Model T Turns 100
A century ago, the first of Henry Ford's Model Ts rolled out of a factory, and America and the world were changed forever.
The company that bears Ford's name plans a year-long celebrations to honor the iconic vehicle.
Ford's production of sturdy, reliable, low-cost transportation for the masses helped usher in a new industrial age.
The moving assembly line Ford perfected increased production and lowered the car's cost and, by the 1920s, half of all cars in America were Model Ts.
According to Ford's Web site:
Model T collector Stu Chaney of the Model T Ford Club of America brought one oe hif Model Ts by The Satuday Early Show, and told weather anchor Lonnie Qunin some fun facts about the Model T:
It will run on moonshine, gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel-- about anything you can put a match to.
And, whatever it runs on, it would pass today's very strict emission standards, because it burns the complete charge in the combustion.
"We drive it all over like a regular car," even on highways, he told Quinn.
"When Henry Ford put these into production, he made them to last a hundred years," Quinn noted.
"At least a hundred years!" Chaney agreed. "These parts were made not to wear out. And what did need fixing, you could do with simple tools. It was made for the common man."
Its gravity-fed gas means, if you're going up a hill the gas flows to the back so, if you have less than a half a tank, you have to back up hills. "I've had to do that. It's embarrassing!" Chaney says.
And the windshield wipers were manually operated.
Another tidbit from Chaney: When you go to a gas station, you have to get out and remove the front seat cushion and then you can get to the gas cap. "My father used to pull up to a full-service station," he told CBS News and, with a straight face say, 'Fill 'er up,' and watch the poor soul look around for the gas cap that wasn't there. As little kids ,we used to try so hard to keep a straight face, and couldn't while all this was unraveling."
You have to tuck your thumb in when you grab the crank to start, or the car may backfire and shatter your hand and forearm if the crank kicks back. There's actually a medical term for that. It's called a "Chauffeur's Fracture."