The Model T
The famous Model T Ford, also known as the ‘Tin Lizzie’, was in production from 1908.
It had a top speed of 72kph and the 2.9-litre engine produced 15kW. On 1 October 1908, the first production Model T Ford was completed at the company’s Piquette Avenue plant in Detroit. Between 1908 and 1927, Ford would build some 15 million Model T cars. It was the longest production run of any automobile model in history until the Volkswagen Beetle surpassed it in 1972.
Henry Ford’s Model T quickly became a kind of default American car; at one point it accounted for half the cars in the US.
Although the Model T was neither the first consumer car nor the cheapest, nor even the first assembly line– produced car, it was arguably the best combination of these elements. Ford made a sturdy car that could deal with the incredibly bad roads of the time, at a price that regular people could conceivably afford. His innovations with assembly line manufacturing further drove the price down and improved wages for his factory workers.