The First Car of Henry Ford 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 with 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, providing speeds of 10 and 20 km/h.

Between 1896 and 1897, Henry Ford drove this machine several thousand miles before selling it. From 1898 to 1902, he produced 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 in 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 car of its time: a total of 15,007,033 units were manufactured over 19 years. By the way, one Ford T was showcased at the largest Technical Festival Old Car Land 2021 in Kyiv.

Another remarkable date in Ford's history was June 4, 1940, when the 7 millionth car with the famous V8 engine was produced. In the winter of 1930-31, under conditions of special secrecy, two dozen experimental passenger cars with this engine were manufactured. It was then refined, and in April 1932, the V8-18 model began to hit the market. With a working volume of 3.6 liters, the engine developed 62 hp.

That 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, in England and Germany since 1935.

The engine from 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.