Ford Assembly Plant and/or dealer reassembly questions
Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2025 1:23 pm
I recently picked up a 1914 touring car that has had minimal restoration and mileage (due to lack of wear on the internals and moving chassis parts). Cosmetically, the car's fenders and splash aprons were repainted at some point, but the body, upholstery and tattered remains of the top are original.
The engine assembly date is late November 1913, and the car has a two piece drive shaft, which were phased out around that time. The body was made by Fisher, with a June 1914 date stamp. The car's history indicates that it was likely delivered to its first owner who lived about 30 miles from San Francisco. The car spent the next 111 years in California until it found its way to Kansas in July.
I have often read that Model Ts were often finished within days of the engine assembly date, but that would be for a car completed at the Highland Park factory in Detroit. Since the engine and body dates on my 14 differ by about 7 months, I had a couple of questions that may help explain the time difference between the two dates.
1) My research indicates that Ford had an assembly plant in operation in San Francisco by 1914. Were the major assemblies sent to the Ford assembly plants where they were matched together for final assembly and subsequent delivery to regional dealers? If so, I could see how this could explain the 7 month difference in assembly dates.
2) If there was no regional Ford assembly plant nearby, did Ford only complete the chassis, make sure that it ran, and then sent knocked down "kits" to dealers by rail? If so, I could see how there could be a range in dates between engines and bodies if they arrived in batches and there was no compelling reason to match the body to a given chassis. It seems like it wouldn't make sense to put fenders and a body on a chassis, only to take it all back apart to load into a rail car.
Any historical background that people can provide on how Ford handled this would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Neal
The engine assembly date is late November 1913, and the car has a two piece drive shaft, which were phased out around that time. The body was made by Fisher, with a June 1914 date stamp. The car's history indicates that it was likely delivered to its first owner who lived about 30 miles from San Francisco. The car spent the next 111 years in California until it found its way to Kansas in July.
I have often read that Model Ts were often finished within days of the engine assembly date, but that would be for a car completed at the Highland Park factory in Detroit. Since the engine and body dates on my 14 differ by about 7 months, I had a couple of questions that may help explain the time difference between the two dates.
1) My research indicates that Ford had an assembly plant in operation in San Francisco by 1914. Were the major assemblies sent to the Ford assembly plants where they were matched together for final assembly and subsequent delivery to regional dealers? If so, I could see how this could explain the 7 month difference in assembly dates.
2) If there was no regional Ford assembly plant nearby, did Ford only complete the chassis, make sure that it ran, and then sent knocked down "kits" to dealers by rail? If so, I could see how there could be a range in dates between engines and bodies if they arrived in batches and there was no compelling reason to match the body to a given chassis. It seems like it wouldn't make sense to put fenders and a body on a chassis, only to take it all back apart to load into a rail car.
Any historical background that people can provide on how Ford handled this would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Neal