Model A made in south America

E

eric-France-

Junior Member
Hello !
i own a 1928 phaeton Model A. My father bought it in Uruguay 35 years ago and shipped it to France in the 1990's
It' a RHD car.
I wonder why it's a RHD
I'm trying to get any information about where this car could come from.


Does anyone know if Model As were built or assembled in south America ? I heard about a factory in Argentina somewhere.
Does anyone know if cars made there (if correct) were RHD and why ? (they drive on left side of the road in south America)



Could it be an import from Canada ? I also heard that RHD cars were assembled in Canada.


Thanks a lot if you have any information !!



(and please excuse my english)
 
eric-France- said:
Hello !
i own a 1928 phaeton Model A. My father bought it in Uruguay 35 years ago and shipped it to France in the 1990's
It' a RHD car.
I wonder why it's a RHD
I'm trying to get any information about where this car could come from.


Does anyone know if Model As were built or assembled in south America ? I heard about a factory in Argentina somewhere.
Does anyone know if cars made there (if correct) were RHD and why ? (they drive on left side of the road in south America)



Could it be an import from Canada ? I also heard that RHD cars were assembled in Canada.


Thanks a lot if you have any information !!



(and please excuse my english)
Click to expand...

eric-France- said:
I mean they drive on the other left side of the road...
(like in the US or in France)
Click to expand...


Nothing wrong with your English.

Yes, Model A was produced in Argentina, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Motor_Argentina

To avoid confusion, let's define terms. Left- and right-hand traffic (LHT and RHT) refer to the side of the road on which one drives. Left- and right-hand drive (LHD and RHD) refer to the position of the driver in the vehicle. RHD cars follow LHT while LHD follow RHT. Prior to 1945, Argentina and Uruguay were LHT and therefore cars were RHD.
 
Prior to 1945, Argentina and Uruguay were LHT and therefore cars were RHD.[/QUOTE]


Oh, I ignored that !
I knew that in sweden, they changed from Left H traffic to right traffic in a day.
http://realscandinavia.com/this-day-in-history-swedish-traffic-switches-sides-september-3-1967/


In France, during the 1920's we had a very famous car manufacturer, Hotchkiss. It was a french compagny. traffic was on the right but Hotchkiss produced at that time RHD cars. They though it was easier to get down from the car when you park it along the pavement
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotchkiss
RHD cars with RHT became difficult when the numbers of cars increased because it became difficult to pass...
 
Right hand drive vehicles for non-commonwealth countries were made as knock down assemblies at the Rouge and sent to applicable countries like Argentina and South Africa for assembly.

Right hand drive vehicles for some Commonwealth countries were made in Canada. The rest were made in the UK at Cork or Dagenham after the plant there was completed.
 
eric-France- said:
They though it was easier to get down from the car when you park it along the pavement
Click to expand...


Before 1941, Fords had outside door locks only on the passenger side. Some say it was safer to slide across the seat and exit on the curb side rather than the traffic side. Others say it was because Henry was too cheap to put locks on the driver side. :D
 
CHuDWah said:
Before 1941, Fords had outside door locks only on the passenger side. Some say it was safer to slide across the seat and exit on the curb side rather than the traffic side. Others say it was because Henry was too cheap to put locks on the driver side. :D
Click to expand...

Not just Ford's. My 39 Chev and many other cars were this way. Locks on the passengers side only. Supposedly safer to enter and exit from the sidewalk.
 
In many old movies of the 30's/40's, people enter their cars from the passenger side when parked in city settings.
 
In the 70,s Pages Model A was importing Fords from overseas,I looked at a 38 Deluxe that had right hand steering.
 
I have often wondered whether the RHD cars were counted in the figures we see for how many Model As were made. I suspect not or at least not all of them. RHD cars were assembled here too but I haven't seen that mentioned yet in this thread.
BTW. American cars were RHD till 1909 when Henry decided to put his steering wheel on the other side. Just look at a picture of any pre 1909 car. Even though they were RHD cars, they were driven on the RHS of the road.
 
The driver side always depended on which side was used for normal driving. In the early years before 2-lane blacktop, there wasn't much choice about "sides" since there were two ruts to follow in most cases. City driving is likely what made for national standardization in most countries since that was where automobile traffic began to pile up first as more and more folks could afford to buy a car. It's not any surprise to me that different countries chose different sides. That's just human nature.

Ford Dearborn built a lot of cars up as right hand drive and so did Ford of Canada but most were crated up as knock down cars until the foreign Ford assembly plants were turned into manufacturing plants to build cars on their own. Ford Dearborn controlled the Model A serial numbers on all cars that were going to be manufacture under their system of branch plants in the model A era. Canada controlled their own numbers but had a completely different numbering system. Ford of Dagenham, UK eventually controlled their own numbers as well but that was at the end of the model A era. Matford and the German Koln plants came after the model A era. Most European, African, Asian, Middle Eastern, and South American plants were foreign branch assembly plants that put together knock down kits in the model T and model A eras. Ford of Canada handled the Commonwealth countries and likely some pacific rim countries with their own foreign branch plants. They would have handled some of the other Commonwealth action around the world but may have relied of Ford Dearborn for some of it due to logistical problems.

Ford Motor Company was an amazing organization for it's heyday. Many others copied them and even the military followed much of their logistical procedures during the war. If it ain't broke then don't fix it.
 
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rotorwrench said:
The driver side always depended on which side was used for normal driving. In the early years before 2-lane blacktop, there wasn't much choice about "sides" since there were two ruts to follow in most cases. City driving is likely what made for national standardization in most countries since that was where automobile traffic began to pile up first as more and more folks could afford to buy a car. It's not any surprise to me that different countries chose different sides. That's just human nature.

Ford Dearborn built a lot of cars up as right hand drive and so did Ford of Canada but most were crated up as knock down cars until the foreign Ford assembly plants were turned into manufacturing plants to build cars on their own. Ford Dearborn controlled the Model A serial numbers on all cars that were going to be manufacture under their system of branch plants in the model A era. Canada controlled their own numbers but had a completely different numbering system. Ford of Dagenham, UK eventually controlled their own numbers as well but that was at the end of the model A era. Matford and the German Koln plants came after the model A era. Most European, African, Asian, Middle Eastern, and South American plants were foreign branch assembly plants that put together knock down kits in the model T and model A eras. Ford of Canada handled the Commonwealth countries and likely some pacific rim countries with their own foreign branch plants. They would have handled some of the other Commonwealth action around the world but may have relied of Ford Dearborn for some of it due to logistical problems.

Ford Motor Company was an amazing organization for it's heyday. Many others copied them and even the military followed much of their logistical procedures during the war. If it ain't broke then don't fix it.
Click to expand...

Ford and other manufacturers opened factories in Canada because, having become independent of the Commonwealth, the the US was not able to trade with Commonwealth countries. They had an arrangement that C/wealth countries trade with C/wealth countries unless there was no other way. That was the beginning of free trade deals that are very prevalent around the world nowadays. To get around the fact that US was excluded from trading with about 25% of the world's population, factories were opened in Canada, a C/wealth country.
 
Henry was all for the idea of Ford of Canada even though he didn't control it and it all started even before the Model T. It was handy to have a partner across the Detroit river in more ways than one. Ford could supply the whole world that way. His early dealings with the UK on tractor manufacturing helped a lot for the agricultural part of the Ford conglomeration.
 
In 1904 Gordon McGregor (Walkerviille Wagon Works, Ontario, Canada) raised $125,000 and made a deal w/Henry Ford for the rights to manufacture Ford cars and parts for the Canadian and overseas (British Empire) markets.
 
Most Model T's in the US didn't even have a door on the left side of the front seat. Ford ads claimed the safety advantage of this.

A few days ago I saw a guy open the traffic side door on his pickup when parked on a busy 2-lane highway and almost cause an accident. He was not looking and probably not thinking either. A friend of mine, riding a bicycle, ran into a door that was opened onto traffic. He was knocked out cold and ended up in the hospital. So Ford was probably right.
 
I've seen a few old T touring cars that had the driver door kit installed. Ford didn't make them a fordor but the kits were largely a dealer installed option.
 
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