Tangled up in 'Vitamin C'
07-23-2008, 06:53 AM
.Model T's 100th celebrated amid carmaker's struggles
Bryce G. Hoffman / The Detroit News
RICHMOND, Ind. -- Ford Model T owners from around the globe are converging on this quiet farm town to celebrate the centennial of the automobile that put the world on wheels.
The Model T also made Michigan the heart of the global automobile industry and made Ford Motor Co. an American icon. But those were happier days for the state and for the company.
In Dearborn, hundreds of white-collar workers are making a last, painful exit from their offices -- escorted by security as the company moves to cut another 15 percent off its salaried payroll. Thousands of blue-collar workers are weighing the latest buyout offers as production slows at their factories. And the automaker is preparing Thursday to announce details of still more restructuring activities as it continues to lose ground to foreign car companies.
But here in the cornfields of eastern Indiana, members of the Ford family and company executives have joined thousands of Ford enthusiasts to remember a better time and a stronger Ford. They have watched as hundreds of Tin Lizzies from 45 states and eight countries roll in for what promises to be the largest gathering of Flivvers in one place since the Highland Park factory closed in 1927. They are hoping to harness some of the passion these antique autos still inspire and make these hobbyists ambassadors for the Ford brand as it faces the toughest fight of its 105-year history.
The Ford legacy
Edsel Ford II, the great-grandson of Henry Ford and a member of the company's board of directors, opened the event with an emotional speech.
"I'm thrilled to be with the keepers of my great-grandfather's legacy," he said. "You are the guardians of the spirit that got the whole thing going ... Thank you for reminding us where we come from and who we are."
"Thank you for carrying the Ford banner. Thank you for displaying proudly the Ford script and the Blue Oval," Edsel Ford said to roaring applause.
Few were cheering louder than Jay Klehfoth, CEO of the Model T Ford Club of America, the group that organized the celebration.
"This is the car that changed the world," he said. "Henry Ford built a car that he was able to make affordable to the masses. He made it cheaper to own a Model T than to own a horse and he made us a mobile society."
The Model T also spawned the moving assembly line, the 40-hour workweek and the middle class.
Over 15 million Model Ts were produced between 1908 and 1927. A quarter million of them are still on the road.The first production models did not roll out of the Piquette factory in Detroit until October of 1908, but there already were prototypes sputtering around Detroit 100 years ago.
Klehfoth's organization held the centennial celebration in rural Indiana because of its central location and because its quiet two-lane roads are reminiscent of those Model T's wore out there first treads on. This is also home to Klehfoth's Model T museum. The first one he bought -- at age 13 -- is here on display, along with other earlier and later models.
Richmond or bust
Ed Archer drove his yellow 1915 Model T racer all the way from Hayward, Calif. It took him just under a week.
"It was built for racing. It could do 70 comfortably," he said. "But it's hard having no top. The sun gets hot."
Not to worry though; Archer was decked out like a dirt-track daredevil of the Roaring '20s, complete with goggles, leather flight cap and a carefully oiled mustache.
Peter Kable brought his all the way from Australia.
He put it on a ship in May and met it at the port of Long Beach in California at the beginning of June. He and his wife, Sally, hit the road on June 7 and arrived in Richmond on July 18. They said the joy of the trip was not just in the driving, but the reaction their vintage Ford evoked in the people they passed by.
"It gives a hell of a lot of pleasure to people -- especially elderly people," she said. "The trip down memory lane is fabulous for them."
That pleasure is evident for the thousands attending this week's event, which was expected to draw nearly 900 Model Ts.
"Henry Ford once said, 'History is more or less bunk.' But the history of this vehicle and the history of this great American is none of that," said Congressman Mike Pence, R-Ind., who helped open the festivities Monday night. "We celebrate not just a great American technological accomplishment, but we celebrate the values, the determination, the entrepreneurial spirit that made it possible."
On Tuesday morning, Ford Americas President Mark Fields told a smaller group of Model T enthusiasts that those same qualities are still alive in the company."Those are the same things that are driving Ford today," he said. "You really remind us at Ford why we're in this business."
Billy McGuire of Richmond, Va., brought a 1909 touring edition -- one of six in his collection.
"I've had Model Ts since I was 10 years old," he said as he chugged along a dusty farm road outside Richmond. "I actually learned to read from the Ford Model T repair manual."
Like many of those attending the "T Party," McGuire's Ford loyalty extends to his regular ride. He recently bought a 2008 Ford F-350 Super Duty pickup. But the high school biology teacher says he would like to see more of Henry Ford's holistic approach to sustainable manufacturing reflected in the company's contemporary products.
He pointed to the plastic knobs on his Model T's dash. He said they were made from soybeans, which Henry Ford had already identified as a cheap and renewable resource.
"That's the sort of thing they need to be doing now," he said.
But Edsel Ford, who, along with his son, Henry Ford III, drew long lines of autograph seekers Tuesday, said the company is still true to the spirit of his illustrious ancestor.
"Ford Motor Co. is only a little way along the journey," he said Monday night. "We are still fresh to our journey. Successful companies always are, because successful companies never have journeys that are completed. But they all have beginnings. The all have starting points. And for Ford Motor Co., the starting point has rallied and gathered this evening in Richmond, Indiana."
Bryce G. Hoffman / The Detroit News
RICHMOND, Ind. -- Ford Model T owners from around the globe are converging on this quiet farm town to celebrate the centennial of the automobile that put the world on wheels.
The Model T also made Michigan the heart of the global automobile industry and made Ford Motor Co. an American icon. But those were happier days for the state and for the company.
In Dearborn, hundreds of white-collar workers are making a last, painful exit from their offices -- escorted by security as the company moves to cut another 15 percent off its salaried payroll. Thousands of blue-collar workers are weighing the latest buyout offers as production slows at their factories. And the automaker is preparing Thursday to announce details of still more restructuring activities as it continues to lose ground to foreign car companies.
But here in the cornfields of eastern Indiana, members of the Ford family and company executives have joined thousands of Ford enthusiasts to remember a better time and a stronger Ford. They have watched as hundreds of Tin Lizzies from 45 states and eight countries roll in for what promises to be the largest gathering of Flivvers in one place since the Highland Park factory closed in 1927. They are hoping to harness some of the passion these antique autos still inspire and make these hobbyists ambassadors for the Ford brand as it faces the toughest fight of its 105-year history.
The Ford legacy
Edsel Ford II, the great-grandson of Henry Ford and a member of the company's board of directors, opened the event with an emotional speech.
"I'm thrilled to be with the keepers of my great-grandfather's legacy," he said. "You are the guardians of the spirit that got the whole thing going ... Thank you for reminding us where we come from and who we are."
"Thank you for carrying the Ford banner. Thank you for displaying proudly the Ford script and the Blue Oval," Edsel Ford said to roaring applause.
Few were cheering louder than Jay Klehfoth, CEO of the Model T Ford Club of America, the group that organized the celebration.
"This is the car that changed the world," he said. "Henry Ford built a car that he was able to make affordable to the masses. He made it cheaper to own a Model T than to own a horse and he made us a mobile society."
The Model T also spawned the moving assembly line, the 40-hour workweek and the middle class.
Over 15 million Model Ts were produced between 1908 and 1927. A quarter million of them are still on the road.The first production models did not roll out of the Piquette factory in Detroit until October of 1908, but there already were prototypes sputtering around Detroit 100 years ago.
Klehfoth's organization held the centennial celebration in rural Indiana because of its central location and because its quiet two-lane roads are reminiscent of those Model T's wore out there first treads on. This is also home to Klehfoth's Model T museum. The first one he bought -- at age 13 -- is here on display, along with other earlier and later models.
Richmond or bust
Ed Archer drove his yellow 1915 Model T racer all the way from Hayward, Calif. It took him just under a week.
"It was built for racing. It could do 70 comfortably," he said. "But it's hard having no top. The sun gets hot."
Not to worry though; Archer was decked out like a dirt-track daredevil of the Roaring '20s, complete with goggles, leather flight cap and a carefully oiled mustache.
Peter Kable brought his all the way from Australia.
He put it on a ship in May and met it at the port of Long Beach in California at the beginning of June. He and his wife, Sally, hit the road on June 7 and arrived in Richmond on July 18. They said the joy of the trip was not just in the driving, but the reaction their vintage Ford evoked in the people they passed by.
"It gives a hell of a lot of pleasure to people -- especially elderly people," she said. "The trip down memory lane is fabulous for them."
That pleasure is evident for the thousands attending this week's event, which was expected to draw nearly 900 Model Ts.
"Henry Ford once said, 'History is more or less bunk.' But the history of this vehicle and the history of this great American is none of that," said Congressman Mike Pence, R-Ind., who helped open the festivities Monday night. "We celebrate not just a great American technological accomplishment, but we celebrate the values, the determination, the entrepreneurial spirit that made it possible."
On Tuesday morning, Ford Americas President Mark Fields told a smaller group of Model T enthusiasts that those same qualities are still alive in the company."Those are the same things that are driving Ford today," he said. "You really remind us at Ford why we're in this business."
Billy McGuire of Richmond, Va., brought a 1909 touring edition -- one of six in his collection.
"I've had Model Ts since I was 10 years old," he said as he chugged along a dusty farm road outside Richmond. "I actually learned to read from the Ford Model T repair manual."
Like many of those attending the "T Party," McGuire's Ford loyalty extends to his regular ride. He recently bought a 2008 Ford F-350 Super Duty pickup. But the high school biology teacher says he would like to see more of Henry Ford's holistic approach to sustainable manufacturing reflected in the company's contemporary products.
He pointed to the plastic knobs on his Model T's dash. He said they were made from soybeans, which Henry Ford had already identified as a cheap and renewable resource.
"That's the sort of thing they need to be doing now," he said.
But Edsel Ford, who, along with his son, Henry Ford III, drew long lines of autograph seekers Tuesday, said the company is still true to the spirit of his illustrious ancestor.
"Ford Motor Co. is only a little way along the journey," he said Monday night. "We are still fresh to our journey. Successful companies always are, because successful companies never have journeys that are completed. But they all have beginnings. The all have starting points. And for Ford Motor Co., the starting point has rallied and gathered this evening in Richmond, Indiana."