Henry Ford handed the first example of his new 1928 Model A to Thomas Edison, his friend and mentor. Edison did not keep the Edison Model A as delivered. Instead, he had it rebuilt as an open touring car and used it until his death in 1931.
Better still, the car survives today. It belongs to The Henry Ford, the museum in Dearborn, Michigan, and it sits on loan at a museum devoted entirely to the Model A. Its story ties together two of the best-known American names of the 20th century.
It also says something about Ford himself. Out of a whole new car line, he chose to give the first one to the man who had encouraged him decades earlier.
Why Ford gave Edison the Model A
Ford and Edison first met in 1896, according to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers, Florida. At a professional convention in New York City, the young Ford described the quadricycle he had built. By Ford’s account, Edison banged his fist on the table and told him, “Young man, that’s the thing; you have it! Keep at it!”
After that, the two men stayed close for the rest of Edison’s life. In 1916, Ford even bought the winter estate next to Edison’s in Fort Myers. According to the estates, he paid $20,000 for it.
So when the Model A arrived, the gift made sense. The Henry Ford’s record for the car calls the Model A Ford’s “first all-new car in 19 years.” In fact, the museum says Ford gave the first example of it to Edison.
The Model A that replaced the Model T
Mechanically, the new car was a clean break from the Model T. According to Mac’s Motor City Garage, Ford built the first Model A engine on October 20, 1927. Then the public introduction followed on December 2.
At the time, that engine was a 200.5-cubic-inch four-cylinder. Mac’s puts its output at 40 hp at 2,200 rpm, with 120 lb-ft of torque at 1,000 rpm. However, The Henry Ford’s record for Edison’s car lists 24 hp, so the two sources use different figures for the same basic engine.
Production ran high. Mac’s says Ford built not quite five million Model As over the 1928 through 1931 model years. In other words, Edison’s car was the first of millions.
How Edison changed his Model A
Still, Edison had his own ideas about the car. At his request, Ford rebuilt it with an open touring-style body, The Henry Ford says. In addition, Ford made further updates to it over the years.
Meanwhile, the museum’s catalog gives the finished car’s size. It measures 153.5 inches long and 65 inches wide on a 103.5-inch wheelbase, and it stands 72 inches tall. Its listed colors are dark blue, black, light blue and gold, and the radiator still reads “FORD.”
Edison kept using the car until he died in 1931. His widow, Mina Miller Edison, later gave it to The Henry Ford. The museum’s credit line reads “Gift of Mina Miller Edison,” and the car carries object number 43.30.1.
Edison’s other car from Henry Ford
The Model A was not Ford’s only automotive gift to Edison. Alongside it, the museum holds a 1923 Lincoln touring car that Ford gave him. Its catalog record explains how Ford came to own Lincoln in the first place.
First, Henry Leland founded Lincoln in 1917 to build aircraft engines. After World War I, the company turned to luxury cars. Then financial trouble pushed Leland to sell it to Henry Ford in 1922.
Edison’s Lincoln is a much bigger car than the Model A. It rides on a 136-inch wheelbase and stretches 209 inches long. Its hood plate carries serial number 12578. Like the Model A, it came to the museum as a gift from Mina Miller Edison, under object number 43.30.2. Unlike the Model A, though, the museum lists it as not on public exhibit.
Where to see the Edison Model A today
Edison’s Model A is on loan to the Model A Ford Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan. In turn, that museum sits on the campus of the Gilmore Car Museum, according to Old Cars Weekly.
Old Cars Weekly describes it as the world’s largest public museum dedicated to the 1928 through 1931 Ford Model A. At opening, it displayed nearly 30 Model A Fords. Among them, the magazine noted, was the Model A that Henry Ford gave to Thomas Edison.
The Henry Ford still owns it. Its record lists the car as a 1928 Ford Model A touring car, owned by Thomas Edison and rated at 24 hp, on loan to the Model A Ford Museum in Hickory Corners.
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