During The Great War large supplies of spare parts were purchased by the Army and sent to France to maintain the fleet of Model Ts. After the war what was left was sold as surplus. Most was shipped back here and sold by Western Auto Supply and others cheaper than the Ford dealer down the street! Sure made Henry mad and he publicized that you should not buy the genuine Ford parts because they may not have been stored properly and therefore not fit to use!
The auto companies remembered what had happened and come WWII the sales contracts stated that all vehicles and parts that left the country could not come back. Thus the stories of dumping new trucks over the sides of ships in the South Pacific.