Have you ever
heard of a car called the Ford? I bet you know someone
who has one like the Explorer, Windstar, Expedition,
Contour, Mustang, or Tempo. Those are some of the cars
that Henry Ford's company created. Have you ever wanted
to know how it all started or who invented it or some
other interesting facts?
Henry Ford was born in
Dearborn, Michigan on July 30, 1863. His mom died at an
early age. His dad's name was William Ford. Henry Ford
had been raised on a farm and disliked farm life!
When Henry was 15 he
went to Detroit and trained as a machinist. After that in
1888 he married Clara Bryant. They had one son named
Edsel who was born November 6, 1893. Henry began to
experiment with carriages without horses. In 1890 he
invented the "Quadricycle." He wanted to invent
affordable cars so that not only rich people could buy
them, but also average people could. He tried to build
cars so they would not cost too much. He was able to do
it by inventing the assembly line. The assembly line
helped Henry produce more cars faster which made them
cheaper.
In 1903 Ford helped
establish the Ford Motor Company, and from 1906-1919 he
served as president as well as in 1943-1945. His whole
family worked for the company and the development of the
automotive industry.
Henry named his cars with
letters from the alphabet. They were called the Model A
or Model T, but the Model T was the most famous. It was
often called "Tin Lizzie" or the "Flivver." The Model T
was developed in 1908. It was a four cylinder
20-hourspower car. The demand was high, but the supply
was low. The car was really popular! The higher the
demand got the more they made, and the price for the car
decreased. In 1908 the Model T cost about $850 and by
1925 it was only $290. The Model T finally succumbed to a
shift in public taste for more sophisticated and
attractively styled cars. Production creased on May 31,
1927 when # 15,007,003, the last Model T was ever built.
In September of 1917
Henry Ford II was
born. He became president of the company right after his
dad in 1945. Unlike his father, Henry the II went to
college at Yale University. Henry the II retired between
1979-1980.
Until this day the
Ford company still manufactures cars in Detroit. It
expanded to own Jaguar and Volvo. Members of the Ford
family still work in the automotive industry.
