The 1st Model A; Oct 20, 1927

A Model A

A Model A

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On October 20th 1927 the first production Model A engine was stamped by Henry Ford. On October 21st 1927 the first production Model A drove off the assembly line.

Here is a video with even more history on that event.
https://youtu.be/c_3u7QxXDSs

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I did not know that Henry Ford did not know how to drive a stick shift car! Thanks for posting this interesting video.


The comment that Henry Ford did not know how to drive a stick shift raises an issue! If Henry did not drive the 1st Model "A" off of the production line because he did not know how to drive its stick shift, then how is it that he supposedly drove a prototype Model "A" in a field and decided it needed shock absorbers????
 
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Ford bought Lincoln in 1922. I am assuming from 1922 until late 1927 he drove at least one of them!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Those first 200 production models were not prototypes. The first prototype was ready for road testing early in July of 1927. Most testing was for the engine and drive train testing as well as brakes and suspension. Harold Hicks was involved with the road testing of several prototype vehicles and was involved in an accident later that month that put him out of action for a while. Henry drove one of the test prototypes himself to get a feel of it. Edsel made the announcement of the completion of the "NEW" model on August 10, 1927 so they could start production tooling build up. The original prototypes were used to train line supervisory personnel for best use of the method on the new line that was being set up at the Rouge. It wasn't till mid October when they started hiring new workers and doing the training and re-training of older employees that were called back. The A line began to roll on November 1st. It's hard to imagine a plant going from nothing to something in just less than three months and especially with the size of the new Rouge facility but it happened.

The serial number 1 car was the first production car but the engine was stamped by Henry after it passed the run in test on the test stand so It took a while before engines were actually put into the frames. The first few cars would have been a practice run before the line finally started full production. Monday October 24, 1927 is listed as the first car date according to news reports of the day. Those first cars were where they learned what was going to work well and what was not. The Photo dated the 21st from the Henry Ford shows only one Tudor Sedan on the line so it was a one off at the time. https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/319178/

The short time it took Ford Motor Company to set up the Model A assembly line was a first in industrial history and was likely only surpassed by the building of the B-24 plant at Willow Run in Ford History even though the set up For WWII was also quite a change over from cars to tanks in a short period of time.
 
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rotorwrench said:
Those first 200 production models were not prototypes. The first prototype was ready for road testing early in July of 1927. Most testing was for the engine and drive train testing as well as brakes and suspension. Harold Hicks was involved with the road testing of several prototype vehicles and was involved in an accident later that month that put him out of action for a while. Henry drove one of the test prototypes himself to get a feel of it. Edsel made the announcement of the completion of the "NEW" model on August 10, 1927 so they could start production tooling build up. The original prototypes were used to train line supervisory personnel for best use of the method on the new line that was being set up at the Rouge. It wasn't till mid October when they started hiring new workers and doing the training and re-training of older employees that were called back. The A line began to roll on November 1st. It's hard to imagine a plant going from nothing to something in just less than three months and especially with the size of the new Rouge facility but it happened.

The serial number 1 car was the first production car but the engine was stamped by Henry after it passed the run in test on the test stand so It took a while before engines were actually put into the frames. The first few cars would have been a practice run before the line finally started full production. Monday October 24, 1927 is listed as the first car date according to news reports of the day. Those first cars were where they learned what was going to work well and what was not. The Photo dated the 21st from the Henry Ford shows only one Tudor Sedan on the line so it was a one off at the time. https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/319178/

The short time it took Ford Motor Company to set up the Model A assembly line was a first in industrial history and was likely only surpassed by the building of the B-24 plant at Willow Run in Ford History even though the set up For WWII was also quite a change over from cars to tanks in a short period of time.
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Wasn't Hicks' accident what convinced Ford to put safety glass in the windshield?
 
CHuDWah said:
Wasn't Hicks' accident what convinced Ford to put safety glass in the windshield?
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It certainly was. Ford had their own glass plant at the Rouge where they started making laminated glass for the model A. They eventually had other glass plants to help with the vast supply chain of Ford Motor Company.

I worked at a boat window manufacturing plant in Tulsa, OK when I was going to A&P school there and it was supplied by the Ford plant there at the time.
 
Because there are not too many pre 1916 cars in my area, my Horseless Carriage Club allows cars up to 1927 and that rule is intended to keep out Model A's and other more modern cars. But if I bought a Model A built in 1927 could I drive it in my Horseless Carriage Club tours? This is not a serious question, just some rumination.
 
nkaminar said:
But if I bought a Model A built in 1927 could I drive it in my Horseless Carriage Club tours?
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Build date vs model year...

I have a 1990 Turbo Eclipse with a build date of March 1989. Most of the time I say it's a 1990, but when you order parts, you sometimes need to say it's 1989.
 
gz said:
Ford bought Lincoln in 1922. I am assuming from 1922 until late 1927 he drove at least one of them!!!!!!!!!!!
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I agree with Guy on this. Ford was not "out of touch" in such regards such as the operation of a clutch and shifting a manual transmission. Many like to 're-write' history for their own slant.
 
BRENT in 10-uh-C said:
I agree with Guy on this. Ford was not "out of touch" in such regards such as the operation of a clutch and shifting a manual transmission. Many like to 're-write' history for their own slant.
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I am sure he knew how but I bet he was surrounded in the later '20s by guards and security staff that drove him. There were infamous kidnappings besides the Lindbergh case in that era and he must have been security-obsessed for the whole family.
 
Mountain Dew said:
I noticed that the shifter knob was round and not mushroom. I thought the mushroom shifter was an early '28 feature.
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Thanks, i have try to tell it for some Model A " Eksperts " and hte said that Mushroom was the 1. gen of shift knob..
I can´t remember where, but i have read for years ago that Mushroom was startet i beginning Jan. 1928.. Can someone tell about it.. ?

Per,
 
Judging Standards state that initially the knob was round but went to mushroom shaped sometime in November of '27 through April of '28.

-Tim
 
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