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The Ford Model Y is an
automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...
that was produced by Ford Britain,
Ford SAF Ford France (formerly, Ford SAF, Ford S.A. (corporation), Société Anonyme Française) is the France, French subsidiary of the United States, American automaker Ford Motor Company, which existed as a manufacturer under various names between 1916 ...
and
Ford Germany Ford-Werke GmbH is a German-based car manufacturing company headquartered in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a fully-owned subsidiary of American Ford Motor Company. It operates two large manufacturing facilities in Germany, a Cologne Body ...
from 1932 to 1937. It was the first Ford automobile specifically designed for markets outside the United States, replacing the Model A in Europe.


Production locations

It was in production in England, where it is sometimes remembered as the "Ford Eight", reflecting its fiscal horsepower rating, from 1932 until September 1937, The car was also produced in France (where it was known as the Ford 6 CV, despite actually falling within the 5CV French car tax band) from 1932 to 1934, and in Germany as the Ford Köln from 1933 to 1936. Smaller numbers were assembled in Australia (where a coupé version was also produced), Ireland (branded as the Baby Ford), Japan, Latvia (branded as the Ford Junior) and in Spain nicknamed as the Ford Forito. Plans to build it in the U.S. were scrubbed when a cost accounting showed that it would only be slightly cheaper to build than the Ford Model B.


The car

The car was powered by a 8 (RAC)hp Ford sidevalve engine. The little Ford was available in two- and four-door versions, sold as the 'Tudor' (a
pun A pun, also known as a paronomasia in the context of linguistics, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from t ...
on 'two-door') and the 'Fordor' (Ford/four-door) respectively. Originally each body was also available in standard or better-equipped 'DeLuxe' trim levels, but with the introduction of the 10hp Model C in late 1934, also available in DeLuxe form, these better-equipped versions of the Model Y were dropped from sale. The Model Y was now built to a single specification that was essentially the same as the previous standard guise but with a small number of features carried over from the old DeLuxe and the model was named the Popular for marketing purposes. This standardisation allowed production of the Model Y to be increased while the production cost per car was decreased. Over the next 12 months improvements in the production process at Dagenham, further alterations to the specification and some minor components and the increasing sales of the Model C (which brought
economies of scale In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, and are typically measured by the amount of Productivity, output produced per unit of cost (production cost). A decrease in ...
for the parts shared with the Model Y/Popular) allowed the sale price of the car to be dropped further. In June 1935 Ford was able to announce that the Popular Tudor model would be sold for just £100, a price it would hold until July 1937. This was the first time a four-seater closed-bodied saloon car had sold in Britain for that price (the first British car to sell for £100, the 1931 Morris Minor SV, was a two-seater with a collapsible fabric roof and a wood-framed body). The suspension was traditional Ford transverse leaf springs front and rear and the engine drove the rear wheels through a three-speed gearbox which, right from the start, featured
synchromesh A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed motor vehicle transmission system where gear changes ...
between the top two ratios. The maximum speed was just under 60 mph (95 km/h) and fuel consumption was . Even by the standards of the time, the UK-built Ford 8, like its major competitor the Austin 7, was found noteworthy for its "almost unbelievable lack of brakes." The Model Y also inspired copying by
Morris Motors Morris Motors Limited was a British privately owned motor vehicle manufacturing company formed in 1919 to take over the assets of William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield, William Morris's WRM Motors Limited and continue production of the same ve ...
, with the Eight, and by
Singer Motors Singer Motors Limited was a British motor vehicle manufacturing business, originally a bicycle manufacturer founded as Singer & Co by George Singer, in 1874 in Coventry, England. Singer & Co's bicycle manufacture continued. From 1901 George S ...
, with the Bantam.Wise, David Burgess. "Singer: A Car for Every Purse and Purpose" in Ward, Ian, Executive Editor. ''The World of Automobiles'' (London: Orbis, 1974), Volume 18, p.2071.


Evolution

For the first 14 months the original model with a short radiator grille was produced, this is known as the "short rad". After this in October 1933 the "long rad" model, with its longer radiator grille and front bumper with the characteristic dip was produced. By gradually improving production efficiency and by simplifying the body design the cost of a "Popular" Model Y was reduced to £100, making it the cheapest true 4-seater saloon ever, although most customers were persuaded to pay extra for a less austere version. Both 4-door (Fordor) and 2-door (Tudor) saloons were produced and these could be had either with a fixed roof, or the slightly more expensive sliding "sun" roof.


Additional body version

Also offered was an attractive 5 cwt van, which proved very popular with small businesses. Ford did not produce an open-top car because it was thought that the chassis was too flexible, but several specialist coach builders produced a range of Model Y tourers.


Commercial


Market reaction in Britain

Although of American design, the Model Y took the British market by storm, and when it was first introduced it made a major dent in the sales figures of
Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...
, Morris,
Singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...
, and
Hillman Hillman was a British automobile marque created by the Hillman-Coatalen Company, founded in 1907, renamed the Hillman Motor Car Company in 1910. The company was based in Ryton-on-Dunsmore, near Coventry, England. Before 1907 the company had ...
. It went on to take more than 50 per cent of the 8(RAC)HP sales.


Volumes

Some 175,000 Model Ys were produced worldwide (including 153,117 in Great Britain and 11,121 in Germany) and the 'Y' and 'C' Register contains approximately 1,250 survivors.


Ford Model C

In Britain the larger and faster 10(RAC)hp Model C never sold in such great numbers as the Model Y although there was a very attractive factory-produced tourer. In 1935 the styling was enhanced with some small modifications and the model was designated the CX. In Germany the position was reversed. The locally produced Ford Model C was branded as the Ford Eifel, and remained in production for four years after the manufacturer had given up on the locally produced Type Y, the Ford Köln. The Köln was outcompeted by the Opel 1.0/1.2 litre, and only 11,121 Kölns were produced, while a more respectable 62,495 Eifels were manufactured between 1935 and 1940. There was never an 8hp
Vauxhall Vauxhall ( , ) is an area of South London, within the London Borough of Lambeth. Named after a medieval manor called Fox Hall, it became well known for the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. From the Victorian period until the mid-20th century, Va ...
equivalent to the Opel offering.


See also

* Eugene Turenne Gregorie


References


Further reading

*


External links

* http://www.fordyandcmodelregister.co.uk/ {{FordEurope Model Y Cars introduced in 1932 1930s cars