The Ford Motor Company’s long and distinguished history with four-cylinder engines starts here: With the 1904-06 Model B.
Even before he founded the Ford Motor Company in June of 1903, Henry Ford recognized the potential of the four-cylinder engine, as witnessed by his powerful 999 and Arrow race cars, both constructed in 1902 with gigantic 1,156 cubic-inch fours. However, the first four-cylinder Ford to actually see production was the Model B, introduced in October of 1904. Another Model B distinction: This was the first production Ford with its engine located up front behind a vertical radiator, instead of under the seat. (See our feature on the original 1903 Ford Model A here.)
With a bore and stroke of 4.25 by 5.00 inches and a displacement of 284 cubic inches, large by modern four-cylinder standards, the Model B was rated at 24 horsepower. The four gray iron cylinders were cast individually, fitted with stamped copper cooling jackets, and bolted to a common cast-aluminum crankcase, which also housed the camshaft for the L-head valve mechanism. While this engine didn’t share much with the Model T four that arrived a few years later, it was state-of-the-art for 1904. The chassis was up to date as well with a 92-inch wheelbase, a unit planetary transission, and enclosed shaft drive. Top speed was a sporty 40 mph.
While some historians have described the Model B as a failure, that assertion may be worth another look. Approximately 500 were produced, around 444 of them in 1905, or around 28 percent of the company’s total production that year (1,599 cars). However, with its list price of $2,000, more than twice as much as the two-cylinder Models C and F, the Model B accounted for nearly half the company’s revenue, helping to fuel the company’s remarkable expansion.
The Model B was phased out early in 1906 once the original 500-car production schedule—worked out by Henry Ford and John Dodge in late 1904—was met. Now the company was shifting its focus to the two-cylinder, false-front Model F, the six-cylinder Model K, and a daring new four-cylinder car of advanced design, the Model N. That was the end of the Model B, though the name was revived with the 1932 Model B, the four-cylinder replacement for the Model A. (Lead photo courtesy of The Henry Ford.)
I don’t see enough articles about pre-Model T Fords to have a good idea of the history. It doesn’t help that they seemed to pick letters at random to identify the various models. Was there a method to what letter was assigned to each car? It’s odd that they would re-use the letter A for such an important advancement. Henry was inscrutable on many levels.
In chronological order from 1903: A, AC, B, C, F, K, N, R, S, T. In Ford lore, the missing alphabet models are proposals and prototypes that didn’t make production. The N, R, and S are really the same car with progressively more equipment. The 1928 Model A was named as a tribute to the 1903 original. mcg
As always, you rock!
This iteration of the Ford brand gave Henry the incentive (realized multiple cylinders generated mass interest but the mass could not afford them) to build the Model N and S, which preceded the car that changed the world. Not only put the world on wheels, but is the single biggest reason the middle class became the largest economic segment demographic.