Norfolk's first Ford was lost to history

Norfolk Mayor S. Heth Tyler drove the first car made in Norfolk, a Model T touring car, off the assembly line on April 20, 1925. (The Virginian-Pilot File Photo)

By Bill Burke
The Virginian-Pilot

NORFOLK - What happened to the historic maiden car produced at Ford's Norfolk Assembly Plant?

On April 20, 1925, after Mayor S. Heth Tyler drove the elegant Model T touring car off the assembly line, the city purchased it for an unspecified amount, according to a newspaper report.

The next day at 11 a.m., the public got its first glimpse of the sporty car with imitation leather seats when plant manager W.W. Mitchell drove it from the factory in Newton Park to downtown Norfolk. Mitchell, escorted by motorcycle cops, proceeded down Granby Street to the City Market on Monticello Avenue, where vendors sold cheeses, meats and produce. The car was to be displayed "for a week or two," the story said.

It was scheduled to become part of the city's automobile fleet, a story in The Virginian-Pilot and Norfolk Landmark said.

According to an article published 40 years later, the city still owned the car in the 1960s. Its fate since then is unknown; city officials say they have no knowledge of its whereabouts.

Tracking the car down might be difficult today, unless it retained its original motor, which bore a unique serial number. In 1925, cars did not have vehicle identification numbers, which are imprinted in sundry locations on the bodies of automobiles of more recent vintage.

What would the old Model T, still a collector's favorite, be worth today? It could fetch $10,000 to $15,000 or more, depending on its condition, according to Terry Bond, a Chesapeake Model T collector and board member with the Antique Automobile Club of America.