First Ford Model on five continents? This one might surprise.

[Rob]

Ove the years I've collected reports and news showing Fords on foreign soil. Yesterday I came across another, putting one Ford model on five of the six inhabited continents. I"ll start with the easy one.

North America, obviously goes without saying. 39 model K were documented being sent to Canada. Most of those cars were sold within Canada, but a few went elsewhere. Following is a copy of a Ford Motor Co. of Canada. Two of the Model K listed were sent to brothers in Petrolia, Ontario Canada. Below, K #358 and #813 go to brothers Blois and Harry Corey.

We have a photo of Harry's Ford:

And this North American appearance came as a surprise to me. A 1906 Model K in Mexico City:

One down, four to go..........

[Rob]

The next most obvious are three Model K that went to the Southern Hemisphere. Two to Australia in 1906, numbers 207 and 210:

The third, #211, went to New Zealand:

The New Zealand Model K probably led the longest, and most exciting life "down under." Below, it's seen in the late teens with it's owner, L. James Crabb:

Finally, participating in beach races in the early 1920's. The motor of this "K" existed into the 1930's, and may still be in an existing Model K:

[Rob]

Model K in Europe may not be a surprise. However, a couple of the countries may. First, the easy one. In 1907 both a Model K and Model N were entered in the Irish and Scottish trials. Both cars performed well. The only other U.S. made car participating in the trials was a REO:

Among the first Model K sold in 1906, two went to Berlin:

This Model K motor is in a museum in Sweden. It's number is 170, and it may be from one of the early "K" that went to Germany (posted by Roger Karlssom in 2014):

Next, a few more European "K."

[Rob]

I don't know anything about this, except it's a Model K, at the 1908 Brussels Belgium auto show, and appears to be the only Ford at the booth:

Last on the European stop, a Model K in Barcelona Spain:

[Rob]

The next two surprised me. And they were "right in front of my face" for a couple of years.

A Model K was shipped to Port Elizabeth from Walkerville (Ford Motor Co. of Canada) in June, 1907. According to the Ford of Canada ledger, it was one of the last 1906 motors. My assumption was that it went to Port Elizabeth, New Foundland and Labrador, Canada:

However, while looking for another car, I realized where "Ariel & Douglass" shipped. South Africa:

Only one more to go. I found this "K" yesterday, again by accident.

[Rob]

Another Model K shipped from Canada. This one took a little work. "K' #208 was initially listed as going to Dominion Auto of Toronto:

That was lined out, and it looks like "To India" penciled in. However, it was impossible to know if this was accurate, without learning who, or what was penciled in prior to "To India."

Turns out "E and A Levetus" were brothers who formed an import/export agency in 1901, to India:

And they were involved in automobile imports into the sub-continent:

Below, Arthur Levetus participated in the 1905 Dehli-Bombay trials:

So, we have Model K in N. America, Australia, Europe, Africa and Asia. Time to go looking in South America.


For extra credit, we have one more exotic location a Model K was exported to. Any guesses?

[ModelT46]

Brazil? this is a large country.

[Rob]

Darel,
Good choice. I hope to one day learn there was a "K" in South America, meaning the model would have been to every inhabited continent.

The last location was Hawaii. The islands were a newer U.S. territory. In 1908 a Model K participated in a reliability contest with a White steamer, Packard, Buicks, Maxwell and Franklin.