1914 Ford Model T

Henry Ford had an amazing idea: Build cars fast and cheap, on an assembly line. Instead of building one car at a time, just roll the cars along and have each worker do their part to add to the car until it was complete. Use the least expensive, lightest materials possible, and make the parts standardized, or interchangeable. Henry Ford achieved his dream to produce a car everyone could afford with the Model T.

The Model T changed the way people bought cars and lived their lives. For the first time ever, working people could purchase a car. Cars brought people away from their farms and homesteads into the city, toward places of recreation, to and from work and all around the country. No longer were automobiles reserved for the wealthiest consumers. Now almost anyone with a job could afford to buy a car. This added to the economy on many levels: Hotels, restaurants, service stations and highways were built to accomodate motorists. The products and services needed for cars saw an increase in production. More and more people were hired in the industries that supplied the goods and services to motorists. 

Between 1908 and 1927, 15 million Model T Fords were built. Many are still operating today. Model T Fords changed the way automobiles were made and they changed our country from one where cars were a luxury to one where cars were a necessity.