Long Live Ford Tin
This Week in Motorhead History (1915): Ford Produces Its One Millionth Car
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In an event that would only go on to fame far after its day in history, The Ford Motor Company produced its one millionth car on December 10, 1915, thanks to the ingenuity, forward thinking and innovation of Henry Ford and the Ford Model T.
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The Ford Model T, produced from 1908 to 1927, allowed for the type of model required for the assembly line system, an idea which Henry Ford perfected and which would go on to mainstream the automobile as a commodity for the mass public. During the era of handcrafted automobiles, the $850 price tag that accompanied most cars was out of reach for the general populous. But Ford’s assembly line was able to reduce the cost of automotive production enough to bring the car down to nearly $350, allowing for a wider consumer base, and helping to bring the car into the fore of the American mind.
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While the Model T would surpass one million cars in the first 7 years of production, it would go on to more than 15 million models sold by the end of its run in 1927. By the late 1920s, the very elements that had made for the Model T’s success gave cause to the end of its production, as other companies had finally succeeded at producing low cost cars at efficient rates. The single aesthetic car company gave way to a diverse auto industry, where the desire of the consumer, and not only the size of the wallet, would determine what sort of car they purchased. Ford had big hopes for the reinvigorated Model A, but few cars in the next century would have the impact of the Model T on the world.
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But throughout her nearly two decades, The Tin Lizzie – both before and after her one million car anniversary – would greatly impact the way American saw the car. Mass production allowed for mass consumption, which required an influx of new infrastructure and energy sources. The Model T became a landmark by which America lived, appeared in the works of great writers and directors, and came to symbolize the grit, get-to-it-ness and determination of the American automobile producer.
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While The Ford Motor Company would go on to produce other historic automobiles, such as the Ford Mustang, which inspired the Pony Car movement, it is not a stretch to say that the car world we know today could not exist without the Ford Model T. Upon the day of the one millionth anniversary, there were more than 25 assembly plants churning out cars as fast they could, and no one knew the historic nature of the event until after it had passed. But we know now, and we celebrate it, though far greater milestones were to follow. The one millionth car, the very first time it had ever happened, was a hint, the barest suggestion that The Ford Model T might just be the car to do it all. It was the early celebration of a model that changed the course of history.
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Fifteen million models were produced, in those two decades, paltry by the standard of any car company today. But in the context of the time, those assembly lines weren’t producing the one millionth Ford Model T to roll off the line, they were making history.
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Photo by Tomm Scalera
