Quote:
Originally Posted by Railcarmover
In an effort to provide the dealers with revenue by controlling service information Ford mechanics were basically trained on the job.
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The role of dealers in the early automobile ecosystem is deeply underappreciated. Just as one example of how different things could be, there was a Model T dealer around this region that treated the Ts as basically interchangeable. People would bring their Model T in for service and the dealer would just send them home with one from inventory, then fix up the one they brought in and send it home with someone else.
The sheer number of ads for Model A accessories that were aimed at the dealer rather than the owner makes it likely that the standards for "authenticity" that we have now, particularly regarding appearance, are much stricter than what one would have encountered in the new-car inventory at a typical dealership of the time.