Today in history: Last day of Model T production at Ford

[Custom Hearse]

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/last-day-of-model-t-production-at-ford?et_cid=75389123&et_rid=1216515398&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.history.com%2fthis-day-in-history%2flast-day-of-model-t-production-at-ford

[pharoah]

That must have been somethimg. Can you imagine people crowding a showroom to see the new Honda? Or new Ford,for that matter. "It has a new grille emblem!" "Biggest change in five years!" Boooring.....

I'm old enough to remebr whne cars were restyled EVERY year,and people looked forward to the new models that came out-usually in Septmber. Now they come out 'whenever'. I was talking to my oldest brother the other day about this,and I told him,and he agreed, that there wasn't 1 car or truck that interested me anymore. That's bad... The cars are all 4 door jellybeans,and the trucks are these huge,boxy $50,000 behemoths. Don't get me started on SUV's. OK,i'm done. My .02.

[Motor City]

Here is the 1904 Ford plant in Detroit that still survives (Ford rented a building for the early models). The Model T was developed here. Production moved to Highland Park on Jan. 1, 1910.

http://fordpiquetteavenueplant.org

The neighborhood isn't great, but it's worth seeing if you're visiting the Detroit area.

[Art Anderson]

Actually, Model T production continued to late June 1927 though. Gotta hate how today's writers can't figure out what real history is!

[Junkman]

In other news, 30 years later Touring Car legend Roberto Ravaglia was born. What could be more embarrassing than having a dodgy special edition named after you?

[Junkman]

1906.

Vauxhall Bridge is opened.

109 years later it's still running triple shifts and hasn't had a day closed since the 6th of March 1963.

Oh, and it's John Wayne's birthday.

[Harry P.]

Actually, Model T production continued to late June 1927 though.

According to official Ford information, Model T's last day of production was May 26, 1927. So who was building them through late June?

[sjordan2]

According to official Ford information, Model T's last day of production was May 26, 1927. So who was building them through late June?

People with secret handshakes.

Edited May 27, 2015 by sjordan2

[Custom Hearse]

LOL Skip!!!

[Art Anderson]

According to official Ford information, Model T's last day of production was May 26, 1927. So who was building them through late June?

On May 26, 1927, Ford produced the 15 Millionth Model T, and announced that Model T Ford production was ending. However, there is documentation that Model T's were built for several more days after that, probably to build out the last complete cars from parts stocks at River Rouge. However, consider that Model T was the first automobile to have been produced and sold on every continent in the World, save for Antarctica (Penquins apparently can't drive cars?), and records exist of Model T's still being assembled at Ford factories overseas for several more months--one of the last of those was produced in Cork, Ireland in DECEMBER 1927.

There's lots of information out there, in books, magazine articles, and of course, on the Web, some of it conflicting other sources of course. But this is the best information I could find this morning.

Art

[Harry P.]

OK... so American Model T production ended on May 26, but not necessarily worldwide production. Makes sense.

[1930fordpickup]

Automobile production ended May 26, 1927 but trucks and engines continued for some time. This info came from http://www.mtfca.com/encyclo/index.htm.

[Harry P.]

They were still building Model T engines in the 1940s!

[1930fordpickup]

So for some time was a bit longer than I thought. I just thought it was into the 30'S .

[Art Anderson]

They were still building Model T engines in the 1940s!

The last Model T engines were built, I believe, in 1941. Biggest reason for that seems to have been that the T engine had found lots of use as industrial engines--portable sawmills, feed grinders, that sort of thing. FWIW, that wasn't unusual for Ford. Ford was still building 24-stud flathead V8 engines in Canada as late as 1980--again for industrial use, but they were virtually identical to the automobile engine.

Art

[JTalmage]

Hmm a fairly fresh 80's Ford Flathead for your hot rod? That would be neat.

[Joe Handley]

Weren't the French still using the Ford Flathead in some of their military vehicles until the 80's too?

[Junkman]

Weren't the French still using the Ford Flathead in some of their military vehicles until the 80's too?

Until 1973 in the Simca Marmon. Simca had taken over Ford France as early as 1951, but the flatheads soldiered on.

They also used the 2.3 litre V8 "60" until 1963 in their Vedette/Ariane passenger cars, making them the last mass-produced French cars with a V8.

The Vedette was then built (complete with flathead) in Brazil as the Simca Esplanada until the Chrysler takeover in 1969.

[Art Anderson]

Until 1973 in the Simca Marmon. Simca had taken over Ford France as early as 1951, but the flatheads soldiered on.

They also used the 2.3 litre V8 "60" until 1963 in their Vedette/Ariane passenger cars, making them the last mass-produced French cars with a V8.

The Vedette was then built (complete with flathead) in Brazil as the Simca Esplanada until the Chrysler takeover in 1969.

I was at the Towe Ford Museum in Sacramento, California in the late 1990's, and on display was a V8-60, built by Simca, complete with transmission--the latter was fully twice as long as the V8 engine!

Art

[Motor City]

Regarding the earlier comments about the Rouge plant, it's located in Dearborn. The Rouge River runs alongside of it. River Rouge is also a community near the plant. The plant was originally in Springwells, which then changed its name in the '20s to Fordson in honor of Henry and Edsel. Fordson and Dearborn consolidated as one city in 1929. The 1928 Model A was the first car produced there.