Henry Ford's First Car Turns 130 Years Old

The first historical date for the Ford company should be considered June 4, 1896, when Henry Ford completed work on his first automobile. It was a simple-looking cart on four bicycle wheels, suspended to a frame on elliptical springs. A small water-cooled two-cylinder engine was placed at the rear and developed 4 hp. It rotated the drive shaft via a belt, from which a chain drive was made to the rear wheel. Henry Ford and the Quadricycle, Detroit, Michigan, October 1896

The drive shaft belt could be moved across the pulleys using a lever – this was a prototype of the transmission. There were two speeds provided, corresponding to 10 and 20 km/h. In 1896-97, Henry Ford drove this car several thousand miles before selling it. Between 1898 and 1902, he manufactured about 25 different self-propelled vehicles, and in 1903, he founded the Ford Motor Company. The first car – model A – was released that same year, and within the first 15 months, 1,700 cars were produced. Another significant date is June 4, 1924, marked by the production of the 10 millionth car of the legendary Ford Model T. This was the world's first mass-produced car and entered history as the most produced vehicle of its time: a total of 15,007,033 such cars were manufactured over 19 years. By the way, one Ford T was showcased at the recently held largest technical festival in Kyiv, Old Car Land 2021. Another remarkable date in Ford's history was June 4, 1940, when the 7 millionth car with the famous V8 engine family was produced. During the winter of 1930-31, in a highly secretive environment, two dozen prototype passenger cars with this engine were manufactured. It was then refined, and in April 1932, the V8-18 model hit the market. With a displacement of 3.6 liters, the engine produced 62 hp. In the same year, passenger cars with the V8 engine began to be assembled at the Ford plant in Cologne (Germany) and at the company's English branch. It was also produced in Canada. It should be noted that V-shaped 'eights' in various versions were also used in trucks: in the USA since 1933, and in England and Germany since 1935. The engine of this family remained in production until the 1960s. The last European car with such an engine was the French Simca, whose production ended in 1961. However, the production of this car in Brazil continued until 1967.