Ford sold cars for two years, and has a great line up for 1905:
Meanwhile, this 1906 Cadillac ad shows Ford moving up to seventh in number of cars sold in eastern U.S. states by the middle of 1905:
And we know Ford will move to number one by the end of 1907. With well over two hundred car makers at the time, I think these are extraordinary numbers. Evidently the leaders at Ford were doing something right.
(Message edited by Rob on December 07, 2014)
So Rob, With over two hundred auto makers out there and Ford making it to the top at the end of 1907 it shows that the K was a car in demand. Not the slug the wife,s tales make it out to be.
Ford passed Cadillac who was on top in 1905 shows that the K must have been a car money people wanted.
Keep up the good work, Scott
I see they are advertising a 'Doctor's Car' already in 1905. Not a coupe, but still direct advertising.
It would be neat if next year at the OCF someone took it upon themselves to line up one of each of the cars in a row so the visitor could see the progression from the Model A to the Model T. I might find a way to drive over then just to see it.
Dave
While it no doubt can be accomplished again, as recently as 2013 a complete collection of Ford letter series cars was on display at the OCF.
As you may suspect, finding a Model B to display is a little more difficult than some of the other cars, but The Henry Ford agreed to display the one they have in their collection.
We'll see what the future holds.
Timothy
The Cadillac ad is a bit confusing. According to AACA documentation, Ford was 4th in sales in 1905
http://local.aaca.org/bntc/mileposts/1905.htm
Eric,
I believe the numbers came from this "Motor Age" article. It only covers eastern states and the first months of 1905:
Several states published monthly registration numbers by make. This New York State report shows Ford in 6th place among automakers for June 1906. The article goes on to say most of the Fords were the six cylinder (K) model. Ford reported 101 Model K sold on it's June audit report, along with a few Model F and B cars:
That last clip is interesting. It seems to imply that the K was available well before the N.
I'm happy to see that the simply perfect cars were still in second place in June of '06. I believe that Ford eclipsed them about the time that mine was made. I'll look it up.
Eric,
Yes, the first K were sold in April 1906. Model N weren't available until July 06. The biggest month for K sales was June 1906 with 101 sold according to the Ford Motor Co. audit. Many car makers were content to sell 100 cars in a year.