Description
Marque Expert: Chris Barker, Softbound, 64 Pages, ISBN: 9781845849917 - First Edition, May 217
STOP!
Don't buy a Ford Model T without buying this book FIRST!
Having this book in your pocket is just like having a real marque expert by your side. Benefit from Chris Barker's and Neil Tuckett's years of Model T experience, learn how to spot a bad car quickly, and how to assess a promising one like a professional.
Get the right Model T at the right price!
Packed with good advice - from running costs, through paperwork, vital statistics, valuation, and the Model T community, to whether a Model T will suit you and your lifestyle - this is THE COMPLETE GUIDE to choosing, assessing and buying the Model T of your dreams.
Covers
All models 1909 to 1927
Introduction & thanks - the purpose of this book
Fifteen million Model T Fords were built between 1908 and 1927, and Ford dominated the world car market for most of this period. By 1920, more than half the cars on earth were Model Ts. Known in its time as the 'Fliwer' or 'Tin Lizzie,' it brought motoring to millions and has justifiably been called 'The Car That Put the World on Wheels;' an international team of journalists voted it 'Car of the (20th) Century.' Nowadays, its basic robustness and reliability, together with excellent availability of cars, parts and knowledge, mean it can be described as `the 100-year-old car you can still use.' It is one of the few pre-WW2 cars - and probably the only pre-WW1 design - which merits the publication of an Essential Buyer's Guide.
Most Model Ts were made in the USA, but Ford's Canadian factory supplied British Empire territories such as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and the Manchester factory built 300,000 Fords for the UK, and supplied parts for assembly plants in Europe.
Owning a Model T Ford means owning a piece of automobile, industrial and social history. It also brings membership of a worldwide community of `interesting' people.
Model Ts are to be found with all manner of bodies: Touring Cars and Town Cars, Sedans and Speedsters, Taxis and Trucks, Roadsters, and even Railcars and Tractors - but they all share the same engine and transmission, and are built on either the car or the Ton Truck chassis. Many of the bodies were built by Ford; others were aftermarket conversions.
This book will help you decide which you want. It also sorts the many Ford myths from the facts. The first myth to deal with is the widespread belief that the Model T was unchanged from 1908 to 1927. In fact, many parts were improved and updated, but are interchangeable, so a car claimed to be built in a given year may be a mixture of components from various years. This book will help you sort them out.
F
ord usually introduced changes with 'model years' which, in the USA, began as early as August of the preceding year, and it has proved convenient to apply this rationale to this book. So, a '1917 Ford' refers to one built between August 1916 and July 1917.
Ford justifiably claimed that the Model T was the Universal Car, but it was first an American car, and the majority of Fords and buyers are still to be found in the USA. We have, therefore, mostly used American terms and spellings throughout, with British equivalents following in parenthesis where necessary.
We would like to thank fellow members of the Model T Ford Register of Great Britain (MTFRGB) for their help and support in the production of this book. We also need to thank owners elsewhere, including those in the USA and Australia, who have helped make this book invaluable to all those seeking to buy a Model T. Photographs are the authors' except where otherwise credited.
Chris Barker & Neil Tuckett
