[rotorwrench]

The term "AR" is not a well defined term. It basically refers to a suffix used by Ford on parts that were 1st edition parts with no revision or engineering change suffix. Some folks believe it means "as released" but I've not seen anything to confirm that. Suffice it to say that the early cars were the ones produced in late 1927 and the early few months of 1928.

When Ford first started production at the Rouge in Dearborn, the first 200 cars were built and evaluations were constantly ongoing so changes for assembly processes, product quality, and product function could be made on the fly. A lot of changes in procedures and parts happened with those first 200 but it was a continuous process with Ford that lasted till they stopped production in late 1931. I don't know how long it took Ford to build those first production cars but it was likely within a short period of time. The other branch plants and the sub-contractors had to get started and all that took a bit of time but it was likely a lot less time than a person might think. Ford was into mass production so once they got cranked up, thousands of cars per day was the norm. According to production figures, 4,186 cars were built in 1927 alone. In 1928 there were 713,528 cars built so they were well into full production. By the end of 1929 production, Ford had made over 1.7 million cars in just that year alone.

Some of the new cars were immediately sent out to dealers so that they could show them and start taking orders for the new cars. A lot of parts had to be crated up and sent out to the branch plants so that they could get cranked up and I'm sure cars were sent to the branch plants for the assembly line teems to study and get on with the production in line with Dearborn. Consistency was of major importance to Ford. Henry wanted them all to be exactly alike with each body model. There was to be no variance unless an engineering change made it so.