When the 1909 Model T Ford was introduced in the fall of 1908 Ford was already the leading car manufacturer in the world. Within weeks of the first Model T being sold there were accessories available to “improve” it. Then as now, there were accessories that made claims that were either partly true or completely untrue. Other accessories offered genuine improvement. In any case they offer today’s Model T enthusiast interesting options to add to the car, or to hang on the garage wall as a conversation piece.
The Aermore exhaust whistle is so popular that they are still being made today.
Bumpers were a popular accessory. Ford didn’t offer one until 1926. The aftermarket started selling them years earlier.
Some manufacturers offered new hoods, fenders, and sheet metal covers for the radiator. They promised to make your Ford appear to be a much more expensive car. How many people were truly fooled by this?
Things to make your Model T more powerful were quite popular, and many of them really did work. Here is a selection of parts from Green Engineering to improve power output of your T:
Along with the engine itself you needed a better carburetor for even more power and speed. Never fear, the accessory catalogs were filled with them, dozens of makes, and many of them were in fact very good. Here are a few examples.
So now the Model T is good looking and fast. What do you need next? A way to stop perhaps….
There were dozens of different accessory Model T transmissions. These were very useful since 20 horsepower only goes so far. The Himico unit completely removes the standard T transmission and replaces it with a three speed manual setup as was common on most other brands of car in those days.
Creature comforts were not ignored by the accessory manufacturers. If you lived in the northern regions a good heater was easy to sell. One of the best was made by Kunkel. It used the engine fan to blow across the exhaust manifold, yielding warm air on cold days.
Shock absorbers were another accessory that seemed a necessity to many Model T Ford owners. Hassler made the most popular brand, but there were dozens of others.
