Remembering the Model T
On October 1, 1908, the Ford Motor Company introduced the Model T. It was an instant hit. The car came only in black. But at $850, it cost about half as much as other cars on the market. By 1918, half of all the cars in the United States were Model Ts.
Henry Ford was born in 1863. He grew up on a farm in Michigan.
GETTY IMAGESHenry Ford founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903. At first, Ford built only a few cars a day. Because demand for Model Ts was so high, Ford developed a way to make more of them without increasing cost. In 1913, he rolled out a moving assembly line. Workers stood in front of a conveyor belt, and each completed one step in putting the cars together.
Ford's method of mass production revolutionized car manufacturing. It also changed life in the U.S. More people could travel. Highways grew. Suburbs developed outside of cities.
The Ford Motor Company stopped making the Model T in 1927. But the automotive lifestyle had taken hold of America. Today, the race is on to make cars more fuel efficient and to find alternative energy sources to power them. Will inventors with Ford's creativity bring the next revolution?
More from Technology
Share a Link
- Click the icon above to copy the url link to your clipboard.
- Paste the link into the location in which you share assignments with students. Examples might include, but are not limited to Canvas, Schoology and Edmodo.
Google Classroom
- Click on the icon above to share the article with a class in your Google Classroom.
- Choose an action. Options might include creating an assignment or asking a question.
