Howdy y'all,
For some reason I can't seem to find a quick answer to this question...and I know someone out here can provide me with an efficient answer. I know the Model T wasn't the first mass-produced car, what I want to know is who was the first manufacturer to follow Ford with a reasonably priced car.
Thanks!
In reply to Petroboy:
Probably the Buick Model 10
There were hundreds of start ups back then shooting at the same target, we'll probably never know.
There were tons of manufacturers back then, of those, quite a few were economy cars.
The Model T was simply the most economical.
Off the top of my head, have a look at the Sears Motor Buggy, we just delivered a running, driving 1910 Sears Model L Runabout to a customer of ours. We had it in the shop for a minor freshening.
It was $475-ish out of the Sears catalog in 1910.
Chevrolet probably had something similar at the time.
In reply to Trans_Maro:
I thought Chevrolet was in the high end market until the depression?
Just had a look through some of my vintage advertising...
I stopped at 1920
1909 Auto-Bug Runabout - $500.00
Briscoe Car - $750.00
Black 10hp Motor Runabout - $375 - $450 depending on options.
1915 Chelsea - $390.00
Liberty Brush - $350.00
Dort model 5 - $650.00
1916 Fostoria Light $675.00
1912 Model T Delivery - $700.00
1914 Grant - $495.00
Car-Nation cyclecar - $495.00-Roadster $520.00-Touring
1909 McIntyre - $400.00
1920 Maxwell - $595.00
1912 Metz Twenty-Two water cooled - $600.00
1911 Paige-Detroit - $800.00
1912 R-C-H - $850.00
Saxon - $395.00
Studebaker - $985.00
1916 Sterling - $595.00 (No relation to current trucks)
1909 Zimmerman -$650.00 - $750.00
FWIW, Henry Fords wife had a Detroit Electric that cost around $2500.00 because he didn't want her to have to crank a Model T
Kenny_McCormic wrote: In reply to Trans_Maro: I thought Chevrolet was in the high end market until the depression?
Could have been, I don't have anything on them.
Buick and Olds were expensive cars in that era, $1500 plus.
Keep in mind, the early auto era is like the dot-com bubble.
A lot of those manufacturers probably made one or even less of their cars. Sears lost money on every runabout sold.
We have a 1911 Stoddard-Dayton in the collection and it's the only only one with a town car body that we've been able to document. Coincidentally, the vintage ad I have for Stoddard-Dayton shows a town car in the picture of the dealership showroom. Probably the same car since the one we have was purchased new off the floor of the auto show by it's first owner. I can't remember his name but he owned the patent on a couple of vacuum tube designs.
We also have a 1913 H.A. Moyer runabout. There's six known Moyers and two known runabouts. They only made about 100 cars and I can't imagine there was much demand at $2500 - $3000 each, roughly.
Trans_Maro wrote: Liberty Brush - $350.00
This is the sort of car I had in mind. The only thing is it seemed to be a later competitor.
We have one at the museum I volunteer at.
Model Ts were produced from 1908 to 1927 so that's right in line.
Which museum do you volunteer at?
The guys at Restoration Supply can help you with that missing lens on the acetylene headlight.
-edit-
I LOVE the wooden axle and frame on that Brush!!!
Also, I just remembered, another restorer we deal with owns a 1903 Holley (Yes, the carburetor company) apparently it sold for around $500.00
His is the earliest of two surviving examples.
Wikipedia has US auto production numbers by year: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Automobile_Production_Figures Ford didn't have any real competition until the Model T was out of production, but Chevy, Willys-Overland, Dodge, Buick and Studebaker were in distant second place for various years during the Model T era.
Yup, Ford simply had the most car for the best price.
Trans_Maro wrote: Model Ts were produced from 1908 to 1927 so that's right in line. Which museum do you volunteer at? The guys at Restoration Supply can help you with that missing lens on the acetylene headlight. -edit- I LOVE the wooden axle and frame on that Brush!!! Also, I just remembered, another restorer we deal with owns a 1903 Holley (Yes, the carburetor company) apparently it sold for around $500.00 His is the earliest of two surviving examples.
Saskatoon Western Development Museum - I don't get to contribute too much, since I'm a student and otherwise preoccupied. I love it there because you don't get to see things like wooden axles elsewhere. I'll tell them about the lens as soon as I can!
stuart in mn: Thanks! I was looking for something like that, but couldn't find anything remotely that comprehensive...I guess I should take that as a sign to get some rest.
Petroboy,
If you're in need of information on cars, suppliers or parts, feel free to send me a PM.
Shawn
Saying who was the first to try competing with the Model T can be tough to pin down, but arguably, Chevrolet was the first to do so well enough to put a dent in their sales.
Trans_Maro wrote: Yup, Ford simply had the most car for the best price.
I would say that the Model A was the only thing to could challenge its dominance at the time. The T in all of its variatios was ubiquitous.
Trans_Maro wrote: Petroboy, If you're in need of information on cars, suppliers or parts, feel free to send me a PM. Shawn
I'll bear that in mind. Thanks!
MadScientistMatt wrote: Saying who was the first to try competing with the Model T can be tough to pin down, but arguably, Chevrolet was the first to do so well enough to put a dent in their sales.
I got the impression that Buick was the first and real contender for a while in the wiki link above. It seems to me that Chevrolet eventually became significant, but only after Willys-Overland took over top-competition status from Buick for a number of years.
This is kind of a tricky question. It's not as if Ford made the Model T and then a bunch of companies subsequently created cars to compete with it. The Model T came out as a competitor to all the others in the market, evolved and emerged as the dominant survivor.
I'm going to say Fords worse competition was Ford.
The Model T was a hit when it came out. It was such a success Henry Ford was able to wrestle control of the company. He kept it in production with no real improvements while others around him were making increasingly better cars. By the time the Model A came out, Ford was near the back of the pack again, and struggled to catch up.
So it's not that the likes of the Dodge Brothers came out with a direct competitor to the Model T, they came out with a superior car to the Model T. As did almost everyone else.
little off topic, read the other day 90,000,000 SBC small block chevy engines produced, that is from 1955-1996, what we refer to as the sbc.
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