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Old 04-27-2014, 06:54 AM   #1
t-head
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Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: In my machine shop.
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Default Henry Ford Called His Automobile the Universal Car - This Proves It



This is off topic here in the Model A Forum, I meant to post it in the "T" Forum, but put it here by mistake. Sorry but I hope that you will find it interesting.

World War I had recently ended when this photo was taken and in that conflict the British and French tank designs for traveling over all types of terrain were proven. An example of the Mark VIII Tank, an Anglo-American effort produced near the end of the conflict can be seen above in the background.

The Model “T” Ford Roadster equipped with endless tracks featured here, appears to have been demonstrated to high-ranking Army officers by a pair of business men trying to sell their design. It is wearing a 1920 New York license plate that is mounted backwards and crudely lettered U.S. Army Ord-Dept.

Another photo of the scene above exists, but just recently an excellent pair of images has been discovered by Shorpy. Erich Bruckner has posted other photos of this design in the past on the MTFCA Forum. Because of the new photographs being discovered we decided to revisit this story and see if we could find any more details about its construction and history.

On The Old Motor we have the other new photo posted along with one that Erich Bruckner found and links to another Model "T" with tracks and full info about it. Other neat photos and info on the 1908 Hornsby Chain Track Tractor, along with an excellent video you will enjoy, demonstrating it in use are all at The Old Motor.

Last edited by t-head; 04-27-2014 at 07:17 AM. Reason: OT - Henry Ford Called His Automobile the Universal Car - This Proves It
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