Model T Fords were all black because the paint dried faster.

Science & Industry

P icture a classic Ford Model T and you'll likely envision not just its distinctive shape, but also its black color. The earliest Model Ts, which rolled out in 1908, actually came in several tones, including bright red. But founder Henry Ford soon developed a preference for the simple dark shade. According to his autobiography, Ford announced in 1909 that in the future, "any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants, so long as it is black." His reason, however, had little to do with aesthetics. At the beginning of 1913, a single car took around 14 hours of labor to make. By October that same year, that figure dropped to 90 minutes, thanks to Ford's groundbreaking moving assembly line. In 1914, 1,000 Model Ts were coming off the line every day, and there wasn't enough space for multiple coats of paint and primer to dry on that many cars at the same time.

There's a commonly held belief that Ford only produced black cars because black paint dried faster. That's true to some extent, but the time-saving benefit was due to the kind of paint the company used, which was only available in dark colors. In 1914, Ford switched to oven-baked paint, which cured in 400-degree heat within an hour instead of air-drying, which required up to 24 hours. The oven-baked colors contained Gilsonite, a special kind of asphalt, which limited the color palette to black and very dark hues. Black was the cheapest to make and the most durable, and painting all the cars one color streamlined the process, too.

Model Ts were available only in black between 1914 and 1925. In 1926, colors started appearing in the Model T lineup once again after Ford overhauled its car designs and started using pyroxylin lacquer, a nitrocellulose-based coating.

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By the Numbers

Daily wage of a Ford factory worker in 1913

$2.34

Top speed (in miles per hour) of a 1908 Model T

Did you know?

The Ford factories recycled extra Model T paint.

The early Ford assembly plants were nothing if not efficient. One method they used to paint auto bodies quickly was running paint from an overhead tank through a pipe that was held up to the car as it passed down the assembly line. The application was imprecise, and a lot of paint ended up on the floor — but it didn't go to waste. Any runoff was collected and put back into the tank for future use.