Interesting 1921 Ford Dealer Calendar

[ForestAcres]

This showed up at a local auction yesterday. The calendar is 1921, so I assume it would have been produced in 1920. The car shown has side lights and non-demountable rims, so a car without a starter. I dropped out at 200.00! Neat item.

[DHort]

That is exactly what my car looks like, but I have a starter. Car is titled as 1919, but engine VIN is 1920. The assumption is that it was built in Minneapolis, and maybe it was built with leftover parts. That might explain the side lamps and the windshield.

[ForestAcres]

Since the ford "Model Year" started on August 1, a 1919 build date with a 1920 Vin would be correct.

It's interesting that a 1920 car with a starter would have had the side lights, but not surprising. People forget that Ford was in the business of building and selling cars, and that meant using up parts inventory, with no real concern about official "model years". They would have had side lights on hand, and if they were out of the "new" 1920 model windshield brackets, or hadn't yet received the changed part, they would have used the 1919 ones and installed the lights.

I think those of us raised in the 1950's and 1960's, who are used to clean model year change overs, assume that had been the practice in prior years. But it is a false memory. Model year changeovers were never 100% cut offs, and early cars particularly were built with some prior year parts, and in some cases, built with new style parts before they were officially introduced.

A couple of examples that I personally observed when new. An early 1965 Ford that had 1964 style engine parts instead of revised 1965 ones. A late 1965 Ford Galaxie 500 that was shipped to the dealer several weeks prior to the introduction of the 1966 Fords, but had the new 1966 Ford style hub caps installed.

I've owned several modern cars over the years that were ordered before new car introduction, and in one case delivered before the official new car introduction date, and have seen lots of examples. The most common was a car having parts from a higher model than ordered. Or a 1992 Ford Taurus wagon that I ordered with standard wheels, and arrived with a set of mag wheels that I never saw on any other 1992 Taurus again. The dealer explained there was a shortage at introduction for the station wagon wheels, and they were substituting these wheels at no extra charge. Again, a car ordered long before model year introduction. I think the station wagon had larger front brakes and required a different wheel?

So model years should always be considered approximate dates, particularly in the Model T era.

[ForestAcres]

My post made me curious. Thanks to the internet, I just learned for the first time that my 1992 Taurus station wagon was built with 1992 Lincoln Continental (FWD) wheels!

[frontyboy]

Back in the day, my father purchased what he thought was a 1914 touring. Upon further inspection the car was titled as a 1915. Now this car had a wood flat firewall, brass radiator, 1914 windshield and 1914 front fenders and an aluminum '14 hood. The rear fenders were 1915 curved fenders that were flat across.

The body was a 1914 thru and thru, with the body beading at the rear fenders going straight out even though the 1915 fenders were installed.

All the brass, radiator, square side & tail light, headlights and windshield were 1914 and all painted shiny black. While the title and engine serial number were 1915, the block had late 1914 cast into it. This car was assembled in the Seattle factory.

Like stated above Henry used up everything no matter the date or year of manufacture.

just sayin'
frontyboy

[Allan]

Similar happenings occurred in Canadian production. We have a 1915 production tourer which has the earlier steering column with the riveted gearcase and conical top. It has the same riveted rear axle as the 1914 models. Clearly they were using up old stocks of parts to build cars.

Allan from down under.

[Kerry]

Pre electric T, 17 or 18, front radius rod is above the axle.

[ForestAcres]

You are correct!!! I missed that. My 1918 Model T touring car was built 8/13/1918 and it also has the high wishbone. Given it was built after August 1, I assume it was technically a 1919 Model year, but I think it is pretty clear that model year changes were "fluid". Things did not change on a single day like new car model introductions in the 50's, 60's, and 70's.

I guess I was thinking that this was a calendar that Ford offered to their dealers, and thus would have a photo of a current model. Now my guess is that this was a company that printed generic auto dealer calendars, and had photos of different brands? Or perhaps there were so many Ford dealers, they offered them to Ford only? If it had been produced by Ford, you would not see the generic cars in the border.

There were no markings indicating a manufacturer. The photo in the lower left corner was marked "Photo From Life" and a stock number 4248

[DHort]

Here is my touring with a 1920 VIN. Has a starter and sidelights. A previous owner also liked brass. I changed the wheels.