The forgotten history of the early Fords

Author John Stokes has written a book filling in some key gaps in NZ’s motoring heritage.

FORD motorcars have been part of New Zealand life since the first ‘Fordmobile’ arrived in Christchurch in 1904 but details of their early history had been a bit of a mystery.

‘‘There were plenty of Fords, but where did they come from, how did they get here, who bought them, who sold them, no one really knew the answers,’’ Wellington man John Stokes says.

The sketchy details prompted Stokes to embark on a 12-year project, researching and writing about Ford’s historical journey through New Zealand.

His book, Ford in New Zealand: Putting the Car before the Horse, comes out this month. The work is a social as well as a motoring history, detailing the years before the Ford Motor Company of New Zealand was established in 1936.

The Model T arrived here in 1909 and quickly became enormously popular. Not only was it inexpensive, but it was easy to drive – at least by the standards of the day, Stokes says.

‘‘Everything began to change with the arrival of these cars. It was the only one made that could handle the colonial conditions – and it was affordable.’’

In the very earliest days, cars were regarded simply as a plaything for the wealthy, and a noisy, unwelcome one at that.

‘‘And then Henry Ford turned up with a car that anyone earning a reasonable salary could afford. It was bringing motoring to the masses, so that they could go and see, in his words, ‘God’s great open spaces’.’’

An account by writer and Labour politician John A Lee, who was born in 1891, illustrates the motorcar’s impact on the country, Stokes says.

‘‘When he was really young, he ran when he heard a car. It was the first car he ever saw, and he ran with his little buddies to go and see this car in Dunedin.

‘‘Later when he was driving hansom cabs he commented about how the cars had to stop for him so as not to scare the horse. And then years after, he had to pull over with his horse to let the car go by. ‘‘And that’s how things changed.’’ The Model T was taken up with alacrity by people living in rural communities, Stokes says. By 1924, 45 per cent of the cars on New Zealand’s roads were Fords.

‘‘Farmers were the first to cotton on to the opportunity that Ford was offering, because (the cars) were affordable, cheap to run, reliable and strong enough to handle rural roads.’’

Rural women in particular embraced the independence that motoring brought them, he says.

Among them was Ada Ritchie who, with husband Robert, owned a farm near Mangaweka. The Ritchies bought their first car, a Model T, in 1914. On the big day, they set out to travel the 30 miles to Feilding in a horse and gig.

Stokes explains, ‘‘They’d never been in a car before, let alone driven one, and the salesman gave Robert a driving lesson around the block. Ada, who had been watching closely, then drove home with the kids in the back.’’

For women like Ada, motoring meant an end to having to catch and harness a horse before a trip to town.

‘‘She could just crank the Model T and be away.’’

Stokes, a first-time author, came up with the idea of writing the book after a car show he organised for Ford’s centenary in 2003 highlighted just how little was known about Ford’s history in New Zealand.

‘‘What’s helped me a lot is I love history and reading old magazines and talking to the older people who Wellington’s John Stokes with his history of Fords in New Zealand.

were around (in the early days). One of them said to me, ‘this story has got to be written. It’s never been written before’.’’

During the research he learned much about Ford’s early history that

surprised him, including that cars were shipped to New Zealand from Canada, not the US, to avoid tariffs.

‘‘I found this fascinating story. I had no idea about any of it. I’ve learned so much, and it’s all in the Photo: JOHN NICHOLSON/STUFF

book.’’

Ford in New Zealand: Putting the Car before the Horse, published by New Holland will be available in mid-November from Paper Plus stores. This Model F appeared at the 2003 Ford Centenary show in Rangiora. From left: Chris Dyer (event organiser, Model T Ford Club of NZ), John Luxton (Ford dealer and event sponsor), John Stokes, and Peter Bayler (event organiser, Model A Ford Club).