Model T looks good in black
QUESTION Why were all Model T Fords black for more than a decade?
Model T Fords were only available in black between 1914 and 1925 because this was cheaper and more efficient.
Henry Ford described this policy in his 1922 book My life And Work: ‘Any customer can have a car painted any colour he wants — so long as it is black.’
In fact, the first Model T that rolled off the assembly line in detroit, Michigan, in 1908 was red. The vehicles were available in grey, green, blue and black.
deciding to opt for one colour was part of the policy to keep the price low enough so anyone who made a reasonable living could afford a car.
It is widely held that Ford opted to use only black because it dried faster than other paint colours. There is little evidence for this.
In fact, painting every component of the Model T black streamlined production, making the process cheaper and enhancing quality control by making it easier to touch up scratches and imperfections. It also eliminated the need for retooling to accommodate different colours.
Before the Model T, cars were a luxury. At the beginning of 1908, there were fewer than 200,000 vehicles on the road. Between 1908 and 1927, Ford built 15 million Model Ts.
Cliff Latham, Kenilworth, Warks.
QUESTION After whom was the Commonwealth Games’s Alexander Stadium in Birmingham named?
THe stadium is named after William Whiteway Alexander, who established the local Birchfield Harriers as one of the premier athletics clubs in the country.
A postman and fine cross- country runner, Alexander joined Birchfield in 1879, three years after the club’s foundation. He finished fourth in the 1881 english cross- country championships after he did his morning postal round.
In 1882, Alexander became club secretary and gave up competitive running to manage the club.
After he became the landlord of pubs in Halesowen and Redditch, he would travel the country to athletics meetings to spot talent. He would offer free accommodation at his pubs and help find the amateur athletes work in the area.
In 1922, he established the Birchfield Harriers ladies’ section. His son, also W. W. Alexander, was coach.
By the time Alexander died in 1933, Birchfield Harriers was Britain’s top
athletics club. of the 49 cross- country championships held between 1886 and 1939, it won 27.
The original Alexander Stadium opened in 1976, replacing Birchfield Harriers’ former home at Alexander Sports Ground. Work on the new stadium began in 2019. Tina Lewis, Worcester.
QUESTION Has a musician ever been denied access to their own concert?
THe previous answers reminded me of the 2003 incident when Bruce Springsteen was playing the inaugural concert at leeds Arena.
The new venue had not sorted out its parking and Springsteen’s buses and rigging vans were forced to park on a side street near the stadium.
An over-zealous parking official duly slapped parking tickets on them. After considering the special circumstances, the tickets were eventually cancelled.
Will Allison, Wakefield, W. Yorks. IS THERE a question to which you want to know the answer? Or do you know the answer to a question here? Write to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Daily Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT; or email charles.legge@dailymail.co.uk. A selection is published, but we’re unable to enter into individual correspondence.