The majority of Ford Model T body panels were made from steel.
That choice fit Ford’s goals: the Model T had to be durable, affordable, and suitable for high-volume production. Its body used stamped steel panels mounted over a separate frame, while wood remained important in parts of the body structure and in some bodies and wheels.
Steel is sometimes confused with the Model T’s famous vanadium steel. Vanadium steel was especially important in high-stress components such as axles and other chassis parts because it offered an advantageous combination of strength and toughness. It was not a claim that every part of the car was made from that alloy.
Ford’s material choices also reflected the car’s era. The Model T was a body-on-frame automobile, unlike most modern passenger cars, whose welded steel body shells commonly carry much of the structural load. Its rugged frame, flexible transverse suspension, and high clearance helped it cope with the rough, often-unpaved roads of early twentieth-century America.