MTFCA Forum

Did bumpers come with the car originally? If not, were did they come from?

Not until the 1926 improved models came out, even then it was an up grade not stock. All bumpers before that were aftermarket not Ford supplied item.

Just to confirm what Mark says, I have a 1927 Canadian touring car that came without bumpers. I also have the remains of another 1927 Canadian Touring which has original front and rear bumpers. Both cars came with Kelsey wooden spoke wheels so I guess upgrade packages weren't offered like today.

In USA, by the later days when Ford offered accessories, the T could be ordered from the branch with the accessory.

This invoice is likely to a dealer, named J.A.Battle. The Atlanta branch invoice has the factory bumpers noted installed per a P.O. , likely a purchase order for the T with bumpers, from that dealer, (and note it took only 10 days to get delivery from the P.O.) so it seems, the factory branch would fit accessories for delivery to the dealer.

So were the Ford bumpers that were eventually avaliable come from some after market supplier? I would think that they were and not stamped with the Ford logo. Or??
Maybe the accessories had to be Ford approved?

So were the Ford bumpers that were eventually available come from some after market supplier?

I haven't researched this, but I would guess they were supplied by an outside manufacturer, like horns, ignition switches, wheel and axle bearings, and several other components.

My original ford bumpers had a super large ford script rolled right into the backside of the steel bumper bars. It varied in placement, and was likely rolled into long bars or coils before being cut down, so IMHO those were certainly made by FoMoCo. Lots and lots of other companies made aftermarket bumper sets, so I’m just speaking of the authorized accessory bumper sets.

This will probably start folks looking for ‘original Ford T bumpers’.
That’s a new one for me. Haven’t seen much about it or maybe I didn’t notice. I’ve got some bumpers but ever looked for any Ford markings.

John, Ford bumpers are like the sets that Lang’s sell. Those come with stainless steel bars, which saves the chrome cost. They also have, or should have a Ford script medallion mounted in the center between the bars.
Unless you find a set of original bars in fantastic condition, its doubtful you’d ever see the large ford script I mentioned above. That would probably be ground away, unknowingly at most any chrome shop. They usually want to do the backside waaay too good. The original chrome wasn’t such high quality, either.
All the aftermarket ones I’ve seen attach a lot differently than the ford bumpers.