This 1927 Tudor is currently for sale on ebay. It has one bid for $10,000.00 but has not met the reserve. The owner say he has owned several Model T's and did recently sell a nice 1917.
While I would like to see this T find a new home with a new T owner, I can't get past the bright green wire wheels. Since I have only ever owned T's with wooden spokes, is this a common color for wire wheels? If not, what color should the wire wheels be for a black Tudor? Jim Patrick
My first comment would be the wheels can be any color the owner would want them to be.
I believe the most common colors of wire wheels were black, red or straw yellow.
The original green for Ford wire wheels was called Emerald green and wasn't as bright as this ebay car. Here's a thread where George shares some of his research on Ford wire wheel colors: http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/118802/170186.html
Normally a 1927 Tudor would have been painted in either of the three Poroxylin colors Royal Maroon, Highland Green or Fawn Gray, but if somebody really wanted a black car, it was probably possible to arrange?
http://www.mtfca.com/encyclo/1926-27H.htm
Ford did offer green wheels as a dealer option. It's listed as Emerald Green (enamel) or Apple Green (Pyroxylin). The color codes for both are DDL 519 and DAR 44783. I think the wheels in the picture are more intense than what Ford used.
First mud hole you drive through will correct the wheel colour.
Good one Gustaf!
I personally see nothing wrong with the wheel color.
Here is my Model T.
Besides changing the wheel color is simple dismount, powder coat, mount. cost approx: $180.
Just some background on how my wheel color was chosen... I got me some 26-7 wire wheels and was unsure as to what color to choose. I decided as entertainment for the club meeting I'd photo shop 7 wheel colors that I liked and let the club choose the final color. Each person present was given two votes. In the end bright green was the most popular.
My guess as to why this person chose green... They let the local club vote on wheel color choice.
I bet you'd never guess what was the second most voted color... Bright Pink! BTW the pink looked really good against that black Model T.
I suppose, if I had to choose a color for the wire wheels from the authentic wire wheel colors shown in Roger's chart above, I would choose the "straw" color, no matter what color the body was, as that seems to me to be the most prevalent color wire wheels from the period were painted and it goes with every body color. Jim Patrick
The most prevalent color in the day would have been black. I'll bet there is a much larger percentage of colored wheels today than there ever was 'back in the day'.
Hal. Even on '26 and '27 model wire wheels? I thought after 1925, Ford began offering more color varieties so as to appeal to the masses and to compete with other car manufacturers that offered more color choices to the customer. Jim Patrick
Hal. Even on '26 and '27 model wire wheels? I thought after 1925, Ford began offering more color varieties so as to appeal to the masses and to compete with other car manufacturers that offered more color choices to the customer. Jim Patrick
In '28 and '29, black was the only color from the factory. Dealers would repaint the black wheels the same color as the body pinstripe upon request and at an additional cost to the customer. '30 and '31 cars came with the various colors (To match the pinstripe) from the factory. I am assuming that the '26 and '27 cars fall into the same category as the '28 and '29 cars, as I doubt the Ford factories geared up to paint wheels the various colors for two years then quit for two years then started back, but I could be wrong.
My statement about the percentages is based on the belief that people back then didn't worry about their T being too black and needing some contrast. Especially not enough to pay the extra to have it done.
The encyclopedia tells us that the stock color from the factory for 26-27 was black. The other colors were a dealer option. I suspect Hal is right about most of the folks buying black wheels, because price was such an important factor for so many Ford customers. But if only 25% of the buyers took the plunge for other colored wheels, that still amounts to over half a million vehicles. I think that would be incentive enough to offer the option.
The fella who worked for the Ford dealership in Springfield, Mo. in the 20's told me that most wheels, practically all, were in black. He and his brother worked in the Ford body shop as young men. Their job was to paint the wheels and CARS in colors to sell. These cars were straight off of the train cars and into the body shop. Prior to hitting the sales floor. Only a few. And also cars for taxies and fire departments. Mail trucks and telephone trucks were all ready in color when off of the train. Not all. Some of those he sanded down and or painted. He started out for a couple of years only sanding down and rubbing out. Pyroxylen was the paint type he said or enamel and a coal tar derivative. This is all that I know as he didn't lie. I found out this info in 1966 when he painted my 25 touring. He was 60's late or 70's.