1907 Ford Model K Roadster
Henry Ford’s investors encouraged him to create a luxury automobile that could compete with the likes of Packard and Peerless, resulting in the Model K (a car that reportedly contradicted Ford’s own vision of affordable transportation for the masses).
Introduced at the January 1906 New York Auto Show, this six-cylinder Ford represented a major departure from the company’s typical offerings and entered a market segment that had barely existed before 1905.
It featured a 405 cubic-inch L-head inline-six with individually cast cylinders, making it both the largest and most expensive Ford to date.
The Roadster variant debuted in May 1907, priced at $2,400, and offered a sportier, more performance-focused alternative to the standard touring car. It rode on a 112-inch wheelbase and weighed about 2,400 pounds.
Power was delivered through a two-speed planetary transmission, a design Ford would continue to refine in later models. With its long hood, low stance, and powerful six-cylinder engine, the Model K Roadster was among the most advanced American cars of its day.
Despite its impressive engineering, the Model K had a short production life. Ford built roughly 900 to 1,000 examples of all Model K variants between 1906 and 1908 before discontinuing the line, largely due to Henry Ford’s determination to focus on affordable cars for the mass market.
Today, historians estimate that fewer than a dozen Model K Roadsters survive, making them exceptionally rare and historically significant examples of Ford’s brief venture into luxury performance automobiles.
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