full size Printed Plans & Article Ford 1896 model 1901 model Scale 1:16 (3/4"=1ft)

Listing for full size Printed Plans & Article

Not a KIT or MODEL

Ford

1896 model

1901 model

Scale 1:16 (3/4"=1ft)

1896

Length 6"

1901

Length 7 5/8"

Full Size printed plan on a sheet 25" x 24" 20lb bond

Five page article with building notes and photos

by Hi Sibley

  THIS is the first self-propelled vehicle designed and built by Henry Ford. It was an experimental model and, so the story goes, Mr. Ford was so fearful of being ridiculed in case it didn't run that with the aid of Mrs. Ford he pushed it into the alley in back of his little shop on Bagley Ave., Detroit, in the dead of night. It started, however, and ran as per plan, and although it awakened the neighbors for several blocks around, a career was launched.

  The first real Ford car was known as the "Detroit" and was built by the Detroit Automobile Company, organized by Henry Ford. This 1901 model still retains carriage lines with the exception of the rear deck, and is an exceptionally trim design. The wheel steering gear had not yet come to American automobiles, and the folding top might have been transplanted directly from a horse-drawn buggy. Fenders apparently were not considered important, but note that the carburetor is located in a very accessible position below the chassis.