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The Sad End to the Universal Car
Rows and rows of junked
Model T Fords sit in a barn yard on a cold wintry day.
This marked the end of an era as other car manufacturers
offered speed, comfort and more advanced options. By
1927, after building more than 15 million cars, the
Model T production line was shut down. At that time a
used Ford was virtually worthless.
The first production Model T
Ford (1909 model year) was assembled at the Piquette
Avenue Plant in Detroit on October 1, 1908. In 1914 Ford
produced 308,162 cars, which was more than all 299 other
auto manufacturers combined.
Ford's refusal to improve
the Model T eventually doomed the Tin Lizzie. In 1909 he
proclaimed that there would be "no new models, no
new motors, no new bodies, and no new colors." He
stuck to his guns for 18 years, despite some obvious
shortcomings of the car--like the door on the driver's
side of the touring car, which did not open but had to
be vaulted, and the headlights that faded at low speeds,
which forced drivers to stop and rev their motors to see
what lay ahead on a dark night. Worst of all, in order
to see how much gas he had left, a driver had to empty
the front seat, lift the cushion up, and stick a ruler
into the gas tank.
By
1926 the design was so antiquated that the cars could
not compete with more modern designs from companies like
Chevrolet. 1927 was the last year for Henry's lady, the
"Universal Car" giving way to the newly
designed Ford Model A in 1928.
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