1926 Ford Model T Coupe

 This Coupe was built by the Ford Motor Company. The 1926 Model T Coupe cost $520 at the beginning of 1926. On February 11, the company lowered the price down to $500. On June 6, the company lowered the price again, to $485. This particular Coupe's engine is (with the exception of one unreadable number) #14353?75, built on October 7, 1926.
 Advertised as the “Improved Ford,” the 1926 styles were updated in response to dropping sales over the previous two years. One of the most obvious changes during the 1926 model year was the addition of color to a few of the body styles. This Coupe came in Channel Green, as did the Tudor Sedan. The Fordor Sedan came in Windsor Maroon. The Runabout and Touring still came only in black. The 1926 styles (with prices) were:
 Touring - cost $290 on January 1, 1926; with the starter ($65) and demountable rims ($20), it cost $375. On February 11, 1926, the price without a starter and demountable rims was $310. On June 6, the price with a starter and demountable rims was $380.
 Runabout - cost $260 at the beginning of 1926; $345 with starter and demountable rims. On February 11, the price without a starter and demountable rims was $290. On June 6, the price with a starter and demountable rims was $360.
 Pickup - cost $281 at the beginning of 1926; $366 with the starter and demountable rims. On June 6, the price with a starter and demountable rims was $381.
 Tudor - cost $580 at the beginning of 1926. On February 11, the price without a starter and demountable rims was $520. On June 6, the price with a starter and demountable rims was $495.
 Fordor - cost $660 at the beginning of 1926. On February 11, the price without a starter and demountable rims was $565. On June 6, the price with a starter and demountable rims was $545.
 Coupe - cost $520 at the beginning of 1926. On February 11, the price without a starter and demountable rims was $500. On June 6, the price with a starter and demountable rims was $485.
 Chassis - cost $225 at the beginning of 1926; $290 with the starter and demountable rims. On June 6, the price with a starter and demountable rims was $300.
 Truck chassis - cost $365 at the beginning of 1926; $430 with the starter and demountable rims. On June 6, the price without a starter and demountable rims was $325, and the price with both was $375. The 1926 Truck had more body options that the 1925. These were (including price): an open cab (which cost $65), closed cab ($85), express body ($55), platform body ($50), and express body with roof and screen ($110).

 The Ford Motor Company was established on June 16, 1903, by Henry Ford and a group of eleven investors. The company's creation was not a foregone conclusion in the years leading up to that day. Ford had driven his first successful homebuilt car about seven years earlier, in June 1896. Despite this relatively early success, Ford got sidetracked by his development of race cars, especially his 999 and Arrow. Ford also co-counded two other companies, the Detroit Automobile Company and the Henry Ford Company, before either leaving or being removed from the firms. It was only after many ups and downs that Henry Ford got into the right manufacturing mindset and found the right investors to get the soon-to-be successful Ford Motor Company going.
 Beginning in 1903, Ford's company made the first Model A – a second Model A, of which three examples are here at Stuhr Museum, was built in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Along with the Model A, the Models C and F became big sellers from 1903 to 1905. All had 2-cylinder engines under the seat. From 1906 to 1908, before the shift to the Model T, Ford's Models N, R, and S became the most popular cars in America. All of these models had 4-cylinder engines under the hood. When Ford came out with the Model T in 1908, it became perhaps his favorite model. It was the best-selling automobile in America throughout the 1910s and into the 1920s, and it made the Ford Motor Company the largest car manufacturer in the world for a time.

Notes

A wonderful resource for the Ford Model T is Bruce W. McCalley, Model T Ford: The Car That Changed the World (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1994).
A nice website for information on Ford automobiles is the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village site. It has some great pages geared toward the model T. You can view these by clicking or touching here.

To find out even more about Ford Model Ts, you can search the Model T Ford Club of America's website, which you can access here; or The Model T Ford Club International's website, which you can access here.