words David Fletcher pictures The Tank Museum
David Fletcher profiles the venerable Ford Model T and its use during World War One
Henry Ford is claimed to have said “History is bunk”, yet he made history with one of the most iconic of motor cars, the Model T. It was first produced in 1909 and remained in production, with changes and improvements, for nearly 20 years, with factories being opened en masse in Britain, France and Germany. Britain built a right-hand drive version and, perhaps not so hamstrung as the American producer, was not bound by Ford’s curious aversion to the use of ‘his’ vehicle in wartime. Thus, the British built a vast number of variants, including cars, ambulances, fire trucks and many others. For the purpose of this feature, we are going to concentrate on three types: the light pick-up trucks and light patrol cars used in the Middle East and the armoured cars driven in Russia and elsewhere.
