Saturday, September 27, 2008

Today in History

September 27, 1908, the first Model T was built. Henry Ford introduced it to the public in October, and by the time it went out of production nineteen years later, Henry had built 15,007,033 flivvers. This photo is copied from the back cover of 'Model T Memories' by Floyd Clymer, who was selling cars at age 11, and soon began selling Fords.


This book by Mr. Clymer is still in print, and can easily be found on the internet, but I am afraid the $2.00 price that I paid some forty years ago has inflated a bit. It's a good reference book, and entertaining, too.

Model T's came in many body styles, or as a bare chassis so you could add a body yourself. The early T's even came in colors other than black.




Many T owners repainted their car to have a prettier ride, and today's restorers are keeping that tradition alive.


These are my favorite T pictures. Above, my mother as a little girl is riding in the back of a T out for a joyride. Note the lady behind the wheel. The horn did not work on this car, so she has a cowbell to clear the road. Below is the T Truck my dad bought and restored (teaching me a lot in the process) to keep me out of trouble as a teenager.


UPDATE! Here is great oldie sung by Billy Murray, posted on YouTube by SilentBacchus.


2 comments:

  1. WOW, nice post and blog,I am so very complimented that you used my cruddy video!!!

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  2. Thank You! I enjoy your videos. I usually record the audio, then just paste a photo of the label for the video track. I play my records on a Brunswick with a microphone going to the computer. I use Audacity to record the sound.

    Thanks again for the video!

    ReplyDelete