Note: 1200 pounds was the figure given for the Touring car “with others in proportion.” The bare chassis weighed about 900 pounds.

# Prices effective October 1, 1909, included top, windshield, gas lamps and speedometer on all open cars.
The Town Car, Landaulet and Coupe came with oil lamps, speedometer and horn only.
Open cars could be had without this equipment (oil lamps, horn and speedometer only) for $75 less. * Fiscal year, October 1, 1909 to September 30, 1910. Ford News, Nov. 1, 1920, gives a figure of 18,664. ** Tourings and Tourabouts grouped. 16,890 is the total of the two types. *** Chassis was not shown in the catalogs.

ENGINE SERIAL NUMBERS:14,162 to 34,901 approx. calendar year. 8,101 to 31,500 approx. model year. (Ford called cars built after July 1909 “1910” cars but they were not changed from the 1909 models. The 1910 model year ran from August 1, 1909 to September 30, 1910.)

MODEL YEAR DATES: August 1, 1909 to November 1910, approximately.

Note: Ford referred to the cars built after August 1, 1909 as “1910” cars but common usage today is to call the cars built within calendar year 1909 “1909” models.

MAJOR MODEL YEAR FEATURES: Refer to component descriptions for details.
The major change was the addition of the roller pinion bearing on the driveshaft and modifications to the rear axle.
Body styles generally continued those of 1909.

BODY TYPES: Touring, Tourabout, Runabout, Landaulet, Town Car, Coupe. Bodies supplied by several manufacturers. Wood panels over a wood framework. Basically unchanged from the 1909 styles except that the Coupe was slightly larger.

COLORS: All cars were painted Brewster Green, an all-but-black color. Fenders, aprons, running boards, chassis and running gear were also painted body color.

UPHOLSTERY: Full leather in the open cars, in a diamond-tufted pattern. The seats in the Coupe, Landaulet and Town Car were leather, with imitation leather trim on the door panels.

FENDERS: Front: Uniform width top surface, with formed splash apron area. Bill on front. Rear: Similar in style to the front. Support irons were of the “butterfly” style, the same as the later 1909 cars.

SPLASH APRON: Fairly uniform from front to rear. Cut back in a relatively straight pattern to clear the brake and radius rods.

RUNNING BOARDS: Pressed steel with embossed ribs along the length of the board, but broken up into a series of “dashes,” beginning at about number 15,000.

HOOD: Aluminum, with no louvers. Hinges were now separate from the panels, and were riveted in place. Hold-down clamps had one “ear” and were of forged steel. The steel hood former still had the “notch” on both sides that had been necessary to clear the earlier integral hood hinges.

DASHBOARD (Firewall): Wood, with brass edge trim that did not overlap the wood. Added extension piece to support the now standard windshield.

CHASSIS: Rear body supports were integral with the rear fender iron forging. Painted body color.

STEERING COLUMN ASSEMBLY: Brass quadrant, brass-plated spark and throttle levers, with hard rubber knobs. Gear case was brass, riveted assembly. Wheel was 14-1/4” outside diameter, wood, and painted black. The wheel spider was brass and believed to have not been painted.

FRONT AXLE: “One piece” spindles. Tie rod ran above the radius rod, had integral yoke/ball fitting on right end, and adjustable yoke, with the locking bolt in a horizontal plane (parallel to the road). Drag link threaded 20 t.p.i. at the column end. No oilers on most fittings. Radius rod fastened to the engine with cap screws.

REAR AXLE: “Six-rivet” style. Inner axle and pinion bearings were now roller bearings. A reinforcing plate was added at the driveshaft area. Thicker center flange with reinforcing washers was added at first and then a reinforcing ring on one side, then on both sides of the flange. Axle shafts were non-tapered, with the hubs being secured with a key and a pin. Roller pinion bearing was introduced at about 15,000 in March, 1910.

DRIVESHAFT HOUSING: Pinion bearing spool was a casting and was held by studs and nuts, the studs being enclosed (not visible) in the housing. Separate front housing for universal joint assembly.

REAR RADIUS AND BRAKE RODS: Had forged ends. Brake-rod support brackets now folded down along the side of the clamp, then out and wrapped up and around the brake rods.

WHEELS: Used 30 by 3 tires in front; 30 by 3-1/2 in the rear. Original tires were an off-white color, with no tread. Hub flanges were 5-1/2 inches in diameter. Front wheels used ball bearings. Hub caps had “Ford” in block letters. Continued in the style of the 1909 cars.

SPRINGS: Tapered-leaf, front and rear. “Mae West” style shackles.

RADIATOR: Supplied by Detroit, McCord, and Ford. Ford began making their own radiators about October 1909, and was the sole supplier after March or April 1910. All were integral assemblies. The winged script “Ford” on the top tank was replaced with the standard Ford script. (Possibly all Ford-made radiators used the standard script.) Radiators generally had a “Ford” brass nameplate attached to the core near the center and in a horizontal manner (not on a bias as is often seen today).

ENGINE: Open-valve type, with thermo-siphon cooling system. Water outlet was on the front of the cylinder head.

ENGINE PAN: One-piece type (no inspection door). The internal oil dam was discontinued about May 1910. A forged reinforcement was added at the rear flange during the year. The mounting arms were held with seven rivets.

OIL FILLER CAP: Similar to the 1909 but of a simpler design. Still had no cap on the tube.

ENGINE CRANK: Hard rubber handle.

ENGINE FAN: Driven by a leather belt from a pulley at the front of the engine. The fan hub was brass (bronze), with the blades were riveted in place. Adjustment was by means of a spring between the fan arm and the engine front plate.

MANIFOLDS: Exhaust was cast iron; pipe fitted inside the threaded end and was packed with asbestos and held with a brass nut. Intake was aluminum, “dog legged” style.

CARBURETORS: Kingston “five ball,” Holley, or a very few Buffalo. All used a choke and a heating arrangement from the exhaust manifold at the air intake.

CARBURETOR STOVE ASSEMBLY: Generally a tube which ran upwards to the front of the exhaust manifold, and connected to a cast “stove” which fitted against the manifold.

MUFFLER: Cast-iron ends, mounted with pressed metal brackets. Short, straight rear exhaust pipe extension was now integral with the rear cover plate. Wrapped with asbestos, secured with three steel straps.

FUEL TANK: Cylindrical, under the front seat. Mounting brackets were riveted to the tank. Outlet was at the right end, outside the frame rail, and was riveted in place.

TRANSMISSION: Three pedal standard-design. The brake lever now operated the clutch as well as the rear brakes. Pedals were marked with “C,” “R,” and “B.” Transmission cover was cast aluminum. The inspection door was held with four screws. Late in the year a new magneto was introduced which required a wider cover assembly.

COIL BOX ASSEMBLY: Kingston or Jacobson-Brandow.

LAMPS: All lamps were now standard except on the closed cars. Made by Edmond and Jones (E&J) or Jno. Brown.

HORN: Bulb type, double twist, all brass. Standard equipment on all cars.

WINDSHIELD: Standard equipment, were either Rands, Mezger (Automatic), or Troy.

TOP: (Open cars). Top color was black on all open cars. Support irons were attached to a forged railing on the body.

SPEEDOMETER: Stewart Model 24 was standard equipment.

© Bruce W. McCalley. Rev. May 11, 2002.