half of all

6390-409: The same outer diameter as 30 in (760 mm) clincher tires. All tires in this time period used an inner tube to hold the pressurized air; tubeless tires were not generally in use until much later. Wheelbase is 100 in (254 cm) and standard track width was 56 in (142 cm) – 60 in (152 cm) track could be obtained on special order, "for Southern roads," identical to

6480-441: The sprinkler system was supplied by a wooden water tank located on the building's roof. A brick powerhouse , measuring 36 feet (11.0 m) wide by 57 feet (17.4 m) long, was the original electricity provider for the factory, and was located near its northwest corner. The water tank and powerhouse no longer exist. From October 1904 to the end of 1909, Ford Motor Company assembled car models B, C, F, K, N, R, S, and T at

6570-485: The term "pavement" as opposed to "sidewalk" comes from that era, when streets and roads were generally dirt and sidewalks were a paved way to walk along them.) Agriculture was the occupation of many people. Power tools were scarce outside factories, as were power sources for them; electrification, like pavement, was found usually only in larger towns. Rural electrification and motorized mechanization were embryonic in some regions and nonexistent in most. Henry Ford oversaw

6660-414: The time for painting, but carbon black pigment was indeed one of the cheapest (if not the cheapest) available, and dark color of gilsonite , a form of bitumen making cheap metal paints of the time durable, limited the (final) color options to dark shades of maroon, blue, green or black. At that period Ford used two similar types of the so-called Japan black paint, one as a basic coat applied directly to

6750-409: The tire bead, making lower pressure possible – typically 35 psi (240 kPa) – giving a softer ride. The steering gear ratio was changed from 4:1 to 5:1 with the introduction of balloon tires. The old nomenclature for tire size changed from measuring the outer diameter to measuring the rim diameter so 21 in (530 mm) (rim diameter) × 4.5 in (110 mm) (tire width) wheels has about

6840-437: The vehicle. The styling on the last "generation" was a preview for the following Model A, but the two models are visually quite different, as the body on the A is much wider and has curved doors as opposed to the flat doors on the T. When the Model T was designed and introduced, the infrastructure of the world was quite different from today's. Pavement was a rarity except for sidewalks and a few big-city streets. (The meaning of

6930-409: The wheels. The floor lever also controls the parking brake , which is activated by pulling the lever all the way back. This doubles as an emergency brake. Although it was uncommon, the drive bands could fall out of adjustment, allowing the car to creep, particularly when cold, adding another hazard to attempting to start the car: a person cranking the engine could be forced backward while still holding

7020-431: The world were Fords. It was so successful Ford did not purchase any advertising between 1917 and 1923; instead, the Model T became so famous, people considered it a norm. More than 15 million Model Ts were manufactured in all, reaching a rate of 9,000 to 10,000 cars a day in 1925, or 2 million annually, more than any other model of its day, at a price of just $ 260 ($ 4,517 today). Total Model T production

7110-545: The worm-drive over the axle differential. All gears are vanadium steel running in an oil bath. Two main types of band lining material were used: During the Model T's production run, particularly after 1916, more than 30 manufacturers offered auxiliary transmissions or drives to substitute for, or enhance, the Model T's drivetrain gears. Some offered overdrive for greater speed and efficiency, while others offered underdrives for more torque (often incorrectly described as "power") to enable hauling or pulling greater loads. Among

7200-578: Was colloquially known as the " Tin Lizzie ". The Ford Model T was named the most influential car of the 20th century in the 1999 Car of the Century competition, ahead of the BMC Mini , Citroën DS , and Volkswagen Beetle . Ford's Model T was successful not only because it provided inexpensive transportation on a massive scale, but also because the car signified innovation for the rising middle class and became

7290-468: Was available for the town cars only and red only for the touring cars. By 1912, all cars were being painted midnight blue with black fenders. Only in 1914 was the "any color so long as it is black" policy finally implemented. It is often stated Ford suggested the use of black from 1914 to 1925 due to the low cost, durability, and faster drying time of black paint in that era. There is no evidence that black dried any faster than any other dark varnishes used at

7380-479: Was designed by Childe Harold Wills , and Hungarian immigrants Joseph A. Galamb (main engineer) and Eugene Farkas . Henry Love, C. J. Smith, Gus Degner and Peter E. Martin were also part of the team, as were Galamb's fellow Hungarian immigrants Gyula Hartenberger and Károly Balogh. Production of the Model T began in the third quarter of 1908. Collectors today sometimes classify Model Ts by build years and refer to these as " model years ", thus labeling

7470-622: Was finally surpassed by the Volkswagen Beetle on February 17, 1972, while the Ford F-Series (itself directly descended from the Model T roadster pickup) has surpassed the Model T as Ford's all-time best-selling model. Henry Ford's ideological approach to Model T design was one of getting it right and then keeping it the same; he believed the Model T was all the car a person would, or could, ever need. As other companies offered comfort and styling advantages, at competitive prices,

7560-719: Was honored with a ROSE Award from the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau in the Volunteers category. On May 18, 2012, the Model T Automotive Heritage Complex won a NAAMY Award from the National Association of Automobile Museums in the Films and Videos category for Division I (museums with budgets less than $ 300,000). On November 10, 2015, the Window Restoration Team at the Piquette Avenue Plant received

7650-598: Was located at the Bellevue Avenue Plant, a leased factory off of Bellevue Avenue in Detroit. The Bellevue Avenue Plant was used until 1908, by which time almost all manufacturing of major components for Ford Motor Company cars was taking place at the Piquette Avenue Plant. Model N production began at the Piquette Avenue Plant in July 1906. That same month, Henry Ford bought the Ford Motor Company shares owned by fellow company co-founder Alexander Malcomson. While Malcomson

7740-531: Was moved slightly northwards. This enabled the Detroit Service Building to be connected to the Piquette Avenue Plant's southwest corner on the second and third floors, which created a ground-level, drive-through access point to the court between the two buildings. Also in 1926, the machinery for both of the Piquette Avenue Plant's elevators was replaced. Studebaker used the Piquette Avenue Plant for car production until 1933. In 1936, Studebaker sold

7830-400: Was not offered until 1919. The Model T engine was produced for replacement needs as well as stationary and marine applications until 1941, well after production of the Model T ended. The Fordson Model F tractor engine, that was designed about a decade later, was very similar to, but larger than, the Model T engine. The Model T is a rear-wheel drive vehicle. Its transmission

7920-432: Was partly the result of Ford's efficient fabrication, including assembly line production instead of individual handcrafting. The savings from mass production allowed the price to decline from $ 780 in 1910 (equivalent to $ 25,506 in 2023) to $ 290 in 1924 ($ 5,156 in 2023 dollars ). It was mainly designed by three engineers, Joseph A. Galamb (the main engineer), Eugene Farkas , and Childe Harold Wills . The Model T

8010-607: Was purchased by AutoTrader.com . After its acquisition, the company operated as a subsidiary of AutoTrader.com, Inc. In 2013, the company formed an alliance with Bitauto Holdings Ltd. to expand into China. In 2014, Kelley Blue Book signed a two-year agreement with Hendrick Motorsports to be a primary sponsor of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 88 Chevrolet SS NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team. The company reports market value prices for new and used automobiles of all types, as well as motorcycles, snowmobiles and personal watercraft. For both new and used automobiles, Kelley Blue Book provides

8100-399: Was with the company, he and Henry Ford disagreed over the type of car that the company should produce. Malcomson preferred expensive cars, like the Ford Model K; Henry Ford favored inexpensive cars, like the Model N. Once Malcomson was no longer part of the company, Henry Ford, now with uncontested control, focused the company's efforts towards making cheap cars exclusively. The success of

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