Any thoughts on Model and possibly year? Thanks

[bowdillian]

[Mark Wetherbee]

Definitely a Model T Ford. I was thinking it’s a 1911 model but the plate looks like it reads 1910??

 

Looking closer the script on the radiator has wings which could be 1910. Beautiful early pictures!

Edited May 13 by Mark Wetherbee
Winged radiator (see edit history)

[Dave Mellor NJ]

I think the last year for those windshield braces was 1912

[oldford]

IF, and a big if, the car is 'as produced' it is a 1910 or 1911 Ford. Headlights are 1910-11 3 tier side lights are 1910-11, dashboard filler board, rear fender irons, point to 1910-11. 1912 had no filler board....

 

Frank

[Brass is Best]

Sure looks like a 1910 Ohio license plate.

[dustycrusty]

It has 1909-1910 "dog legged" windshield braces and top bows. 1911-12' braces & bows were straight. The top also lays on an angle like the 1909-'10 version would- the later tops folded flatter against the re-designed 1911 > bodies with a shorter rear seat back.

 

Now, is this a contemporary photograph, or a well done recreation? The car is spotless- shiny body paint and brass, even the tires are un scuffed or blemished. How did that license plate get so beat up when the car looks like it just left the factory?

Edited May 13 by dustycrusty (see edit history)

[bowdillian]

The back of the postcard showed a name and the word "agent".    I think it is an advertising postcard

 

 

[wayne sheldon]

Front and rear, 1911 fenders are a lot different than 1910. Both front and rears flared in toward the chassis in 1911, similar to all the more common brass years that followed. 1909 and 1910 fenders, both front (except for the inner skirt which is folded and angles down to the chassis) and rear, the part of the fender that covers over the tire is basically straight about eight inches wide the full length of the fender. You can see this on the rear fender in the first photo. Also in the first photo, notice the space between the fender and the body. The 1911 and later brass era fenders flared inward to fill some of that gap. Notice also the two fender irons angling up from the chassis to the fender. Those double iron fender brackets are sometimes referred to as "butterfly" irons (or butterfly brackets). An interesting detail is, that most of the 1909 model year, the butterfly brackets were shaped somewhat differently, and they came up under the fender on the inside of the fender, between the wheel and the inner skirt of the rear fender (which you cannot see in the photo). The 1909 model year, mostly you would not be able to see the butterfly brackets from this angle! However, it was quickly discovered that mud collected badly inside the fender on the butterfly brackets. So late in 1909 model year the brackets were redesigned putting them between the fender's skirt and the body. That design continued all through the 1910 model year. For 1911, the butterfly brackets were discontinued, a single iron was attached to the body to support the rear fender.

Only 1909 and some of 1910 model Ts had the "Ford" script cutout on the radiator core. At that, not all cars got that. Ford was having supply problems on many parts (they were assembling cars faster than many of their suppliers could make them!). Radiators were made by several companies, and varied a lot in design and details. For that year, 1909 only, a lot of cars got radiators that did not have the script stamped on the radiators top tank! Some historians believe that was one of the reasons Ford put the script on the radiator core (not sure I believe that myself?). Regardless of why, that script was (except for after-market accessory sales which were rare!) was put there by the Ford factory on some cars for those two years. Era photographs seem to indicate that most 1909s did have that script, a lot of early 1910s still got it, but as the production rolled along through 1910, fewer and fewer cars got that detail.

 

Windshield and top were optional throughout 1909 and into early 1910 model year. A couple different styles of both the top and the windshield were offered for the cars. Early in the 1910 model year, top and windshield became standard equipment on the model T(except for the towncar), however, a few different styles continued to be offered. The windshields with the long brass rods (tubing actually!) was unusual for both 1909 and 1910, however it was one of the optional choices (often actually randomly supplied, you get what you get). Both the top and the windshield are likely factory supplied and installed.

 

All things considered, the car is probably a 1910, probably the first half of 1910, but could be a very late 1909. It was probably a dark green color.

[dustycrusty]

11 hours ago, bowdillian said:

The back of the postcard showed a name and the word "agent".    I think it is an advertising postcard

 

 

The more I look at it, the more it looks like a fresh-outta-the-boxcar 1909-1910 Ford out on its maiden voyage. Maybe an enterprising  Ford agent slapped some chains on this brand new "T", grabbed a photographer and headed for the hills to get a few shots of his fanciest product tackling some freshly fallen snow. By the raggedy outlines of the undercarriage caked in mud, and a few plops of crud that have fallen off the car as it sits, it looks like they had to navigate a sloppy stretch of roads to get the shot. 

 

That would explain the beat up plate- its just covered in a slush/mud combo, and the tires would have been cleaned up by driving a distance in new snow

[Soupiov]

Certainly looks like a late '09 or early '10.  The butterfly rear fender brackets were not used in '11 and are clearly visible in the top picture.