Ford Model T

"T Model" and "Model T" redirect here. For the financial formula, see T-model.
Not to be confused with Ford T platform.

Ford Model T
1925 Ford Model T Touring Car
Overview
ManufacturerFord Motor Company
ProductionOctober 1908 – May 1927
Assembly
List
DesignerChilde Harold Wills, main-engineer Joseph A. Galamb and Eugene Farkas
Body and chassis
ClassEconomy car[14]
Body style
List
    • 2-door touring (1909–1911)
    • 3-door touring (1912–1925)
    • 4-door touring (1926–27)
    • no door roadster (1909–1911)
    • 1-door roadster (1912–1925)
    • 2-door roadster (1926–27)
    • roadster pickup (1925–1927)
    • 2-door coupé (1909–1912, 1917–1927)
    • 2-door Coupelet (1915–1917)
    • Town car (1909–1918)
    • C-cab wagon (1912)
    • 2-(center) door sedan (1915–1923)
    • 2-door sedan (1924–1927)
    • 4-door sedan (1923–1927)
    • Separate chassis were available all years from independent coachbuilders
LayoutFMR layout
Powertrain
Engine177 C.I.D. (2.9 L) 20 hp I4
Transmission2-speed planetary gear
Dimensions
Wheelbase100.0 in (2,540 mm)
Length134 in (3,404 mm)
Width1,676 mm (66.0 in) (1912 roadster)[15]
Height1,860 mm (73.2 in) (1912 roadster)[15]
Curb weight1,200–1,650 lb (540–750 kg)
Chronology
PredecessorFord Model N (1906–1908)
SuccessorFord Model A (1927–31)

The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by the Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927.[16] It is generally regarded as the first mass-affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans.[17] The relatively low price was partly the result of Ford's efficient fabrication, including assembly line production instead of individual handcrafting.[18] The savings from mass production allowed the price to decline from $780 in 1910 (equivalent to $25,506 in 2023) to $290 in 1924 ($5,156 in 2023 dollars[19]).[20] It was mainly designed by three engineers, Joseph A. Galamb (the main engineer),[21][22] Eugene Farkas, and Childe Harold Wills. The Model T was colloquially known as the "Tin Lizzie".[23]

The Ford Model T was named the most influential car of the 20th century in the 1999 Car of the Century competition, ahead of the BMC Mini, Citroën DS, and Volkswagen Beetle.[24] Ford's Model T was successful not only because it provided inexpensive transportation on a massive scale, but also because the car signified innovation for the rising middle class and became a powerful symbol of the United States' age of modernization.[25] With over 15 million sold,[26] it was the most sold car in history before being surpassed by the Volkswagen Beetle in 1972.[27]

  1. ^ a b c Strohl, Daniel. "The houses that T built (and that built the T): Tracking down the assembly plants of Ford's first distributed production effort". American City Business Journals. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  2. ^ "Q. Do you have a timeline of Ford Motor Company Assembly Plants?". Archives & Library Staff @The Henry Ford. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  3. ^ "Ford Assembly Denver Colorado". Hemmings Motor News. American City Business Journals. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  4. ^ Boyer, Mike (May 10, 1998). "Ford motored into Cincinnati long ago". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
  5. ^ "Ford Model T Plant". Cleveland Historical. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
  6. ^ Darbee, Jeff (July 2014). "City Quotient: I often smell something like vanilla cookies or cake when walking Downtown. Am I just hungry, or is that for real?". Columbus Monthly. Archived from the original on August 20, 2014. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
  7. ^ Rutledge, Mile. "Did you know: A Henry Ford manufacturing plant helped grow Hamilton". Journal-News. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  8. ^ "Ford Model T Assembly Building". MotorTexas. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  9. ^ "Jacksonville, Florida's, Ford plant: A wistful monument of the Great Depression". American City Business Journals. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  10. ^ Strohl, Daniel. "Ford's New Orleans assembly plant added to National Register of Historic Places". American City Business Journals. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  11. ^ Cherney, Bruce (March 14, 2013). "Ford of Canada plant — railway cars brought the parts that were assembled into complete vehicles". Winnipeg Real Estate News. Archived from the original on December 15, 2019. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
  12. ^ "Ford's System of Branch Assembly Plants". Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  13. ^ García, Gerardo (June 24, 2020). "29 fotos históricas para recordar a la primera fábrica de autos en México: producía 25 Ford Model T al día en 1925" [29 historical photos to remember the first car factory in Mexico: it produced 25 Ford Model T per day in 1925]. Motorpasión (in Spanish). Mexico. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  14. ^ Brooke, Lindsay (September 25, 2008). "Top 10 Ford Model T Tech Innovations That Matter 100 Years Later". Popular Mechanics. US. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  15. ^ a b "Ford Model T 1908–1927". Carsized. Switzerland. Archived from the original on August 22, 2019. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  16. ^ Gordon, John Steele. "10 Moments That Made American Business". American Heritage. No. February/March 2007. Archived from the original on April 20, 2008. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  17. ^ "1926 Ford Model T Sports Touring Car". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
  18. ^ Price, R. G. (January 29, 2004). "Division of Labor, Assembly Line Thought – The Paradox of Democratic Capitalism". RationalRevolution.net. Retrieved March 28, 2015.
  19. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  20. ^ Beaudreau, Bernard C. (1996). Mass Production, the Stock Market Crash and the Great Depression. New York, Lincoln, Shanghi: Authors Choice Press.
  21. ^ Conwill, David (September 23, 2018). "József Galamb". US: Hemmings. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  22. ^ Negyesi, Pal (October 24, 2018). "The 110-year-old Ford Model T and the Hungarians who made it a success". CE Auto Classic. Austria. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  23. ^ Rosenberg, Jennifer (January 3, 2019). "Why the Model T Is Called the Tin Lizzie". Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  24. ^ Cobb, James G. (December 24, 1999). "This Just In: Model T Gets Award". The New York Times. Retrieved March 28, 2015.
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  26. ^ "The Model T". Ford Motor Company. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  27. ^ "Beetle overtakes Model T as world's best-selling car". HISTORY. Retrieved March 19, 2020.