Born July 30, 1863 in Dearborn, MichiganGrew up on a productive family farmTypical childhood

One room school house Farm chores

Interested in “mechanical” things rather than farm work

Attended school for 8 years before leaving home at age 16

Married Clara Bryant (at the age of 24) She encouraged him to build a horseless carriage

Sadly, Ford died April 7,1947 in his Michigan estate

He was 83 years old

1886 Karl Benz received a patent for his crude gas-fueled car

Ford wanted to come up with his own version of the automobile

Started work at local power company in Detroit

Mechanic’s apprentice for 3 years

1891 Became an engineer at the Edison Illuminating Company in Detroit

1893 Promoted to Chief Engineer

This gave him some time to work on personal experiments

1896 Created and finished his first experiment

Self-propelled vehicle he called the Quadricycle( four wire wheels, steered with a tiller like a boat, two forward speeds with no reverse)

Ford, on the edge of something great, knew a fast vehicle would be key to his future. Build fast car, people might give him money to start his own

business

Goal Build reliable cars quickly and cheaply so that the common man,

not necessarily rich, could drive to work.

1901-1903 Ford tests knowledge in race cars

Enters 1of them in a 10 mile ran against Alexander Winton, famous automaker from Ohio, and beats him

Alexander Malcomson agrees to back Ford in business due to his victory

Malcomson decides to start another company, but fails and is forced to sell all his assets with Ford. Luckily Ford had bought enough of them to assume a majority position.

After two unsuccessful attempts at starting a company, the Ford Motor Company was finally formed (1903)

He could now work in his office at work instead of doing all his “tinkering” in a small shop behind his house.

2 yrs devoted to plan and design Vanadium steel used on only Ford’s “dream” car and French

luxury cars “Dream” car finally emerges in 1908, and is now known as the

Model T 10,000 sold in first year, a new record for an automobile model Lightweight, easy to drive(2-speed trans.,4 cylinder, 20 horsepower

engine) and was quite affordable at $825

1910 4 story factory in Highland Park to build his cars

4th floor- body panels installed 3rd floor- wheels, tires, and paint 2nd floor- finishing touches; cars are completed and rolled

down a ramp 1st floor- shipped out.

With the large demand for Model T’s another factory needed to be built Plans to build largest automobile factory in the world- River

Rouge 2,000 acres, 90 miles of railroad tracks Space for 75,000 workers to complete cars in forty-one hours Included:

Power plant Iron forges Fabricating facilities

Ford creates an idea of the assembly lineAssembly Line- a large conveyor belt which brings the

workers parts need to assemble the cars Each worker was given a specific part of the car. Once they had completed one, they

just repeated the steps until the next one was done and so on. 1914- improves line to “endless chain-driven” Improves it once again for a “man high” assembly line (everything

was at the workers waist level) With the assembly line, 13,000 workers manufactured 260,729 cars

compared to the rest of the industry who required 66,350 workers to manufacture 286,770 cars.

Sped process up from 12 hours, 30 min. to 5 hours and 50 min. to complete a car (Model T)

June 4, 1924 Ten millionth Model T rolls out of Highland Park

GM comes out with their version of an inexpensive automobile, posing threat to Ford’s Model T Ford doesn’t want to replace the car

Workers created an “updated” version of the car: Ford kicked in the glass and stomped on the roof

1926 Chevrolet still manages to out-sell the Model T

This finally convinces Ford to stop producing them May 25,1927- the end was here and no more Model T’s would be produced May 26,1927- fifteen millionth Model T rolls out; Ford hops in the shiny black car

with his son, Edsel, the now president of Ford Motor Company. Together they drove to the Dearborn Engineering Lab and parked the Model T next to two other historical cars: his first car built in 1896, and the 1908 prototype of the Model T.

Closed the factory at Highland Park for 6 monthsTogether Henry and Edsel work together to

plan and design their next carModel A is introduced in 1927

It was a brilliant success since its debut in December of 1927 and was able to put the company back on track again.

Still use the “assembly line” to manufacture automobiles Made job easier and much quicker (less stressful) Speeds up process in order to manufacture more automobiles a day

(Mass Production)

Strived to have a car for everyone We use that today. It’s just that there are so many more models of cars,

but automakers still make a base line model in hopes that everyone can afford it. (sleek in style and yet affordable for the average man)

Competition Without Ford we wouldn’t have as many companies competing to be the

“best”. More and more advances for each company to outdo the other

Ford with his 1st car, the Quadracycle, and Model T

Henry Ford

Son: Edsel Ford

"Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success."--Henry Ford

Encyclopedia: “Ford, Henry.” World Book’s Biographical Encyclopedia of

Scientists. 2003 ed. Internet:

“Sample Material.” Henry Ford and The Model T 1996. 22 February 2006 < http://www.wiley.com /legacy/products/subject/business/forbes.ford.html >

Internet: Hopper, Tom. “Henry Ford: The Innovator.” Henry Ford: The

Innovator. 4 Oct. 2005. 23 Feb. 2006 < http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-17451_18670_18793-53436--,00.htm l>

Book: Burlingame, Roger. Henry Ford: A Great Life in Brief. New York:

Alfred A. Knopf, 1966.

“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind

young.”-Henry Ford