Were T's black only?
 

Henry Ford, who spoke at least one golden thought every day, wrote in his autobiography that a customer may wish to have a car in any color as long as it is black. The fact is, however, that in the first four years of production black was not an option at all. The car could be bought in grey, red, green and blue, depending on the body type. In 1910 Ford Motor Company introduced a very dark shade of green known as Brewster Green, and then dark blue appeared. It was only in 1913 that black began to be mentioned. The sale of the T model came as a surprise in 1916, so most of the models that were on the road then were in black. The popularity of black was also due to economics - black paint dried faster than others, which was extremely important in view of the tape production.

Re: Were T's black only?
 

To answer your title, let us not overlook the "Improved T" of 26 + 7. I haven't the choices of color available.

When most were pining for a new version of Ford. ( the most popular car brand ) Ford tried to hang on to the "T" with more braking surface, beefier tires, trimmed up body lines, coil and gas outside the cabin, and of course colors.

Re: Were T's black only?
 

Drying time may have been part of it, but have read that might not be true. Other colors may have dried just as fast. A big part of it was how Ford painted the bodies. Ford flowed the paint on not sprayed. If you look you will find photos of the body being painted. The paint flowed thru a hose to what amounted to a wide head. The paint was applied and flowed down the body where the overflow fell in to a trough under the body and was recirculated back to the pump and used. With the amount of production going on it would have required multiple lines of different colors and would have slowed production up quite a bit. While other car companies were offering different colors, their production came no where near Fords volume. By time the Newer models came out, production had slowed down and spray equipment had come into use. That and the bodies had very little wood in them (except the 4 door) so drying ovens could be used. Some parts of the chassis and fenders were dipped in vats of paint, like the whole rear end, front axle, wheels etc.

Re: Were T's black only?
 

Here are a few body colors for 1926/27;
1926 Enamels
Channel Green
Windsor Maroon
Late 1926-1927 Pyroxylin Paints
Rock Moss Green
Channel Green
Drake Green/Vagabond Green
Highland Green/Dark Green
Phoenix Brown/Rosewood Beige
Gunmetal Blue
Moleskin/Moleskin Brown
Royal Maroon
Fawn Grey/Granite Grey

Wire wheels and striping were also also enamel in '26 and pyroxylin in late '26-'27 and were different colors than the bodies.

Re: Were T's black only?
 

Re: Were T's black only?
 

I thought the answer was yes, now I know I'm wrong. Glad to learn there were options!

Re: Were T's black only?
 

T42, thanks for the color list. Anybody know if they did the color combos with the wheels and bodys like the later model a's had?

Re: Were T's black only?
 

Not exactly sure about this, but I believe that T owners could chose different colored wire wheels ('26) that were painted by the dealerships and not the factory. Factory issue was black early in '26 and optional colors, by the factory, came later in the year. In '27 optional colors were totally available from the factory. This carried over to the A production.

Re: Were T's black only?
 

Yeah. You have to consider dealer's modifications.
Driving Mercedes for years, lot of Mercedes cars sold in 1990's had chromed wheels.
Mercedes never made chromed wheels. Those all were done by dealers as that was market demand at the time.
I see pictures on the net, of black Ford T sitting on red wheels.
Ugly IMHO but has to be nice in someone's eyes?

Re: Were T's black only?
 

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...p;d=1614052317

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...p;d=1614052321

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...p;d=1614052401

Red Ford Model T Touring on display at the Piquette Ford Museum.

Re: Were T's black only?
 

Oh that's very interesting. I didn't think they did that that early. Cool to hear it was a dealer thing first. I never see them in anything but black most the time but after watching that show, Highway Men, it got me wondering. Thanks for the info. I'm putting together a 27 and will have to pick a wheel color combo