1919 Ford Model T Tourer

199054 • Present ownership since 2000 • Restored at date unknown • Dry stored since acquisition • Requires recommissioning After spending his formative years as a motor manufacturer experimenting with a variety of models, Henry Ford pared the company's range down to just one - the legendary Model T - destined to become the world's first truly mass-produced automobile. Introduced in October 1908, the Model T boasted a simple 100"-wheelbase chassis that contrived to be both lightweight and durable thanks to the pioneering use of vanadium steel. The chassis' track width of 56" was the same as that of a horse-drawn wagon, thereby enabling the Model T safely to negotiate rutted dirt roads.

The engine was a 20hp four-cylinder sidevalve displacing 2,896cc and the transmission a simple-to-use two-speed planetary unit. It is said that throughout the Model T's 19-year production life the thing that changed most often was the price, although in actual fact Ford made detail improvements to the car on an annual basis. Notable early developments were the adoption of electric lighting in 1915, a switch from brass to a black-finished radiator the following year and the option of an electric starter in 1919.

By 1915 Ford had ceased to offer a range of colours, settling on just one - black - because the paint dried more quickly, although some dealers began repainting cars in brighter colours after receiving them from the factory. By the start of 1919, when this right-hand drive example was made, Ford had built more than 2. 8 million Model Ts and manufacturing/assembly plants had already been established in a number of foreign countries.

Restored at date unknown, 'AH 1919' was purchased by the current owner in 2000 and has been dry stored since then. Described by the vendor as good throughout, with fair paintwork, the car will require recommissioning before returning to the highway. Offered with an old-style logbook and V5C document.