Bird's eye view of Ford & the competition.

[WayneJ]

[Rich Eagle]

[Tadpole]

Yippee for good ole Maxwells!

[TXGOAT2]

Today, you'd need a passport to photograph the plants.

[Allan]

I don't think any of those pictures are photographs. Artist/architects renditions make them all look larger than life. These days with the use of drones, almost anyone could get photos, provided the drone made it back.

Allan from down under.

[TXGOAT2]

It looks like postcard art, circa 1920.

[Steve Jelf]

I don't think any of those pictures are photographs.

The others are artists' renditions, but the huge crowd of Ford workers at the Highland Park plant is a colorized photo. I believe the occasion was a speech by Wilson. Whenever I see it I wonder how many of them could actually hear him in those days before amplified public address systems.

[WayneJ]

While many of the representations are artist renderings, I believe they were accurate . Count the number of stories, and number of windows, and these were huge complexes. Eventhough Maxwell production ended a long time ago, many of these buildings existed until the late 20th century. The automotive industry must have created an extonishing number of construction jobs. Not only new automobile plants, but also steel and rubber plants, road construction, etc. It truly boggles my mind.

[TXGOAT2]

The automobile industry created opportunity for millions of people the world around, and it continues to do so.

[Susanne]

Every time I see one of these posts, I wonder where the 1915 Saxons or Willys or Studebakers are today... These are very nice and well built cars, tho they're not T's, but they're still good cars =for their day!

[TXGOAT2]

I've never seen an example, other than a Willys Americar sedan. Ford Model Ts had parts and service support for decades after production ended, and a huge stock of non-running cars on hand from which to pick parts.
Regardless, I still wonder at the relative scarcity of non-Ford pre-WWII cars, including those that sold well, such as Dodge.

[Steve Jelf]

Those 1915 production figures explain the relative shortage of other makes that survive today. Ford made 5+ times as many cars as its nearest competitor, and 10+ times more than the next. Add Ford's use of high quality vanadium steel, and you get what we've got. Many years ago I saw a Chevrolet 490 at the Iola car show. A guy giving a little talk about the cars said the 490 was a better car than Model T. I didn't ask him why that was the first 490 I had ever seen, while I had seen hundreds of T's.

By 1926 Chevrolet production was about a third of Ford production. Look at the present day survivors. Is there a 1926 Chevrolet for every three 1926 Fords? For every ten? For every twenty? Google 1926 cars for sale and the lopsided abundance of Fords is rather striking.

[TXGOAT2]

GM cars through 1936 used a lot of wood structure in the body. It had advantages, but was not as durable as the Fords and Dodges with mostly steel structure, epecially the earlier cars that lacked a full steel top, and the open cars. If left out in the weather, or parked in an old shed with a leaky roof, they would deteriorate past using pretty quickly.

[YellowTRacer]

You're missing a very important element........Ford's chassis design of 1908 was so good that it enabled him to use virtually the same chassis components with few minor changes until 1927. Which means that if I have a 1910 Ford all parts are available, a 1914,18, 23 etc. I can easily get replacement parts. Example, when I got my 1924 Chevrolet truck I assumed to a large degree "Well, Chevrolet parts should be pretty easy to get, they made so many of them". So while working on my brake system I found that I needed a rear axle. "They only used that axle in 1923 and 24, no other years will fit". So back in the day if that happened, in say, the late 1930s or anytime after that, I can't get the part. The car/truck gets scrapped or sets along side the barn and rots away. But if it's a Model T Ford, even years later, it's back on the road in no time, no matter what year model it is. If it's not a Model T Ford, the challenge begins, start the search for usable parts. And I wont even go into the use of pot metal used on the Chevrolet and many other makes. Used in many chassis components including starters, generators, etc.
Basque in the glory guys and gals, we've got the best!

Ed aka #4

[TXGOAT2]

A Ford T is like an old tractor: It can sit idle for decades and still be functional, or close to it.

[micshotrodgarage]

I have always said I can go to any town no matter how small and find something related to a model T.

[Rich Eagle]

Then there were all the companies that didn't make it with extensive facilities.

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