"CROSSING THE BLOCK"
Featuring
A Private European Collection of Victorian Carriages and Coaches to include Associated Memorabilia
OXFORD
Circa 1920 FORD MODEL T 'TORNADO' ROADSTER
Engine no. M7542354
No Reserve
Footnotes
- After spending his formative years as a motor manufacturer
experimenting with a variety of models, Henry Ford pared the company's
range down to just one - the Model T - destined to be the world's first
mass-produced automobile. One of the most important developments in
motoring history, the Model T arrived in October 1908, ushering in
Ford's new one-model policy that would see more than 15 million sold
worldwide by the time production ceased in 1927. Rugged, reliable and
easy to drive thanks to its simple, pedal-operated transmission, the
Model T introduced more people to motoring than any other car. Despite
its apparent simplicity, the Model T was an advanced design for its day.
For example: the four-cylinder block was a single casting with
detachable 'head at a time when the majority of manufacturers cast their
fixed-head cylinders in pairs. The so-called 'three-point' method of
engine installation was equally novel, being a triangulated system, also
applied to the axles, that isolated these components from twisting
forces applied to the chassis by the inferior roads of the day.
From the very beginning the Ford Model T's sheer ubiquity meant that, inevitably, it attracted the attention of tuners and customisers, forming the basis for some of the very first 'hot rods'. Typically, the original body would be removed and a speedster or roadster body, like this car's, installed. Like the Volkswagen 'Beetle' and BMC Mini in later years, the Model T spawned an entire cottage industry of after-market component suppliers offering parts ranging from monocle windshields to overhead-valve conversions.
Fully restored in the 1980, this Model T Roadster was purchased in 1990 from C B M Bonenkamp in the Netherlands and last ran in 1991, since when it has been on museum display. Noteworthy features include Ford Brown headlights, scuttle-mounted Ford brass oil lamps, Lucas bulb horn, cylindrical copper fuel tank and a steering column-mounted monocle windshield. Although the year '1913' appears on the fuel tank, certain features point to a later manufacturing date. It should be noted that the engine currently installed dates from April 1923. (The engine previously fitted is included in the sale). There are no documents with thisLot-
- Full catalogue now online at: http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/22921/
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