Why did so many Model T's Survive after the Model A?

[Been Here Before]

I found this advertisement from 1929, about two years from the introduction of the Model A. Was there an out cry from loyal T owners and a worry that the FMCO would abandon Henry's favourite car?

[TXGOAT2]

Model Ts outnumbered Model As by about 3 to 1. A lot of Ts may have been relegated to second car status or parked out back as roads became better and traffic heavier. The Model A could maintain legal highway speeds and hold its own in traffic up into the early 1950s. It probably helped that a great many Model Ts were owned by rural people, who usually had space to park them when a newer car replaced them. Many rural properties accumulated several old cars and tractors and a lot of other old machinery over the decades before our cities began to over-run the countryside.

[Norman Kling]

I think several things had a factor. Most of the T's which survived were from the 1920s. The earlier brass cars were not as numerous because they were made before the assembly line. During the "Roaring 20's" business was good and many people bought new cars. Then right when the Model A first came out, we got into the "Great Depression" and many people kept their old cars going because of the expense of a new car. Also, people got used to shifting the T and had to learn how to handle a stick shift when the A came out. After the depression, we got into World War 2 and auto production was diverted to government and military vehicles so for 4 years new civilian cars were not being manufactured gas was limited. The speed limit was 35 MPH to save gas and tires. So the T's were fine for that speed limit. Finally, by the time new cars were available, the old ones were considered, "Antique" and the old car clubs began. Although many old cars were scrapped, during the war, there was so much wood in the old T's that many scrap yards wouldn't even take them. In fact there were junk yards which specifically took Model T's and Model A's and sold the used parts. Some people even kept them so they could get gas coupons for them.
Anyway, I'm glad they kept them and they are still around today. I enjoy working on my T's but I wouldn't even touch the modern ones with all the computer chips and smog equipment. I let the specialists work on them.
Norm

[John kuehn]

They survived because of the sheer numbers that were made. 3 to 1 in production numbers is a lot of cars. Being so many cars being available and scores of aftermarket parts and factory parts besides what was available from the dealers is why they are still around today.

[JTT3]

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[Mustang1964s]

The T’s had more than 15 million built. The shear numbers would make it more survivors.
When the co-workers start talking old cars I just laugh.
The ones that know that I have cars from 95 to 108 years old just shake their heads and say nothing. It’s the kids that talk about cars from the 90’s that can’t believe it.
Then I talk about touring the cars and convince them it’s legitimate.

[Model T Ron]

I think so many mad it because so many were made. Many Brass did not make it because of the low production numbers and the fact that they were in use longer back in the day. I for one am very happy that multiple people saved my 1915 Touring. I love driving it and never thought I would have the bragging rights to say I have 108 year old car that can be started by hand without issue and be driven.

So out of the 15 million made how many do you think are still in driving condition? Maybe 250,000?

[TRDxB2]

In the past many Farms, some still do, kept the defunct cars for parts in their scrap lot. Also as car designs became more "sophisticated" T's were much easier to disassemble. Not necessarily for reuse but to repurpose. I was told that many a fence has its corner post braces out of Model T frame parts. Then again its the first car one grew up with and its always hard to let go.

[FreighTer Jim]

The Model T was the first vehicle most folks
of a certain age learned to drive on - most folks
have fond memories of somebody they knew in their
Childhood that drove a Model T or a similar car.

Multi Millionaires who can afford to drive
anything they want - often delight in
the Simplicity Of The Model T.

My good friend Mr. Greg Grams enjoying
“ The Dizzy Lizzy “ with his two sons
in the back seat in the parking lot
of The Volo Museum ….

FJ

[Ed Baudoux]

I have owned three Model T's, and still have two in restored operable condition. I have been fascinated with them since i was a child.
Very recently I have become the custodian of two 1930 Model A's. One Fordor in nice original unrestored shape, and a Tudor project.
I have driven T's thousands of miles, and it amazes me how much better the A is in every way.
I find it surprising that people were still driving the T after the introduction of the A. It had to be the commonality and familiarity, and the sheer number of T's, that kept them alive. -Ed

[John kuehn]

I guess because T’s are oldies but goodies! It took all Henry Ford could do to convince himself he had to change to keep up with the times! Nowdays old cars are a reminder of where we came from in more ways than one.

[Distagon2]

Right after the Model A came out, the Great Depression started. Something like a full one-third of the country was unemployed. There were a lot of poor people, to say the least. People made do with what they could get within their limited means. Therefore, there was a demand for any old car that could run and there were tons of used Model T's around. My grandfather lived in a small town in South Dakota (Frankfort) and could only afford an old used Model T and drove it until the mid-1950's and parked it behind the shed when he got too old to drive. (I have restored that car and still have it.) There were two reasons he insisted on a Model T: it was generally the cheapest automobile you could find and he did not want to learn how to drive any other car, especially that new-fangled Model A with the stick shift transmission.

Also, people back then didn't just throw stuff out like we do today.

[Oldav8tor]

The vast majority of Mode T's did not survive. 1% would be 150,000 cars....I suspect the number is less than that. A deceased older friend of mine worked for his dad's auto parts business before WWII. They would buy Model T''s for $5 and he would strip useful parts from them and scrap the rest. Brass headlamps were good for scrap --- oil lamps were worthless. Nobody wanted a car you had to crank so the early T's often went to the scrapper. He told me he stripped hundreds of cars.

As for me, I am grateful to those people who for whatever reason kept their Model T's so that we have some today. Every car we drive has a story but except for a few instances, it is lost to history. For me, owning and driving a Model T is a way to step back in time and experience an earlier era. My parents have been gone for decades but in this small way I connect with them thru a shared experience.

[TXGOAT2]

Old coot, trying out new 1928 Ford:
"Where's the crank?" Dealer: "The new Fords all have a reliable self-starter, Sir. A crank is not needed."
Coot gets in car, finds starter button, cranks motor, moves hand brake halfway forward, pushes clutch to floorboard.... engine revs and car doesn't move...
Coot snorts at dealer and says, "You ain't selling me no fancy car that won't even move, sonny!
I'll just keep what I got!"

[2nighthawks]

I think there was one other factor that might have been a reason the many Model T's survived,....due to gasoline rationing with the advent of WW2 in the early 40's, a lot of Model T runabouts, roadsters and especially tourings were drug out from behind the barn and put back into service, because it didn't take much to get them to run again, and by cutting off the turtle deck or the back of a touring, it was easy to add a crude wooden pick-up box which then qualified the ol' T as a farm vehicle which placed it in a more favorable gas rationing category.

[Burger in Spokane]

I just returned from a trip to empty my Grandmother's house. She passed
recently. Born in 1915, she made it in good condition almost to her 107th
birthday. I was always a weird kid, who was fascinated by old things, old
people, old places, old stories, etc. One thing that was very much present
in pre-war generations was a general frugality and deeper sense of attachment
to keeping and fixing things, rather than replacing them with new/er. As a
kid, I sought these things and people out and had the presence of mind to ask
many oldsters about them. A common paradigm was "Why replace a perfectly
good ______ ?" Obsolescence and "fashion" just did not factor into their way
of thinking, especially when it involved spending money, like it does with
people today.

My own TT interest was born of happening upon a truck just like mine that
still lingered in Mrs. Miller's barn, ready to go for the next harvest, just like
the Fordson tractor that was parked beside it, and all the other period farm
equipment. Although I never asked Mrs. Miller directly, clearly she saw no
point in "updating" when the machines she already had on hand did the job
just fine.

Model A's are superior machines in their drivability in more modern conditions.
But the Model A (and later vehicles) lack the early car charm that T's so perfectly
capture. I doubt that played heavily with those who saw them as new cars,
but for us that came later, the T has so much more "Grapes of Wrath" organic
Americana than a Model A could ever muster. I with my TT drive like an A, but
the early car charm that my TT has is far more important to me than any driving
advantages of later vehicles. I am sure there are/were others also smitten this
way by the T's charm.

[TXGOAT2]

The A& T are not the same, and all Ts are not the same. In the A, Edsel got his style and comfort, and Henry kept most of his "Farmer's car" principles. Both cars were very well adapted to the markets they were designed for, and both remained so for a couple of decades after their introduction. From 1949 onward, Ford adopted the GM business plan. America had moved to town, and most Americans were not concerned with how a car performed in mud, sand, and deep snow. America wanted style, comfort, and power. Those who stayed on the farm opted for pickup trucks and kept their older cars. Automakers who could not afford to keep up with the new trends failed, regardless of the worthiness of their product. Manufacturers offered "stripper" and "bare bones" models, but they did not sell well.