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Model
T (1908-1927)
The
Henry Ford
Dearborn, Michigan
 When
Ford Motor Company introduced its new Model T on October 1, 1908,
even an inveterate optimist like Henry Ford (1863-1947) could not
predict the vast changes that his rather homely new vehicle would
produce. What flowed from this series of bold innovations was more
than an endless stream of Model Ts — it was the very foundation
of the twentieth century itself. The assembly line became the century's
characteristic production mode, eventually applied to everything
from phonographs to hamburgers. High-wage, low-skilled factory jobs
accelerated both immigration from overseas and the movement of Americans
from the farms to the cities and into an ever-expanding middle class.
The creation of huge numbers of low-skilled workers also gave rise
in the 1930s to industrial unionism as a potent social and political
force. Higher wages allowed workers to buy the very goods they produced,
including cars. The Model T spawned mass "automobility,"
altering our living patterns, our leisure activities, our landscape,
and even our atmosphere. Finally, mass automobility meant that everywhere
there was crude oil in the ground, from the Permian Basin to the
Persian Gulf, there was a potential for wealth and conflict.
 The
Model T had some advanced features, like a four-cylinder engine
with a detachable cylinder head and a one-piece cylinder block.
It did use lightweight, high-strength vanadium alloy steel. But
one key to its early success was a simple thing like ample ground
clearance, allowing it to deal with abysmal rural roads. At $850
the new car was cheap for its day, but still cost $30 more than
the average worker's annual wage. The real key to the Model T's
importance lies in Henry Ford's oft-quoted desire to "…
build a car for the great multitude ... so low in price that no
man making a good salary will be unable to own one." Ford fervently
believed that if automobiles could be priced low enough, people
would clamor for them.
By
the end of 1913, Ford and his engineers built a huge new factory,
created the moving assembly line, and driven the price of a Model
T down to $550. But the pace and nature of work on the assembly
line led to labor turnover was so high that, on January 5, 1914,
Ford Motor Company announced that it was nearly doubling its prevailing
wage rate to $5 a day, an unheard — of amount of money for
unskilled or semiskilled work.
 By
the time the last Model T was produced
on May 26, 1927, it was obsolescent technology, fast being superseded
by more powerful, more comfortable competitors. But nothing has
equaled its impact.
The
1927 Ford Model T, on display at The Henry Ford, is the 15 millionth
Ford Model T to be produced. This touring car has a 4-cylinder,
in-line, water-cooled, 176.7 cu. in., 20 hp engine, and its price
at the time was $380. It came off the line at Ford's Highland Park,
Michigan, plant on May 26, 1927, and marked the end of Model T production.
Eight of Ford's longest serving employees — John Wandersee,
August Degener, Frank Kulick, Fred Rockleman, Charles Hartner, Charles
Maida, Peter Martin, and Charles Sorensen — each stamped a
serial number numeral on the engine. Henry Ford's son Edsel drove
the car off the line, accompanied by his father, Martin, and Sorensen.
The car has always remained in the possession of Ford Motor Company
or The Henry Ford.
 The
Model T was designated as an ASME Historic Mechanical Engineering
Landmark on May 20, 2005. ASME past president William Weiblen presented
the bronze plaque, which was accepted on behalf of The Henry Ford
by Edsel B. Ford II, the great-grandson of Henry Ford and retired
vice president of the Ford Motor Company.
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