The Ford Model T’s Renaissance

/ by / Todd Burek / on / September 13, 2008 / in / Classic Vehicle Profiles

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If you grew up in the Detroit area, you have undoubtedly been through The Henry Ford. Whether you were there on a school field trip or on a family outing, you learned about life at the turn of the 20th century and the early years of Henry Ford. Unfortunately, there is little about Henry Ford and his namesake companies’ early manufacturing processes. For that, you have to go to an early Ford manufacturing facility like the Piquette Avenue facility, which was the true birthplace of the Ford Model T. The thin, red-bricked three-story Ford Motor Company building on Piquette Avenue in Detroit was the first plant built by the fledgling Ford Motor Company for its own use. Now at just over a century old, the Piquette Avenue facility is enjoying a slow and steady renaissance, largely through the efforts of dedicated volunteers.

The Piquette Avenue Plant is the birthplace of the Model T, whose 100th anniversary is celebrated this year. The Plant, by the way, cost $70,000 to build and helped Ford Motor Company became the largest manufacturer of automobiles, according to Piquette plant literature. The Ford Piquette Avenue plant in Detroit may be the most significant auto-heritage site in the world.

Built in 1904, the New England mill-style structure is the first building built for Ford Motor Company. Here is where Henry Ford and his team built the first 12,000 Model Ts. Ford outgrew its new building in only about six years and by 1910, production moved to Highland Park and Studebaker bought the building. The "T-Plex," as the Piquette site is now called, houses a couple dozen cars from the "brassy" era and they are surrounded by items like wood forms for early seats, wood and metal pattern makers, printed descriptions of everything, and artifacts.

Like many of the earliest auto builders, Ford was an innovative, observant experimenter who figured out how things worked and then how they might work better. He was also a stickler for safety and rules -- rules such as absolutely no smoking in the building, the majority of which is thick wood. Ford also had firewalls separating areas of each floor plus the entire factory was protected by an automatic sprinkler system that was fed by a 25,000-gallon water tank on the roof at the northwest end of the building. Support columns are square rather than round, as flames could travel more readily up round columns. The building is 402 feet long, 56 feet wide and three stories tall. The building's exterior envelope consisted of load-bearing brick masonry walls constructed of common brick and included a total of 355 windows. The interior framing consists of wood columns and beams. Floors are double-decked and the finished floor is mostly Maple. In addition to the main building, a powerhouse measuring 36 feet by 57 feet was built. Henry Ford was intimately involved in every aspect of design and construction of this facility. To learn more about the construction and planning, including contracts and who had them, visit the Model T Automotive Heritage website at www.tplex.org.

One of his words of wisdom that was posted around the building indicates hard labor is for machines, not men. Ford was infatuated with the idea of making vehicles of the highest quality that were also affordable to the average person, including his own employees. Many of the men and women who worked here spent 10 hours a day, six days a week for sometimes only 30 cents an hour. According to a Detroit News story, “Many of the people Ford worked with wanted to build expensive luxury touring cars, like the Model K, which might have run as much as $2,500. Even the $800 price for a smaller runabout was the equivalent of a schoolteacher's annual salary.”

"It's important to remember the innovation that was going on here in Detroit in those years," said Jerald Mitchell, CEO of the Model T Automotive Heritage Complex, Inc. "This area was like an early Silicon Valley." During its brief time in operation, the Ford Piquette Plant was the production site for Models C, B, F, K, N, R, S and T.

To get more information about the Model T Automotive Heritage Complex, you can visit their website at www.tplex.org or give them a call at 313.872.8759. Their website provides a wealth of information and history about the early Ford Motor Company years. For example, prior to the Model T, Henry Ford produced a series of "letter" cars including the Model N - perhaps the most underrated car in Ford Motor Company history. The Model N not only made the three-year old firm the highest volume producer in America, but it also served as the prototype for the Model T.

If you are an automotive history buff like me or just curious, look them up or give them a call. They have limited hours of operation, so make sure you call first before heading down.