SPENCER, NC – Close to 100 Model Ts and their owners from across the region will soon make their way to the North Carolina Transportation Museum to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Ford Model T. The Museum is located at 411 S. Salisbury Ave. in Spencer.
The August 2nd event will feature a host of family activities, including a kids’ vehicle assembly line. Weather permitting there will also be an appearance by a special Ford hot air balloon. Attendees will have the opportunity to get up-close and personal with the historic automobile while meeting owners of the classic car, each with their own story to tell.
Marjorie Kendall Bell, president of the Carolina T’s Club, counts riding in a Model T as one of her earliest memories. Her father purchased two 1923 Model Ts after World War II that remain in her family to this day. The Carolina T’s Club was her father’s dream, and Marjorie happily has carried the mantle. Other Model T enthusiasts will travel from as far as California to attend.
“For a while growing up, the Model T was the only car we owned,” said Bell. “I can’t imagine life without it—my heart is in those cars.”
Putting the World on Wheels – Then and Now
The Model T chugged into history Oct. 1, 1908. Henry Ford called it the “universal car.” It became the symbol of low-cost, reliable transportation that could get through when other vehicles and horse-drawn wagons were stuck in muddy roads. Affectionately dubbed “Tin Lizzie,” the Model T won the approval of millions of Americans.
The first Model Ts sold for $825 (for a two-door roadster)—an unexpected bargain compared to other cars. But even more remarkable is that during its 19 years of production, Ford continued to steadily lower its price, thanks to manufacturing efficiencies including the moving assembly line introduced in 1913.
In addition to its affordability, Model T stands out as the industry’s truly first global car. By 1921, it accounted for almost 57 percent of the world’s automobile production.
“One-hundred years ago, the Ford Model T changed the way Americans lived and enhanced the nation’s prosperity by providing a simple, affordable and reliable means of transportation,” said Ford Representative Glen Graves. “Ford views the Model T centennial as a reminder of Henry Ford’s commitment to quality and innovation. We’re proud to honor this iconic vehicle with the dozens of Model T enthusiasts in North Carolina, and to share with them the spirit of the Model T that lives on today at Ford.”
Today’s lineup of Ford products and technologies are being designed and developed with the same passion for innovation, quality and value that Henry Ford introduced with the Model T. EcoBoost engine technology, which features turbocharging and direct injection, will be available on 500,000 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles annually in North America within the next five years. These engines make a range of vehicles—from small cars to full-size pickups—fun to drive, and deliver up to 20 percent better fuel economy and up to 15 percent improved emissions.
EcoBoost—combined with multi-speed transmissions, advanced electric power steering, weight reductions and aerodynamic improvements—is part of Ford Motor Company’s strategy to deliver sustainable, quality vehicles that customers want and value.
The high-volume engines begin rolling out in 2009 on products including Ford Flex and Lincoln MKS, keeping alive a heritage of powertrain innovation that dates back to the Model T. The Tin Lizzie’s original engines boasted 20 hp, with a top speed of 40-45 mph. Its front-mounted, 2.9-liter, four-cylinder, flex-fuel engine was the first single block motor with removable cylinder head, and remains the basis for most of today’s modern engines.
The award-winning Ford SYNC system—developed with Microsoft—connects people and their portable devices in the vehicle, including media players and Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones. SYNC is offered exclusively on nearly every new Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicle and it’s on track to reach one million sales in early 2009.
Millions of customers already have enjoyed the capability that comes standard on Ford vehicles, including F-150, which is new for 2009 and offers the most capability, choice and smart features in the light-duty pickup segment.
Just as the company did in 1908, Ford is making the world’s most important vehicle technologies available to every consumer and continues to change the way America drives.
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 approximately 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 Ts 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.
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles in 200 markets across six continents. With about 228,000 employees and about 90 plants worldwide, the company’s core and affiliated automotive brands include Ford, 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.
The N.C. Transportation Museum, located in historic Spencer Shops, the former Southern Railway repair facility, is part of the Division of State Historic Sites, Department of Cultural Resources. The Museum is located just five minutes off I-85 at Exit 79 in Spencer, N.C., and about an hour from Charlotte, Greensboro or Winston-Salem. For more information, visit www.nctrans.org. The Model-T celebration corresponds with the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources 2008 theme of “Telling Our Stories.” For information on the Department of Cultural Resources, call (919) 807-7385 or visit www.ncculture.com.