In memory of Ford Model 1925

By Raphael OkelloTRUE, I am not exactly a nostalgic breed of wayward folk and neither a motor craze, but forget about the sleek Jeep Cherokee. Take a spin in the most significant, influential and memorable car of the century, the Ford Model T. The family of cars that put the world on wheels!After 1900, the British colonial government had plans to introduce motorcars as a means of transporting cotton, the then only cash crop of Uganda. Consequently in 1907, Governor Sir hesketh Bell introduced the 16 Horse Power Albion. Uganda then began to move on wheels. Of course it raised a lot of ‘dust’ then. But that was a development that successively culminated into the importation of more motor wagons by colonial administrators and private business people especially Indians in 1908.By the 1920s, the sight of a car no longer caused much awe and excitement. Many Indian traders and a few Africans had brought in a lot of saloon cars and lorries from England to transport people and goods.However, the Ford Model T 1925 stood the taste of time as it was always destined to enthuse her passengers. She was a dream come true for native youths. No doubt, a machine that represented a significant innovation in its day, its design and impact on society, I am resigned to compare it to the contemporary Mercedes Benz.“Under the management of the Church Missionary Society and the British colonial government, the Uganda Company bought cash crops and sold various merchandise to Africans. During the liquidation of the company at the close of the British colonial governance in Uganda, several items were donated to the Uganda Museum. The Ford Model T 1925 could have been among the items donated,” says Peter Ssebina, the Museum conservator who sounded rather uncertain about the source from which the Museum acquired the Ford Model T 1925.Among other items offered, the contraption of the Ford Model T 1925 was most significant. Today, she is stashed away in the Museum exhibition room that is brightly illuminated by the crowns of sun rays dripping in through the elevated glass windows.She perches on the floor like a legend of the fall. A sure object of attraction to a few adults and school children, who have had an opportunity to take a glimpse at her. “The science and industry exhibition room in which she seats is still under rehabilitation and not entirely open to the public,” says Ssebina.She is donned in an entirely dark polished enamel, a colour for which you would purchase any Ford Model T between 1914 and ‘25. You would purchase a Ford Model T in any form as long as it was black. This is because enamel dried faster, a characteristic that helped speed up production.The body has a canvas awning supported by a metallic framework that protects passengers from the scorching tropical sun and torrential rains. She carries a rectangular galvanised iron fuel tank in the forward part of her interior behind the driver’s seat. It must have held about eight gallons of gasoline and good grade kerosene that powered the Ford Model T 1925 through the rugged roads traversing the beautiful plains of Kampala and Entebbe.The two parallel seats across the width of the body constitute a series of spring linings and cushions underneath a polished canvas. It guaranteed utmost comfort through a series of corrugations that made most Ugandan marram roads. And why not, it was a car for the executive class-missionaries and colonial administrators.It has a capacity of upto five passengers; Ford Model T 1925 has such amenities as electric starter, headlights, electrical ignition with generator, battery (which was stolen), planetary gears and an old fashioned horn featuring a tube and rubber bulb-yeah, you got that right, the one like that of a bicycle! The chassis features a beam axle of the time (wood) and transverse springs at the front and rear. There is no sophistication behind the modest naked metallic steering. Its no wonder that local drivers quickly got acquainted with the machine and were soon recruited, as Indian drivers frequently fell sick.This planetary transmission, patented by Henry Ford, was integral with the Engine. By June 1927, the entire family of the Ford T, went out of production.You cannot be a proud new owner to take it for a spin around Kampala’s streets and avenues. The display in the Uganda Museum of the Ford Model T. 1925, shows you the kind of cars that were imported during the early colonial period. While at the museum, try to get yourself a lucky entrance in the science and industry exhibition room because the Ford Model T 925 is a thing that deserves more than just a passing glance.ends