T time: Enthusiasts mark 100th birthday of the car that got America on the road

[Snowden]

T time: Enthusiasts mark 100th birthday of the car that got America on the road


By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 8:33 AM on 23rd July 2008



Ford Motor Corporation is marking the 100th anniversary of the Model T, the low-priced car that introduced motoring to the masses, at a time when Americans are cringing at the cost of filling their gas tanks and the industry is struggling with plant closures and layoffs.

But a week-long celebration of the Model T promises to offer some nostalgic balm.

About 750 of the iconic vehicles were on display yesterday in what is being called the largest gathering of Model Ts since they left the factory.


Edsel Ford II, great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford, addressed the crowd at an opening banquet.

T time: More than 1,000 Ford Model T enthusiasts descended on Richmond, Indiana, to take part in a week-long Ford Model T 100 year anniversary celebration

The gathering transformed the Wayne County Fairgrounds into what looked like a movie set for a motion picture depicting life in the early 1900s.

Drivers created Model T traffic jams as they picked their way among barns.

Jay Klehfoth, CEO of The Model T Ford Club of America based in nearby Centerville, said owners of the Model T are like a big extended family.

"Sometimes we refer to ourselves as the similarly afflicted," Klehfoth said. "We recognize we are only temporary custodians of these rolling pieces of history."

Roger Peterson, 71, of Greeneville, Tennessee, has owned 11 Model Ts over the years.

Enlarge

Start me up: A Model T owner cranks up his car

Enlarge

Cheers: Edsel Ford enjoy a ride in a Ford Model T at the birthday party

"You don't own just one Model T," Peterson said. "You buy another one and another one and another one."

John Heitmann, a history professor at the University of Dayton who has taught classes on automobile history and its impact on American life, said the Model T is one of the most historically significant cars of the 20th century and maybe the single most important American car.
Henry Ford realized there was a big market for cars - and not just for the wealthy - and that people would keep buying them, Heitmann said.

"It was kind of the common car for the common person," Heitmann said.

A century later, Ford and other Detroit automakers are struggling to keep up with consumer demands. Buyers are shunning trucks and sport utility vehicles for more fuel-efficient models, and high gas prices and a sluggish economy are keeping sales low.

All major automakers but Honda Motor Co. reported steep sales declines for June. Ford's sales tumbled 27.9 percent from June 2007.

The Model T gathering in Richmond aims to be more than just an antique car show but a reminder of Ford's groundbreaking automobile.

The first production Model T Ford was assembled in Detroit on Oct. 1, 1908. With the development of the sturdy, low-priced car, Henry Ford made his company the biggest in the industry, according to the Henry Ford Museum.

In a span of 19 years, Ford would build 15 million cars with the Model T engine.

The Model T, nicknamed the "Tin Lizzie," was probably the most important vehicle in causing social change in America, Heitmann said. It helped transform the nation's cities, enabling residents to move farther away from the trolley lines and creating the first ring of suburbs, he said.

"The move out of the city began with the Model T and other vehicles, particularly after World War I," he said.

Heitmann said the Model T also was embraced by farmers and rural Americans.

"It had a very high ground clearance. It was easy to repair. It was so inexpensive that isolation on the American farm came to an end," he said.

Once rural Americans used the Model T to come to the cities to shop, crossroads stores in the country went out of business and centralized school systems replaced one-room schoolhouses, Heitmann said.

Henry Ford and the Model T also changed the face of the U.S. labor force.

Heitmann said Ford raised wages to attract and keep workers at his factories and employed immigrants and minorities.

"That was really important in kind of creating a class of well-to-do workers," he said.

The popularity of the Model T also found its way into poems, songs and movies.


T time: Enthusiasts mark 100th birthday of the car that got America on the road | Mail Online

[Woodmonkey]

Near cars. Can't be beat.

[Old Fart]

I haven't been over here much lately because I'm up to my Butt in trying to get a worn out 81 year old Ford ready for our annual Pioneer Days Parade on Labor Day.
Model T's weren't well known for being able to idle in traffic without boiling over.
Mine will have one extra part on it.

By the way, it's estimated that there are still 60,000 Model T's (running or in parts) world wide, left out of the 15 million that were made.
IF "Lizzie" is cooperative and will make just ONE MORE parade (that little 22HP engine is SO worn out), she goes back to the garage for a serious tear down, including $7,500 worth of re-manufactured, custom built, engine and trans.

[Old Fart]

Originally Posted by Snowden

T time: Enthusiasts mark 100th birthday of the car that got America on the road


By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 8:33 AM on 23rd July 2008



Ford Motor Corporation is marking the 100th anniversary of the Model T, the low-priced car that introduced motoring to the masses, at a time when Americans are cringing at the cost of filling their gas tanks and the industry is struggling with plant closures and layoffs.

But a week-long celebration of the Model T promises to offer some nostalgic balm.

About 750 of the iconic vehicles were on display yesterday in what is being called the largest gathering of Model Ts since they left the factory.


Edsel Ford II, great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford, addressed the crowd at an opening banquet.

T time: More than 1,000 Ford Model T enthusiasts descended on Richmond, Indiana, to take part in a week-long Ford Model T 100 year anniversary celebration

The gathering transformed the Wayne County Fairgrounds into what looked like a movie set for a motion picture depicting life in the early 1900s.

Drivers created Model T traffic jams as they picked their way among barns.

Jay Klehfoth, CEO of The Model T Ford Club of America based in nearby Centerville, said owners of the Model T are like a big extended family.

"Sometimes we refer to ourselves as the similarly afflicted," Klehfoth said. "We recognize we are only temporary custodians of these rolling pieces of history."

Roger Peterson, 71, of Greeneville, Tennessee, has owned 11 Model Ts over the years.

Enlarge

Start me up: A Model T owner cranks up his car

Enlarge

Cheers: Edsel Ford enjoy a ride in a Ford Model T at the birthday party

"You don't own just one Model T," Peterson said. "You buy another one and another one and another one."

John Heitmann, a history professor at the University of Dayton who has taught classes on automobile history and its impact on American life, said the Model T is one of the most historically significant cars of the 20th century and maybe the single most important American car.
Henry Ford realized there was a big market for cars - and not just for the wealthy - and that people would keep buying them, Heitmann said.

"It was kind of the common car for the common person," Heitmann said.

A century later, Ford and other Detroit automakers are struggling to keep up with consumer demands. Buyers are shunning trucks and sport utility vehicles for more fuel-efficient models, and high gas prices and a sluggish economy are keeping sales low.

All major automakers but Honda Motor Co. reported steep sales declines for June. Ford's sales tumbled 27.9 percent from June 2007.

The Model T gathering in Richmond aims to be more than just an antique car show but a reminder of Ford's groundbreaking automobile.

The first production Model T Ford was assembled in Detroit on Oct. 1, 1908. With the development of the sturdy, low-priced car, Henry Ford made his company the biggest in the industry, according to the Henry Ford Museum.

In a span of 19 years, Ford would build 15 million cars with the Model T engine.

The Model T, nicknamed the "Tin Lizzie," was probably the most important vehicle in causing social change in America, Heitmann said. It helped transform the nation's cities, enabling residents to move farther away from the trolley lines and creating the first ring of suburbs, he said.

"The move out of the city began with the Model T and other vehicles, particularly after World War I," he said.

Heitmann said the Model T also was embraced by farmers and rural Americans.

"It had a very high ground clearance. It was easy to repair. It was so inexpensive that isolation on the American farm came to an end," he said.

Once rural Americans used the Model T to come to the cities to shop, crossroads stores in the country went out of business and centralized school systems replaced one-room schoolhouses, Heitmann said.

Henry Ford and the Model T also changed the face of the U.S. labor force.

Heitmann said Ford raised wages to attract and keep workers at his factories and employed immigrants and minorities.

"That was really important in kind of creating a class of well-to-do workers," he said.

The popularity of the Model T also found its way into poems, songs and movies.


T time: Enthusiasts mark 100th birthday of the car that got America on the road | Mail Online

Ford factory workers made an un-heard-of $5.00 a day during the "T" era.
That made it possible for them to buy Ford cars. (My 27 Tudor cost $450.00 new, other models sold for as little as $250.00 during the "T" era). They could also buy them on credit, an option only available to the rich back then.
In the 20's over 1/4 of the cars on the road, in the world, were Model T Fords.

[Shooterman]

Originally Posted by Old Fart

I haven't been over here much lately because I'm up to my Butt in trying to get a worn out 81 year old Ford ready for our annual Pioneer Days Parade on Labor Day.
Model T's weren't well known for being able to idle in traffic without boiling over.
Mine will have one extra part on it.

By the way, it's estimated that there are still 60,000 Model T's (running or in parts) world wide, left out of the 15 million that were made.
IF "Lizzie" is cooperative and will make just ONE MORE parade (that little 22HP engine is SO worn out), she goes back to the garage for a serious tear down, including $7,500 worth of re-manufactured, custom built, engine and trans.

What a beautiful car, OF. Thanks for the picture.

[Old Fart]

We'll see how this parade goes, We might be cleaning up the debris from Hurricane Fay, we're sitting in the bull's eye!

[Old Fart]

Originally Posted by Old Fart

We'll see how this parade goes, We might be cleaning up the debris from Hurricane Fay, we're sitting in the bull's eye!

OK, Fay is (finally) gone, if we can manage to sneak in a parade on Labor Day before the new one in the gulf decides to come up here, I'll post a bunch of pictures.
It appears that since the theme of the parade this year is "100 Years On Wheels" AND since it's the 100th anneversary of the Model T, the parade folks have decided that my car should be right up at the front.
The Obamabots that will no doubt turn this parade into a political circus, (the same way the Ron Paul robots did last year) will all have to look at my "NObama" bumper sticker all the way down the parade route.