According to the website Brainia
Henry Ford was born on a farm in Greenfield Michigan in 1863. At the age of 16 he became a machinist's apprentice in Detroit. He then became an engineer at Edison Illumination Company in Detroit. The first car he every built was in the summer of 1896. It was called the Quadricycle Runabout. This car only had a 4hp engine and could on reach about 20mph. Henry then sold this car for 00 to help finance a second car he built in 1898. Henry Ford died in Dearborn Michigan on April 7th 1947.
Most of Henry Ford's accomplishment came in a very bad time for America. He had the First World War occurring so he had to switch from making cars for the public and make tanks, trucks, and airplanes for the military. After the war came the great depression. But since Ford paid his workers ?.00 a day they employees were the highest paid workers in any industry. Since the workers were being paid a very good wage they could have money for their family during a time when there was no work to be found. Henry Ford really cared about his employees. He provided schooling for his foreign workers. The school taught how to read, write, and speak English.
Henry incorporated Ford Motor Company on June 16th of 1903, which was capitalized for ?00,000 with 12 stockholders. In the first year of production Ford only produced 1708 cars. In 1908 he brought out the Model T. The Model T was a car for anybody and everybody. The engine in the Model T only had 20hp and the color you could get was black. The car was a roadster, a coupe, and a touring car. The Model T was also used for delivery trucks for light industry and was used as an ambulance during World War I. You could also take off one of the back wheels and use it to run a saw blade. The Model T's ideas and designed came from the Model N, R, and S. There were only 5 body styles of the Model T, a two-passenger coupe runabout, five-passenger coupe, touring car, seven-passenger town car, and a landaulet. On a standard Model T consisted of 3 oil lamps, two on the side and one on the tail.
The first assembly line was called a push and move assembly line. In 1913 this was replaced by a conveyor belt assembly line. This way was 8 times faster because the Model T was moved mechanically through each station instead of by hand. The first fully enclosed sedan was introduced in 1915 and sold for about 75. The Model T cost less then a wagon and a team of horse. In 1925 Ford was able to complete a new car every 10 seconds. The price then dropped to 60 the same year to buy the Model T. From 1908 when the first Model t was made till 1927 when production ended Ford made over 15 million Model T's. The car had several nicknames, The Tin Lizzy and The Fliuver. In December of 1927 Henry Ford designed a new car called the Model A. This car was not nearly as successful as the Model T.
Ford invented the dealer-franchise system to sell and service cars. By 1912 there were 7,000 Ford Dealers across the country. Ford also made Model T trucks. They were called C cabs because of the way the cab curves like a C. In the Model T's cylinders were cast in one block and the head was detachable. The transmission as an improved version of the two forward speed planetary unit used in previous Fords. The ignition was by low-tension magnets incorporated in the flywheel and a left mounted steering wheel. The left mounted steering wheel was a new thing. Most American drove on the right because the majority of cars including previous Ford had right-hand drive. After the Model T had left bound steering wheels only a couple high priced cars such as the Pierce-Arrow and Stutz still had the steering wheels on the right side. Ford made most components for Ford.
The Model T was one of the most popular cars ever built. Ford put a lot of car companies out of business because their cars were good quality and a very affordable price. Ford was and still is American's greatest car companies.
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