Posted by Tina
Car enthusiasts might enjoy reading This Car Changed America – A look at Ford’s Model T, which debuted 100 years ago, by Paul Ingrassia WSJ Online.
The Model T put America on wheels, created mass mobility, revolutionized mass production, established the American middle class and eventually reshaped the country’s physical landscape with suburban sprawl. Over a two-decade run more than 15 million were built, more than any other car in history except for the Beetle. *** The first Model T cost about $850, compared with the price-tags of $1,000 or so on comparable Chevrolets. Until 1913 the Model T was available in four colors: red, green, blue and black. But that year Mr. Ford invented the moving assembly line and, with it, modern mass production. He decided that using just one color would further enhance efficiency, and famously declared that customers could have “any color they want, as long as it’s black.” *** A year later Mr. Ford began paying his workers the unheard-of sum of $5 a day, and the American middle class was born. By 1922 Mr. Ford had cut the price of his Model T to $250, while competitors were charging closer to $300. One of every two cars in America — indeed, in the world — was a Ford. Mr. Ford had made good his pledge: “I will build a car for the great multitude. No man making a good salary will be unable to own one, and enjoy with his family the blessings of hours of pleasure in God’s wide open spaces.”
Sensational headlines about corporate greed can give the impression that all businessmen are not to be trusted. I would bet that more are like Henry Ford in the way they envision the future and in the way they treat their employees. These simple excerpts from Mr. Ingrassia’s article embody the spirit of entrapreneurialism that made America great and is something we should encourage not only in business but in our individual lives.
The Tin Lizzy at 100 years is definitely a part of our heritage.