Model T Touring Car

Called the "Tin Lizzie," the "Flivver," or just "the Ford," to many the Model T is the quintessential American automobile. This Model T was manufactured in 1914, in the middle of the vehicle's production era.

In 1906, following the success of the Model N, Henry Ford vowed to concentrate on the production of a single, affordable car for the public. The result was the Model T, introduced in 1909 for $850. By 1912 Ford built a factory in Highland Park near Detroit, and due to its efficient production lines the price of the vehicle dropped to $690. More than 15 million Model Ts were made from 1908 to 1927. Production of the Model T peaked in 1923, when the price of the vehicle reached a low of $290. By that time half of all cars in the United States were "Tin Lizzies."

Much has been made of the influence of Ford's mass-production techniques on the automobile industry and American society, but the change wrought by his production system was indeed profound. The economics of mass production conspired to drive small, individual automobile producers out of business, thus changing the nature of a diverse and varied market to one dominated by a handful of large automobile producers.