Few would deny that the Ford Model T was perhaps the most significant car ever conceived. It was the first mass produced vehicle and was affordable enough for the general public to get their first real taste of the independence motoring offered. In the 19 years that the T was produced, over 15 million cars were built, a staggering number considering the era.
The first consumer car came off the line on October 1, 1908 which means that the Model T will be 100 years old in 2008. To celebrate, Ford has planned events through the year. Things kick off this weekend at the 2008 Amelia Island Concours in Florida and finish up with T Party 2008 in July in Richmond, Indiana. More than 1000 T’s from around the world are expected to show up for this one.
Ford release with event details and T Trivia after the break
DEARBORN, Mich., March 5, 2008 – The car that put the world on wheels, the Ford Model T, is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2008 and Ford is planning a year-long series of celebrations to honor the iconic vehicle.
Celebrations will officially commence at the 2008 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance in Amelia Island, Fla., March 7-9. Ford has many other regional events in the works for a year filled with celebrations, including a special Model T display at the West Coast’s largest Ford enthusiast car show - the Fabulous Fords Forever! event at Knott’s Berry Farm Amusement Park in Anaheim, Calif., on Apr. 20th. In July, Ford Motor Company will be the title sponsor of the Model T Ford Club of America’s “T Party 2008” that will be held in Richmond, Ind.
Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance
Among the fine collection of automobiles that will be displayed at the 2008 Amelia Island Concours this weekend will be a class of special Model Ts featured on the “Field of Dreams,” one of the premier locations at the event. This display will recognize this historic automobile and its contribution to America’s emergence as an industrial power in the early 1900s.
Close to 20,000 spectators and automobile aficionados will attend the weekend’s Concours activities, helping Ford kickoff the Model T centennial celebration.
“T Party 2008”
Ford Motor Company, with support from Ford Motor Company Fund, is the title sponsor for the “T Party 2008” celebration hosted by the Model T Ford Club of America, which plans to bring in close to 1,000 Model Ts for this significant milestone.
The “T Party 2008” will be held July 21-26 in Richmond, Ind., and is expected to be the largest gathering of Model Ts since they left the factory. The weeklong centennial celebration will draw over ten thousand Model T owners and enthusiasts from around the world. More than 700 Model Ts are already registered for the event, including entries from England, Norway, Australia and New Zealand.
“The support and response we’re receiving around the T Party has been phenomenal. The Model T Ford Club of America has been looking forward to celebrating this milestone for many years,” said Jay Klehfoth, chief executive officer, Model T Ford Club of America. “We’re thankful for Ford’s support in helping bring this event alive to the thousands of Model T enthusiasts who will join us from around the world.”
One hundred years ago, the Ford Model T changed the world with its technology and the same concept has lived with Ford ever since.
“The Ford Model T is rightly credited with putting the world on wheels, and its influence can still be felt today,” said Jim Vella, president, Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services. “We’re proud to join in the celebration of one hundred years of fantastic Ford heritage and innovation with Model T enthusiasts from around the world, and we look forward to carrying the legacy and spirit of the Model T into the future.”
For more information on the “T Party 2008” centennial celebration, please visit www.tparty2008.com. Additional Model T centennial celebration events are being planned and will be announced later this year.
Ford Model T Facts
* October 1, 1908 marks the anniversary of the first Model T built for sale.
* The Model T was the first low-priced, mass-produced automobile with standard, interchangeable parts.
* The Model T was equipped with a 20-horsepower, four-cylinder engine with a top speed of about 45 miles per hour, weighed 1,200 pounds, and achieved 13-21 miles per gallon.
* The moving assembly line for the Model T revolutionized manufacturing in 1913.
* More than 15 Million Model T’s had been sold by May 26, 1927, when a ceremony marked the formal end of Model T production.
* Henry Ford called the Model T “the universal car,” a low-cost, reliable vehicle that could be maintained easily and could successfully travel the poor roads of the era.
* On Dec. 18, 1999, the Ford Model T was named “Car of the Century” by a panel of 133 automotive journalists and experts who began with a list of 700 candidates in 1996 and sequentially narrowed the nominees through seven rounds of balloting over three years.
About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles in 200 markets across six continents. With about 245,000 employees and about 100 plants worldwide, the company’s core and affiliated automotive brands include Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo and Mazda. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford’s products, please visit www.ford.com.
3 comments ↓
GO FORD!
I was going to try to include Lucky in this somewhere, but it just seemed out of place somehow
I understand but believe it of not, for me, the relationship is one in the same. Growing up under my father I knew nothing but Ford. At one time my father owned a Ford dealership in Labanon Oregon, one that not only sold cars and trucks but also Ford farm equipment such as Ford combines, tractors and so on. Then there was my parents car collection several favorites being their Ford T’s & A’s not to mention his tractor collection.
As a young boy I owned many fords including Mustangs and my Shelby’s one of which is my 68 GT500. There have been many times that we entered both my GT500 and my 28 Model A in car shows or Concourse dElegance. We usually set them side by side with a large placard. One side points at the Shelby and says things like, “This car has over 500 horsepower and can do 0 to 60 in 4 seconds.”
Pointing to the Model A it says, “This car can’t go 60.
Then it points at the Shelby and says, “This car can cross the Unites States in less than 50 hours.” Then towards the Model A it says, “This car would take 50 weeks to cross the United States.”
It has been lots of fun but more importantly what it has meant to me is “tradition”, one that all began with Henry Ford and then it was handed down from father to father and so on until it got to me. Many days my son and I have sat around as I told stories about riding around with my father in his old Model T’s and A’s (and tractors) stories I hope he will someday hand down to his children.
And yes, when I race my Shelby’s, I am constantly thinking of my father and those rides in parades or just down a quite country road in Oregon. Driving my father’s Model A across the Golden Gate is a day I will never forget.
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