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ford auto

ford auto Henry Ford revolutionized the American automotive industry and forever changed transportation. Born on the morning of July 30, 1863 in a patch of Michigan woods, Henry Ford matured into the founder of the Ford Motor Co. that made the Ford name famous. The Ford Motor Co. would develop American automotive icons that continue to make a lasting impression. Henry's ancestors came to Michigan from Ireland in hope of a new life in a New World. His parents, William and Mary found success in America, unfortunately Mary died a tragic death after complications of the birth of her eighth child (Lacey 11). At the young age of fourteen Henry is already interested in industry and mechanics, he sees his first steam engine that gave him newfound enthusiasm to continue with his interest. Without hesitation Henry immediately gets out into the exciting working world and starts his own business with friend James Flower in 1879 called the James Flower And Brother Machine Shop. Soon moving to Detroit, Henry uses his skills from his company to get hired at the Detroit Dry Dock Company where he meets a major inspiration, a construction engineer by the name of Frank Kirby (Lacey 24). Kirby taught Henry to "Stick in his toenails" and to work hard if he wanted to succeed, Henry took him very seriously. Many years later Henry shows his respect to Frank when he decides to place the names of the world's greatest inventors and scientists on his engineering laboratory in Detroit. The names included Copernicus, Edison, Newton and Kirby. Henry had been working very hard lately and took a break from his industrial career to venture back to the family farm where he married Clara Bryant on April 11, 1888 (Lacey 32). On a quest to continue his dream of the automobile Henry, now married moved back to Detroit where he witness to the most significant development to the automobile in this century and to Ford's empire, the internal combustion engine. Henry and Clara had their first son, Edsel on November sixth 1893, at the same time Henry was working on making his own internal combustion engines and was being constantly promoted at his job (Lacey 34). Henry's dream of the automobile started with the production of his first auto, on June fourth 1896, the primitive auto was named the quadracycle. Not exactly a modern auto the Quadracycle was reminiscent to a babbycarrige on bicycle wheels but was a start to Ford's empire and the development of the automobile for the people. Many saw Henry's potential and helped him to find a successor to the Quadracycle; one such person was the Mayor of Detroit, William Mayburg who provided financial support to Ford to continue his research. Generous investors such as this and the help of four investors donating 10,000 dollars each led to the official founding of the Ford Motor Co. in 1901. In 1903 the Quadracycle's successor was designed and named the Model A, the Model A was much more refined and technologically advanced. Using a new two-cylinder engine it produced nine horsepower and featured a two-speed transmission with a chain driven drive train that had a maximum speed of 30 miles per hour, and sold for a pricey 850 dollars (Wise 77). Not more than a year later the Ford Motor Co. was introducing new models, the Model C & F were only updated model A's but the new Model B was a totally redesigned model. The Model B featured Ford's first four cylinder engine, which was extremely powerful for the times (Robson 98). Ford's continual growth of expanding model lines continued with the Model K that featured a six cylinder engine and had more refinement, but the price was to high, up to 2000 dollars, and was soon dropped from Ford's lineup. In order to succeed Ford knew that he needed a low cost quality automobile. Ford's first attempt to produce a car that was targeted towards the everyday family was the Model N. The Model N featured a very important feature that made it very special from its similar models. At first glance the Model N looked close to what the current models offered, but its difference was what it was made out of, a new metal called Vandium Steel. Vandium Steel was much stronger than current metals and was also very light, but most importantly it was inexpensive (Lacey 88). The Model N not only offered more performance because of its lighter weight, it also offered a cheaper price tag of only 450 dollars. But Henry Ford was not satisfied with his results; most of his sales where not to the general public but more towards the wealthy that wanted an accessory to show off. Changing this would be quite difficult but far from impossible as far as he was concerned. Influenced by the Model N, Henry Ford was only one step away from designing his greatest success, the Model T. After a long development process including dedicated designers such as Charles E. Scrersen helped make the Model T a hit. In October 1908 the Model T went on the consumer market and was a huge success. The Model T sold for around 850 dollars at the time of its release, and its appeal was in its sturdiness thanks to its Vandium Steel and its power and value for the money. The Model T invented the true meaning of the word production car, it was the first to be mass-produced and every one of them was sold. The Model T was pushed to be the farmers friend and was extremely reliable, it kept out the dust, rain and because of its new suspension people were not able to drive on non paved roads, people took their Model T's anywhere and everywhere they could (Lacey 94). But more important than anything people actually loved their Model T's; many thought of it as part of the family and took impeccable care of their cars. Some gave it names, upgraded and added accessories to personalize it and took it everywhere they went. Model T's were not only being used for driving, many farmers hooked up the rear wheels to a belt and a generator and new source of power on the farm was quickly invented. It showed that people were ready to accept the automobile and spend time and money on it. The consumers were not the only ones who loved the Model T, Henry Ford and the rest of the company shareholders had lots to celebrate, Model T's were selling like wild fire and before even a year of production half of the cars on the road were Model T's. The reason that the Model T was so popular is a simple question, there were cheaper cars on the market at the time but none offered quite what the Model T did, with its combination of power, innovation, go anywhere capability and its solid reliability. (Lacey 94). Henry Ford knew that the majority of the American public wanted reliable and basic transportation, not always complex and modern mechanics (Robson 101). This theory is not only proved by its sales records but also by the fact that from 1908 to 1927 the Model T stayed mechanically unchanged, only the body style differed. Going back to a four cylinder twenty horsepower engine in the Model T it was less complex and every part on the Model T was mass produced and were interchangeable. For the first time break downs were no longer feared because parts could be easily swapped, and for the first time actually bought off a shelf. The American public was starting to think of the automobile as a necessity and no longer an accessory. Everyone used their Model T's in different ways, some for cruising on a summer night, others to travel and many started to show up in commercial applications from delivery trucks to ice cream vans (Wise 79). Henry Ford was obviously changing the automotive world and how the American public lived their daily lives. Unfortunately behind all of the profit and success lied a problem for Henry, a problem never before thought of had arisen. With the immediate success of the Model T, the cars were selling to fast to keep up with in production, Henry Ford at one point said " You can have any color you want so long as it is black", because they had no time to paint them. A new way to assemble the same car in a much shorter period of time was needed, so he started to experiment. The original production time at Ford's Highland Park plant for a Model T was twelve and a half man-hours. Normally in Ford's factories men moved around to perform different operations upon completing a vehicle. This process required skilled workers that were able to know almost the complete mechanics of the entire automobile, and was a very lengthy was of producing a car. Ford proposed a method of production in which the workers were stationary and performed only one single operation multiple times. The workers need not be highly skilled because they only needed to know how to do their own simple operation. Not only did this require less training for the workers but saved large amounts of time in the production of Ford's automobiles. This method was officially named the assembly line and test units were developed and tested to see the improvement in production time. Soon a crude moving line was set up and production time dropped to five hours and fifty minutes, a large improvement (Lacey 116). Henry Ford himself defines the term assembly line the best, " The man who places a part does not fasten it, The man who puts in a bolt does not put on the nut, the man who puts on the nut does not tighten it" (Lacey 117). Finally in late 1914 his assembly line was complete and production time dropped to an astonishing ninety three minutes, the "people's car" could now be made for the people quickly. The Highland Park plants production numbers more than doubled with while actually using fewer workers. The cost and time required to produce a Model T chassis were dropping fast as Ford's genius idea of the assembly line was installed in more of Ford's factories. Ford's new process saved the factory time and the consumers money, a step that allowed lower class consumers the ability to afford a quality Ford automobile at a smaller price. Orders for the Model T continued to roll in and now they continued to roll out of the factory at the same speed. Ford had struck upon the right way of mass production and is now an industry standard among automotive manufacturers. The Ford Motor Co. got its first break with the Model T, but it didn't end there in many years to come they would be responsible for other American legends such as the Thunderbird and the all mighty Mustang which continue to live on today. In fact for the year 2001 a retro styled Thunderbird is scheduled to be manufactured, showing that people still enjoy and value the styling and experience that they had with classic cars. These cars along with the Model T have become institutions to American society as much as hamburgers, hot dogs and Coca-Cola (Wise 81) Thanks to Henry Ford and his visions of an affordable automobile for the working public, he succeeded in giving all of the United States access to travel anywhere they desire. While at the same time the nation's economy soared from the sales of other industries that supported his factories, such as rubber, steel and glass. Consumers were no longer confined to their small towns, now they can bring their families and their money to enjoy great cities such as Detroit, where Ford got his lucky break in industry. Today the automobile industry is stronger than ever, selling millions of cars to eager consumers. Every year new models are released with newer features and technology to lure the purchaser. Every manufacturer today should thank Ford for what it has done in the past, whether it was the assembly line, interchangeable parts, strong quality of the Model T, it's undeniable what Ford has done for the industry, economy and transportation. Bibliography: The Ford Motor Co. got its first break with the Model T, but it didn't end there in many years to come they would be responsible for other American legends such as the Thunderbird and the all mighty Mustang which continue to live on today. In fact for the year 2001 a retro styled Thunderbird is scheduled to be manufactured, showing that people still enjoy and value the styling and experience that they had with classic cars. These cars along with the Model T have become institutions to American society as much as hamburgers, hot dogs and Coca-Cola (Wise 81) Thanks to Henry Ford and his visions of an affordable automobile for the working public, he succeeded in giving all of the United States access to travel anywhere they desire. While at the same time the nation's economy soared from the sales of other industries that supported his factories, such as rubber, steel and glass. Consumers were no longer confined to their small towns, now they can bring their families and their money to enjoy great cities such as Detroit, where Ford got his lucky break in industry. Today the automobile industry is stronger than ever, selling millions of cars to eager consumers. Every year new models are released with newer features and technology to lure the purchaser. Every manufacturer today should thank Ford for what it has done in the past, whether it was the assembly line, interchangeable parts, strong quality of the Model T, it's undeniable what Ford has done for the industry, economy and transportation.

Word Count: 2051