On September 27, 1908, the first Ford Model T was completed at the Piquette Plant in Detroit, Michigan. Widely considered to be the most influential car of the twentieth century, the Model T was the first automobile manufactured on an assembly line using interchangeable parts. Henry Ford envisioned this car for the middle-class consumer, declaring:
“I will build a car for the great multitude. It will be large enough for the family, but small enough for the individual to run and care for. It will be constructed of the best materials, by the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise. But it will be so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one – and enjoy with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in God’s great open spaces.”
Workers assembling a Model T automobile in 1913. Image courtesty of the Detroit Public Library, made available through The Making of Modern Michigan project.
Opening History is rich in resources related to the history of transportation. For more information on early automobiles, visit The Making of Modern Michigan project hosted by Michigan State University and the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library’s New York to Paris Collection.
