HICKORY CORNERS, Mich. — Not only did Henry Ford change the auto industry when he created the Model T, he also changed the entire economic makeup of America.
Before that vehicle was introduced to the world more than 100 years ago, things looked a lot different.
"The average person didn't go 20 miles from home, or 50 miles in their lifetime," said Ric Carter, a Model T Instructor at the Gilmore Car Museum. "After the invention of the Model T, and getting the price low enough where the average person could afford one, then that changed.”
That's what it was all about for Henry Ford — accessibility and affordability. However, not everyone was on board with the idea.
“He built one car before he got to the (Model) T that was over $2,000, which is up there with the others. The board was happy, but he hated it," said Carter. "They were very profitable even from the beginning. So he just took his profits, and instead of building some big place to live, he just started saying, 'How many shares you got? How much would it cost?' He just started buying the other investors out until he was the last one. “
Carter continued, "Then he had full control of the company. He said, 'Now we're going to build what I always wanted to build. That's an inexpensive car built with the best people and the best techniques and the best materials — but affordable.'”
Once Ford perfected the design, and introduced the full assembly line, the company could produce a Model T every 23 seconds at the peak.
By the late 1920s, half the cars on the road were Model Ts, and they were built all over the world.
According to Carter, Ford Motors made 15 million Model Ts, each one almost identical to the last, which changed America as they knew it.
“At that time, $2.62 was the average daily wage," said Carter. "He doubled that instantly. Then (he) produced a car that anybody could afford, and almost immediately produced the middle class in the United States.”
Part of the reason the cars were so cost-friendly was because of how they were powered. Ford experimented with electric and steam, but settled on internal combustion because fuel was dirt cheap.
The Gilmore Car Museum in Barry County has several Model T's on its lot, and almost each one of them has its original body from the early 1900s.
They get about 17 miles per gallon and can hit a top speed of 40 miles an hour.
You can get a history lesson on the car and sign up to drive one yourself.
The 2023 class schedule will be introduced in November.