Henry Ford(July 30, 1863 - April 7, 1947)

Have you ever heard of a car called the Ford? I bet you know someone who has one like the Explorer, Windstar, Expedition, Contour, Mustang, or Tempo. Those are some of the cars that Henry Ford's company created. Have you ever wanted to know how it all started or who invented it or some other interesting facts?

Henry Ford was born in Dearborn, Michigan on July 30, 1863. His mom died at an early age. His dad's name was William Ford. Henry Ford had been raised on a farm and disliked farm life!

When Henry was 15 he went to Detroit and trained as a machinist. After that in 1888 he married Clara Bryant. They had one son named Edsel who was born November 6, 1893. Henry began to experiment with carriages without horses. In 1890 he invented the "Quadricycle." He wanted to invent affordable cars so that not only rich people could buy them, but also average people could. He tried to build cars so they would not cost too much. He was able to do it by inventing the assembly line. The assembly line helped Henry produce more cars faster which made them cheaper.

In 1903 Ford helped establish the Ford Motor Company, and from 1906-1919 he served as president as well as in 1943-1945. His whole family worked for the company and the development of the automotive industry. Henry named his cars with letters from the alphabet. They were called the Model A or Model T, but the Model T was the most famous. It was often called "Tin Lizzie" or the "Flivver." The Model T was developed in 1908. It was a four cylinder 20-hourspower car. The demand was high, but the supply was low. The car was really popular! The higher the demand got the more they made, and the price for the car decreased. In 1908 the Model T cost about $850 and by 1925 it was only $290. The Model T finally succumbed to a shift in public taste for more sophisticated and attractively styled cars. Production creased on May 31, 1927 when # 15,007,003, the last Model T was ever built. In September of 1917

Henry Ford II was born. He became president of the company right after his dad in 1945. Unlike his father, Henry the II went to college at Yale University. Henry the II retired between 1979-1980.

Until this day the Ford company still manufactures cars in Detroit. It expanded to own Jaguar and Volvo. Members of the Ford family still work in the automotive industry.