The "Fabulous Tin Lizzy" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Had just pulled into a parking space at the Walmart which is a hop, skip and jump from my house.  My wife had ordered a prescription refill and I volunteered to take her across the street for something to do.  As I got out of the car, Carol said to me, "Do you see that car in the next row?"  Wow!  

The Model T Ford.  You can see the bright
wooden wheels from this view.

Parked closeby was one fabulous Model T Ford.  The sunshine reflected off the bright red paint job and the brass framework around the radiator reflected my image as I stood in front of the car.  I told Carol I'd be in the store as soon as I grabbed a few photos with my phone.  If you have never seen a Model T in person, you have been missing one of the most famous car in automotive history.  It was on October 1st, 1908, that the Model T first went on sale.  Henry Ford's "Tin Lizzy," as the car was known, changed the way Americans lived, worked and traveled.  The assembly-line car, Ford's revolutionary new advancement in car production, made automobiles affordable for a majority of Americans for the first time.  

The rear of the car.

Over 15 million Model T's were sold from 1908 until 1927.  They were built in Detroit and Highland Park, Michigan as well as in Manchester, England and auto plants in continental Europe.  The car was known for its low cost, durability, versatility, and ease of maintenance.  The assembly line dropped the cost of the car from $850 in 1908 to less than $300 in 1925 with about 40% of all cars sold being the "Tin Lizzy."  The car was offered in a five-seat touring car, a two-seat runabout, and a seven-seat town car.  The car was painted black from 1913 to 1925.  The engine was a simple four-cylinder that could maintain speeds of 40-45 miles per hour.  

The car was registered in Maine and labeled as a Horseless Carriage.

From 1908 to 1920 the car was started with a hand-crank.  The transmission allowed the driver two forward gears and one reverse which were controlled by foot pedals rather than a hand lever.  There was a ten gallon fuel tank under the front seat and since the gasoline was fed to the engine by gravity, driving up a steep hill had to be done backwards.  

The interior was brown leather with the horn to the left
of the driver on the side panel of the car.

The car's homey appearance, uncom- fortable ride and incessant rattling made the Model T the butt of many jokes, songs, poems and stories.  The "Tin Lizzy" was the best-selling car in history until VW introduced the 1972 VW Bug.  The Ford Model T was named the most influential car of the 20th century in  1999.  A few days after the car was introduced in October, 1908, 15,000 orders were placed.  

Here I am looking down the side of the car at a metal tool box.

As I snapped a few photos with my phone, a crowd began to gather and we talked about all the neat features that the car had.  The wheels were wooden artillery wheels with steel welded-spokes which were available in 1926 and 1927.  As far as paint color of the car, red was only for the touring cars.  Before that the car was available in any color, as long as it was black.  My only wish, after taking a half dozen photos, was that I would get a chance to see the owner drive the car from the parking lot.  Didn't happen, but I still enjoyed looking at the piece of automobile history.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

This logo on the front window says Seal Cove Auto Museum in Seal Cove, Maine.