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FordModelT-S

SPECIFICATION

Engine:
Four Cyl in line; 95.2 x 101.6 mm 2895 cc; side valve; max power, 20 bhp at 1,800 rpm

Transmission:
Manual two speed epicyclic gearbox

Suspension:
Front, beam axle and transverse semi-elliptic spring; rear, live axle and transverse semi-elliptic spring.

Brakes:
Drum, rear wheels and transmission hand brake.

Dimensions:
Wheelbase, 100 in (255 cm); track front,57 in (145 cm); rear, 57.5 (146 cm); late models 60 in (152) front and rear

Max speed
apporox 42 mph (67 kmh)

Ford Model T 1908/27



There were Fords before the Model T, but this car was the foundation of the modern company. It was the worlds first car built on a moving production line, and untill overtaken by the VW Beetle it was the highest selling car.

Simple...

Design work started during the winter of 1906-1907, and it was launched in September 1908. With a channel frame, two crossmenbers and transverse leaf spring suspension, it was rudimentary, inexpensive and easy to assemble. The engine was unsophisticated and inefficient, but it did have a detachable head, most unusual among cheap cars of the day. It had the great verues of being reliable and very flexible so that Ford could use a two speed epicyclic gear-box with wide gaps between "first" and "top".

...but complicated

A modern driver finds the controls unusual and complicated, but they were accepted by contemporary motorists, who appreciated the mechanical simplicity. That continued though specification changes, such as electric lights in 1915 and a battery starter in 1918. sales fell rapidly after a record year in 1923, when more than two million Model T's were sold, and Ford had to concede that the car was obsolete.

A 1923 sedan, in the black associated with the T, used only because coach paints dried too slowly for mass-production methods.

Photo Autopresse
MCMXCI, Edito-Service S.A. D1 078 01-10

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