Palm (Australia) - AllCarIndex

n 1917 Edwin Brown, a well-respected motorcycle agent and manufacturer in Melbourne, began importing Ford Model T chassis and engine parts from the USA. He converted them to right hand drive and assembled them with Australian-built bodies and radiators. However in contrast to the similar activities of firms such as Duncan and Fraser (Ford agents), he did not market them under the Ford name, but instead as ‘Palm’. This activity soon landed him in court facing an injunction from Ford Canada, the origin of all Australian Fords at the time, for trademark infringement and passing off goods not of his company’s manufacture. The Judge had the parties negotiate, and it was agreed that he could continue to sell them provided that the name ‘Ford’ was erased from any part of them. He chose the name ‘Palm’, marketed the cars as ‘ideally designed’ for Australian roads and added a 50% premium on the T Model Ford price. Needless to say they were not big sellers, although he did his best with innovative advertising campaigns including aerial leaflet drops.The Palm was indeed a Model T Ford by another name, so it came equipped with the unique pedal configuration (brake, forward and reverse) which would make it hard to disguise. However there were a number of attractive additions which raised the profile of the model above that of the Ford T, including electric start, Autovac fuel system and improved upholstery and trim. The model was discontinued in 1921, although Brown continued to use T Model Fords as the basis for his ‘Renown’ and ‘Spark’ models until 1927.
Credit: Graham Clayton