It was Sept. 27, 1908 that Henry Ford changed the world, when the first Model T rolled out of the factory.
Production started modestly at Ford’s Piquette Avenue Plant, with only 11 vehicles reportedly produced in the first month. Demand quickly outstripped the capacity of the comparatively small factory and by 1910, Ford had built and moved production to the mammoth Highland Park factory 3 miles north. The moving assembly line would come on line about three years later, introducing the world to mass production and solidifying Detroit as the epicenter of automotive manufacturing.
Only the first 12,000 of the more than 15 million Model Ts assembled between 1908 and 1927 were produced at the Piquette Plant, along with seven other Ford automobiles that preceded it (the building was constructed in 1904). After moving production to Highland Park, Ford sold the Piquette Plant to Studebaker, which was expanding its own factory that was literally next door. At the time, Ford and Studebaker were the two largest-volume car makers in the world.
Built in 1904, the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant produced Ford’s Model B, C, F, K, N, R and S models before the Model T was launched in late 1908. Photo: Barry Kluczyk
In 2000, after decades of changed hands, the site was sold to the Model-T Automotive Heritage Complex, which has operated it as the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant museum — and at the end of each September, they open the doors and celebrate the world-changing icon with a birthday party. We stopped by this year to have a piece of cake, check out the vehicle displays and take a ride around the historic neighborhood in a Model T.
There are signs all around the Piquette Plant of the manufacturing decline in Detroit, but also signs of renewal. Along with the rehabbed Piquette Plant museum, which was named a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 2006, the former Studebaker facility joined at its hip is being restored as an apartment complex, while another of the former Studebaker buildings down the street is now a Veterans Administration facility.
Henry Ford’s famous quote about offering the Model T in any color as long as it was black was true only after 1913. Earlier models were offered in different colors, but this lineup in the museum is all black. Photo: Barry Kluczyk
Ford’s tenancy of the Piquette Plant was relatively brief, but its significance as the birthplace of the car and industry that changed the world endures 115 years later. The museum celebrates it every day, but brings out the cake and balloons once a year — and it’s a party worth attending.
And if you can’t make it to the birthday party, the museum is a worthy destination the rest of the year. Go to www.fordpiquetteplant.org for more information or check them out on Facebook.
The birthday party always draws a display of Model Ts and other vintage autos, which were lined up this year against the Victorian-style brick building’s western façade. The Ford board approved $76,500 to build the factory in 1904.
One of the highlights of the event is the Model T rides, which provide quick tours around the neighborhood in the vintage cars. Photo: Barry Kluczyk
The Model T rides glide past a Veterans Administration building that was once a Studebaker factory next to the Ford Piquette Plant. Photo: Barry Kluczyk
It’s not a birthday party without a cake and there was one here, commemorating 115 years of the Model T. Photo: Barry Kluczyk
An assembly station display in the museum shows the steps of the cars’ construction prior to the advent of the moving assembly line Ford pioneered a few years later at the Highland Park factory. Photo: Barry Kluczyk
In 1905, Ford offered the models B, C and F. This is a Model C Tonneau, which was differentiated from the other C Runabout models with its rear seat. And while the conventional looking suggests there’s any engine under hood, the engine is actually located under the front seat. The fuel tank is under the hood. Photo: Barry Kluczyk
A “winged” Ford script was used on Model T brass radiators from 1909 through 1910, before the wings were “clipped” to the more conventional script seen today in the blue oval emblem. Photo: Barry Kluczyk
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