The Model T & The Assembly Line

7 artifacts in this set

From the Curators: Henry Ford & Innovation

From the Curators: Henry Ford & Innovation

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Sales Catalog for the 1909 Ford Model T

Trade catalog

This 1909 brochure explains some of the Model T's selling points, including two innovations that later became standard on all cars. Its one-piece cylinder block and removable cylinder head made the engine lighter, easier to manufacture, and easier to maintain. Ford also put its steering wheel on the left, allowing passengers to enter and exit the car from the curb.

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1923 Ford Model T Suspension Adjusting to Uneven Terrain, Staged in 2003

Photographic print

On August 5, 2003, modern Ford Model T enthusiasts demonstrated their cars' suspensions adjusting to uneven terrain on a road in Colorado's San Isabel National Forest. Ninety-five years earlier, the Model T's ability to easily traverse the nation's terrible roads helped make it more popular than other early 20th century automobiles.

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Publication, "Ford at the Panama-Pacific Exposition, San Francisco, 1915"

Publication (Document)

This Ford Motor Company leaflet discusses its exhibit at the Panama-Pacific Exposition, the Model T, and its U.S. factories. The image of the main plant at Highland Park, Michigan, illustrates the comprehensive manufacturing operations. The plant had facilities for casting, machining, stamping, assembly, and shipping. The massive power plant with five smokestacks generated the factory's electricity.

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Ingersoll Milling Machine Used at Ford Motor Company Highland Park Plant, 1912

Milling machine

The Model T's distinction as a landmark car design can be traced in large part to machines like this -- a high capacity precision machine tool that performed just two production steps on the car engine's cylinder block. The Model T as a design achievement is inseparable from many hundreds of engineering, materials, and production innovations.

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Magneto Assembly at the Ford Highland Park Plant, 1913

Photographic print

The first Ford assembly line at the Highland Park, Michigan, plant was relatively crude. Here, in 1913, workers put V-shaped magnets on Model T flywheels to make one-half of the flywheel magneto. Each worker installed a few parts and simply shoved the flywheel down the line to the next worker.

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Chevrolet Advertisement, "Finest Quality Sedan at Low Cost," 1925

Advertisement

In 1925, Ford Motor Company controlled over half of the entire U.S. car market and sold their Model T four door sedan for the low price of $660. In order to compete, Chevrolet released advertisements, like this one targeted at mothers and families, highlighting Chevy's quality construction, stylish two-tone paint, nickel-plated radiator, and disk wheels.

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Henry Ford and Edsel Ford in the Fifteen Millionth Ford Model T at the Highland Park Plant, 1927

Photographic print

On May 26, 1927, when Edsel Ford drove the last Model T off the line at the Highland Park Plant, his father's face betrayed conflicting emotions. Henry's Model T had changed the world, but its day was over. How did he follow a legend? Some two months later Ford summed up his challenge, "Sixty-four today and the biggest job of my life ahead."

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