Da Room Where it All Began!!!

[Grit Kid]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/enthusiasts/this-is-the-secret-room-where-the-ford-model-t-was-developed/ar-AAsUMFP?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartanntp

[pAAt]

Great article on T's, now I'll have to find out what an N is ! Tractor I suppose Pat

[BNCHIEF]

No Paat the n was a car ford made the K then the r and the s before he built the first t in 1908. The first few t's had dual pedal and two levers on the side 1909 they went to three pedal and a single lever as you see them today.

[pAAt]

Thanks BN !! I going to look for pictures now.

[BNCHIEF]

Ford also built an a model if I remember correctly long before he built what we know as an A.

[Rob Patterson]

My wife and I visited the Piquette Ave Plat in 2007 and again, 10 years later, last July. Its a looooong way from home.
They had employed an Industrial Archeologist to study the Secret/Experimental room, to figure out what equipment went where originally. They looked at bolt holes in the floor and walls. oil splatter and grease stains.
The photos show the Experimental/Secret room being re-constructed after 12 years of research, a view down one of the 3 floors, the recently restored facade and a fabulous little Model N Runabout, that I fell in love with in 2007......and its still there now. Such a pity I have to travel half way around the world to visit there. Wish it was next door.
If you ever get to be in or near Detroit, I strongly urge you to pay a visit to the Piquette Ave Plant. Should you be a Ford fan, its something you'll never forget.
Cheers,
Rob

[DaWizard]

Hey Rob, WELCOME to the VFF!!

Great pictures, thanks for sharing.

[BNCHIEF]

Nice pics Rob one of the places I have not been to but it is on my list. Also a big welcome to the VFF and yeah that model N is nice looking. Stop by anytime and tells us more.

[Rob Patterson]

This famous photo shows Clara, Mrs. Ford, driving a Model 'N' Runabout past the Piquette Plant while Henry looks out his office window.
This was arguably, the deciding moment in 1906, that put the USA into LHD cars and driving on the right. Because......when Clara alighted from the test drive, Henry asked her opinion of the new car. She replied she didn't like alighting from that side of the RHD car. So when planning for the Model T began, it was LHD and shear weight of "T" numbers made it so.

The second photo shows Sandy, Mrs. Patterson, pretending to lean on the fender of an early T painted on a door at the Piquette Plant.

The last image is of a gravity closing fire door in the plant. There are small dents in the door which have been identified as having been made by BB/air gun pellets. Its even documented in the Piquettes records somewhere that Henry, when bored, would fire a BB/air gun down the floor of the plant.

Its a VERY interesting place, with a huge amount of history and the people that saved it from demolition deserve great praise.

Cheers,
Rob

[Rob Patterson]

This is the Piquette Ave Plant's website https://www.fordpiquetteplant.org/
If anyone's interested enough to know more about the secret experimental room, then here's a news article you might find interesting, taken from their website. https://www.fordpiquetteplant.org/se...rimental-room/
The attached photos show the room as it was when I was there in 2017. It doesn't look it, but, it had come a long way since I had first seen it in 2007
Cheers,
Rob

[Mitch]

Nice series of posts Rob