The Model T
Josh Haeseker (Class), CIS-270WX-03
Help Received: citations, easy bib
Josh Haeseker
1. Introduction
The invention of the automobile made everything better for everyone. It made making deliveries faster and people could travel farther than the original types of transportation. At the time, the automobile surprised everyone. It could do everything that every other form of transportation could. It overall made a lot of things so much easier for the citizen of the united states. Before there were cars, most people walked or rode horses, which was good at the time, but it just made transportation much slower than it could have been. That’s where the Ford Motor Company came in and stepped up transportation methods. They created a personal vehicle that could surpass riding a horse or walking to your destination. Just the technology itself could result in a faster transportation time and more efficiently do things on a daily basis without getting tired; that invention was called the model t.
2. Body
2.1. Model t
The first car made by the Ford Motor Company was the Model t. It was first put into production in 1908 in October. They produced 15 million models of the car between 1908 and 1927. Before the model t, cars were commonly a luxury item. Before 1908, there were only fewer than 200,000 automobiles on the road. Henry ford didn’t like that idea, so he made the model t to try to let everyone have an automobile. “But it was this machine, more than all the others combined, that was responsible for putting America – and ultimately the world – on wheels” [1].
Figure 1: picture of the model t
2.2. The Cheaper Option
What Ford did was make the model t cheaper so that everyone had the chance to own their own car. The car initially cost $825. “It was built for ordinary people to drive every day” [2]. It had a four-cylinder engine that only had 22 horsepower. Even through the years Ford stuck with the lower prices. The car became even more affordable when the oil prices dropped in the early 20th century.
2.3. How It Worked
The car itself weight only 1,200 pounds. It was made from heat-treated steel, which was first thought up by French racecar makers, and it was stronger than previous other automobiles. The top speed of the model t was between 30-40 miles per hour. “Cooling was by the primitive thermo-siphon method, lubrication via a splash system. The gas tank nestled beneath the front seat, its fuel being fed to the engine by the force of gravity” [1].
2.4. Uses
The model t had the main use of staying strictly to the road, but many people saw that it could be converted into many different things. For example, people converted the model t into certain vehicles that could travel across snow. They would put rear wheels in the back and skis on the front. That’s just one use that people came up with. There are many more including a tow truck, mail truck, fire truck, etc. That just goes to show that the automobile transformed people’s lives. Each individual person created their own model t by customizing it to their own needs.
3. Conclusion
Ford made America have easier lives by making a form of transportation that had huge impacts on America. At first, the model t was used for just road transportation but that quickly changed as stated in one of my paragraphs, that people started converting the original design of the car to meet their everyday needs. Before the car, people only had two main forms of land transportation, walking or horse. Both forms were good, but not as quick as the car was when it was invented. Overall, we wouldn’t be where we are today without the invention of the model t.
The impact that the model t had on the United States was huge. The technology was almost ahead of its time. Without the technology, people would still be walking or riding horses like they did before. Also, another great thing that Ford did was make it economically sound for everyone to own one, and not just the wealthy. One of the great things about the car itself was that people customized it to fit their daily needs in society, whether it be for snow covered areas or for public services like a fire truck or mail truck. The invention was probably the best technology to come to the United States at that time.
3.1. References
[1] “1908-1927 Ford Model T.” HowStuffWorks. N.p., 12 Dec. 2007. Web. 28 Mar. 2017.
[2] “Ford Motor Company Unveils the Model T.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2017.
[3] Taylor, Mitch. “For Model T Owners & Enthusiasts.” FordModelT.net – For Model T Owners & Enthusiasts. Mitch Taylor, n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2017.