Ford Model K
Ford Model K
Ford Model T
Ford V8 Model 18
The car that was to became the most popular make in the world, introducing the concept of mass production, started life officially in 1903. A company was formed by a group of 12 men led by Henry Ford. The 12 included the Dodge brothers, who later themselves became car manufacturers.
The firm’s premises in Mack Avenue, where production of the Model A began, were modest. Henry Ford was, in fact , already busy designing and making cars in 1896 (a quadric-cycle, a development from this, and two racing-cars). The Model A was driven by a twin-cylinder water-cooled engine with horizontal cylinders under the seat, and had chain transmission and epicyclic gears with two ratios. It was made for two years, and replaced by the Model C, which also had a two-year production span. The first 4-cylinder car was made in 1904; 1906 saw the model K, ostensibly a de luxe model, with a 6-cylinder engine. Ford and his collaborators quickly realized that this car was not going to make much impact on the market that was rapidly expanding and swarming with competitors. The K was manufactured for two years, and the best indication of Ford’s lack of interest in it is the fact that it was built in the Dodge factory, and then assembled in his own.
It should, nevertheless, be stressed that the Model K’s 6-cylinder engine was an exact ‘square’ both piton bore and stroke being the same, and that there were two epicyclic forward gear: this gearbox was to became characteristic of all Fords. However, particularly in this model , it appeared unable to a absorb and transmit the power of the engine. This was one of the most basic criticisms leveled at the car.
The K’s lack of success convinced Ford that, at least in those early years, the future of cars lay in a popular model, simple in design and capable of being produced in large quantities if possible. Step by step, he arrived at a solution with the 4-cylinder engines were abandoned.
