1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:14,840 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:18,280 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 4 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:21,360 Speaker 1: and a love of all things tech. And a while back, 5 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:25,000 Speaker 1: it did a few episodes about General Motors, and I 6 00:00:25,079 --> 00:00:29,040 Speaker 1: talked about how William Durant and Alfred Sloan had a 7 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:33,600 Speaker 1: fundamentally different approach from that of Henry Ford. Ford was 8 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:37,480 Speaker 1: all about creating a vehicle that could be mass produced 9 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:41,200 Speaker 1: and sold at a relatively low cost year over year. 10 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:45,680 Speaker 1: GM would focus more on developing different makes of cars 11 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:48,760 Speaker 1: aimed at different markets, or in other words, they wanted 12 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:51,519 Speaker 1: to sell a range of vehicles at a range of 13 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:55,280 Speaker 1: prices and with a range of features. But I realized, 14 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:59,320 Speaker 1: I've never actually done an episode about Henry Ford or 15 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 1: the fame modeled T. So we're going to do that now. 16 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:07,680 Speaker 1: And this won't be a comprehensive series on the Ford 17 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:11,640 Speaker 1: Motor Company that will require their own episodes, but more 18 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:16,320 Speaker 1: about the the early history of Henry Ford leading up 19 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:21,040 Speaker 1: to the design and uh and release and an eventual 20 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:26,560 Speaker 1: retirement of the Model T. So William and Mary Ford 21 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:30,840 Speaker 1: of Dearborn Michigan raised a pretty large family. They had 22 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:34,559 Speaker 1: eight children, including Henry Ford, who was born on July 23 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:40,600 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty three. That's when the Civil War was gripping 24 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:43,760 Speaker 1: the United States, which was in danger of splitting apart. 25 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 1: The world Henry was born into was a very different 26 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,600 Speaker 1: world from the one of today. Back then, only twenty 27 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:55,520 Speaker 1: five percent of Americans lived in cities, so the vast 28 00:01:55,560 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 1: majority lived in rural communities. Today, nearly a d three 29 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:05,360 Speaker 1: of American citizens live in a city. Ford was born 30 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:10,040 Speaker 1: in America that was pre industrialization in many ways. He 31 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:14,399 Speaker 1: would make lots of contributions that would change that dramatically. 32 00:02:14,919 --> 00:02:18,400 Speaker 1: William Ford was a farmer, and Henry would work on 33 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:22,160 Speaker 1: the farm and attend a small school and dearborn. Apparently 34 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:24,040 Speaker 1: it was a school that only had a single room 35 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 1: in it, that kind of little schoolhouse, and between the 36 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:30,640 Speaker 1: ages of twelve and fifteen, Ford spent a lot of 37 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:34,240 Speaker 1: his time in a little machine shop, learning about engineering 38 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 1: with hands on experience. When he was sixteen, he made 39 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 1: his way to Detroit, Michigan, on foot. It was about 40 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: an eight mile walk from his hometown and became a 41 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:49,040 Speaker 1: machinist's apprentice at a machine shop in Detroit before moving 42 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:51,760 Speaker 1: on to work at a couple of other factories. He 43 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:55,079 Speaker 1: worked in such places for about three years, and at 44 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:59,400 Speaker 1: some point he encountered his first internal combustion engine. I 45 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 1: covered how these engines work in the GM episodes, and 46 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 1: since those were fairly recent, I'm not going to go 47 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:07,840 Speaker 1: through that whole thing again because a lot of you 48 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 1: have already heard it. If you haven't heard it, then 49 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 1: you know, go listen to the GM episodes. They're good. Anyway, 50 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:18,800 Speaker 1: Ford recognized the value of an engine driven piece of 51 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:21,960 Speaker 1: machinery to do work on a much larger scale, and 52 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: at around age nineteen, he came back to his family 53 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:29,639 Speaker 1: farm and took up work with the Westinghouse Engine Company. 54 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: Mainly he was helping repair steam powered farm equipment, so 55 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: not internal combustion engine powered equipment, but steam engines. And 56 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 1: I realized that this is an episode about Ford, not Westinghouse. 57 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 1: But it would behoove me to talk just for a 58 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:50,120 Speaker 1: second about George Westinghouse. He was born back in eighteen 59 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:53,640 Speaker 1: forty six. He was an engineer and inventor, and he 60 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 1: worked on steam engines, locomotives, and railway air brakes. Early 61 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 1: in his career, he invented a road ree steam engine 62 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:03,920 Speaker 1: before he was twenty, and he would later go on 63 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 1: to play a fundamental role in the Electric Current Wars 64 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:13,520 Speaker 1: the A C D C Wars. Westinghouse would champion alternating 65 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:16,760 Speaker 1: current A C in other words, while Thomas Edison would 66 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 1: oppose him, favoring direct current. And I'll have to do 67 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:22,839 Speaker 1: a full episode about Westinghouse in the future, but I 68 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:26,000 Speaker 1: have done episodes about the Current Wars, so you can 69 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 1: search the archives for that. They are dramatic and intense, 70 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:36,560 Speaker 1: you might say shocking. Anyway, Henry Ford sort of followed 71 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:40,279 Speaker 1: the opposite path of Tesla. You know Nicola Tesla, the 72 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:44,640 Speaker 1: iconic engineer whom the Internet would have you believe invented 73 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:49,760 Speaker 1: electricity itself. Um, he didn't. Tesla did a lot of 74 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:53,119 Speaker 1: great things. He was a brilliant man, but I would 75 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:56,360 Speaker 1: say that some of the things he's credited for on 76 00:04:56,400 --> 00:05:01,920 Speaker 1: the Internet are not act here it anyway, Tesla had 77 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:06,719 Speaker 1: first worked for Edison and then famously later on he 78 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:10,480 Speaker 1: worked for Westinghouse. Ford would do the opposite. He was 79 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:15,040 Speaker 1: starting off repairing farm equipment for Westinghouse and then later 80 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:19,200 Speaker 1: on he found employment at the Edison Illuminating Company. Of Detroit. 81 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:23,480 Speaker 1: He became an engineer there in eighteen ninety one and 82 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:26,279 Speaker 1: rose through the ranks rather quickly. He became the chief 83 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:30,160 Speaker 1: engineer by eighteen nine three. It was in the winter 84 00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 1: of that year when Ford was said to have built 85 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 1: his own first internal combustion engine. It used gasoline for fuel, 86 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:40,719 Speaker 1: it had a single cylinder, and it was more of 87 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:44,640 Speaker 1: an R and D project for Ford himself. Ford began 88 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:47,680 Speaker 1: to think of ways to put an internal combustion engine 89 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:52,160 Speaker 1: to work, specifically by powering a vehicle. He wasn't the 90 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:55,200 Speaker 1: first person to think about this, not by a long shot, 91 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:58,359 Speaker 1: but it was around this time, towards the close of 92 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:02,040 Speaker 1: the nineteenth century, we saw a lot of early experiments 93 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:06,440 Speaker 1: with vehicles powered by internal combustion engines. To put things 94 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: in perspective, at the time, Ford was still working for Edison, 95 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:13,719 Speaker 1: and his job required him to be on call. Essentially, 96 00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:16,560 Speaker 1: he had to be ready to jump into action should 97 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:20,080 Speaker 1: the plants that were supplying Detroit with electricity have any 98 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:23,400 Speaker 1: sort of problem. But that also meant he didn't actually 99 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:27,560 Speaker 1: have to keep specific hours over at Edison. He just 100 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:31,159 Speaker 1: had to be constantly available, and so he used his 101 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:33,800 Speaker 1: own hours outside of his work to tinker on a 102 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:39,320 Speaker 1: powered vehicle. Ford's first experimental vehicle was the quadricycle in 103 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:43,200 Speaker 1: eighteen nineties six, and as the name implies, this vehicle 104 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 1: was more like a four wheeled motorized bicycle than a 105 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:52,040 Speaker 1: modern car. He used an old buggy seat as the 106 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:55,080 Speaker 1: seat for the driver on the vehicle, and the quadricycle 107 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:58,320 Speaker 1: had a chain drive, meaning you had a loop of 108 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:01,239 Speaker 1: chain that provided the method to ends for the motion 109 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:06,120 Speaker 1: generated by the engine to the quadricycle's bicycle wheels. It 110 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 1: did not have a steering wheel. Instead, it had a handle, 111 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:13,000 Speaker 1: essentially a tiller that you could swing left or right 112 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:16,080 Speaker 1: to steer the vehicle. The tiller connected to the front 113 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:19,160 Speaker 1: wheels and allowed them to turn. The earliest mention I 114 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:22,200 Speaker 1: could find about steering wheels actually dates to eighteen ninety 115 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:25,600 Speaker 1: four in France, but it would take a little while 116 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:28,440 Speaker 1: for that method to replace the good old tiller. And 117 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 1: tiller has worked okay on vehicles that you know, especially 118 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,200 Speaker 1: if the vehicle had three wheels with one wheel in front. 119 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:37,320 Speaker 1: They were pretty easy to use. Then it was a 120 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:40,360 Speaker 1: little trickier to use on a four wheeled vehicle. They 121 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 1: also were not terribly safe. If a vehicle were able 122 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:47,119 Speaker 1: to get up to a decent speed, though that wasn't 123 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:49,240 Speaker 1: really so much of a danger with the quadricycle. It 124 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:53,080 Speaker 1: did not have a super high top speed. It had 125 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:56,840 Speaker 1: a humble to cylinder four horsepower engine, so it really 126 00:07:56,840 --> 00:07:59,720 Speaker 1: didn't have the oath necessary to tear down the track, 127 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:04,080 Speaker 1: particularly in a world where roads were frequently muddy. It 128 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:07,119 Speaker 1: had to driving speeds. The slower speed was ten miles 129 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:10,400 Speaker 1: per hour. The fastest was twenty miles per hour. Now, 130 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:13,120 Speaker 1: I guess you could say that that's a pretty darn 131 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:15,880 Speaker 1: good clips, So maybe I'm being a little unkind in 132 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:20,040 Speaker 1: my earlier assessment, but it's not like screaming fast. The 133 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:24,080 Speaker 1: vehicle had no reverse It also had no brakes. It did, however, 134 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:26,840 Speaker 1: have a doorbell, which served as a kind of horn 135 00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:29,120 Speaker 1: for the car to let people know that they were 136 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:32,880 Speaker 1: about to get run down by Henry Ford. Originally, Ford 137 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:36,480 Speaker 1: intended for his motor to be air cooled, but it 138 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:39,400 Speaker 1: turned out that the motor just heated up too much 139 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:43,320 Speaker 1: and the air wasn't dissipating the heat fast enough, so 140 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:47,600 Speaker 1: he added some water jackets around the cylinders on the 141 00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:50,040 Speaker 1: engine in order to keep them from getting so hot 142 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:53,240 Speaker 1: that they would you know, break down. Ford first gave 143 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:58,840 Speaker 1: the quadricycle a test drive on June and around four 144 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:02,920 Speaker 1: a m. And he might have even started earlier than that, 145 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:05,800 Speaker 1: but he found he made one key mistake while building 146 00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:09,720 Speaker 1: his contraption. Turned out it was too wide to fit 147 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:11,920 Speaker 1: through the door of the shed that he had built 148 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:15,600 Speaker 1: it in, so he built a car too big to 149 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:18,400 Speaker 1: fit through the door of the shed so that shed 150 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:22,640 Speaker 1: had brick walls and delayed. But undeterred, Ford decided to 151 00:09:22,679 --> 00:09:26,080 Speaker 1: take up an axe that was in the shed and 152 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:28,480 Speaker 1: then just start hacking at the wall with it, breaking 153 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:31,440 Speaker 1: off bits of brick until he had made a gap 154 00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:34,840 Speaker 1: wide enough for the quadricycle to fit through the wall. 155 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:38,880 Speaker 1: Wasn't gonna stop Henry Ford from making history. His chief assistant, 156 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:42,200 Speaker 1: James Bishop, helped him out and even rode ahead on 157 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:45,040 Speaker 1: a bicycle to help make certain that Henry had a 158 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:48,400 Speaker 1: clear path and wasn't gonna, you know, kill anybody. Since 159 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:50,520 Speaker 1: there were no brakes on the quadricycle, that was really 160 00:09:50,559 --> 00:09:54,520 Speaker 1: important because Ford would either have to run into someone 161 00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:57,600 Speaker 1: or veer off and potentially crash into a building, and 162 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:01,400 Speaker 1: neither option really seemed to appeal to Ford. The test 163 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:04,760 Speaker 1: drive was a success, despite the fact that at one 164 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:07,600 Speaker 1: point there was a spring on the vehicle that broke 165 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 1: and that necessitated a quick repair job. Having made his 166 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:16,120 Speaker 1: first vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine, Ford was 167 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:18,760 Speaker 1: eager to get to work on the second one and 168 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:21,880 Speaker 1: to improve upon what he built, So he started doing 169 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:24,560 Speaker 1: something that would become a theme in his early career. 170 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:28,760 Speaker 1: He sold the quadricycle. Sold it for two hundred dollars 171 00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:32,120 Speaker 1: in late eighteen ninety six. If we had just for inflation, 172 00:10:32,559 --> 00:10:35,960 Speaker 1: that's close to around six thousand, three hundred dollars today. 173 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:40,040 Speaker 1: Now today you would probably call that quadricycle priceless. So 174 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:43,160 Speaker 1: it was a steal for six large plus some change. 175 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:47,240 Speaker 1: But here's the really crazy thing. In h four, Henry 176 00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:51,640 Speaker 1: Ford actually bought that quadricycle back for the princely sum 177 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:57,160 Speaker 1: of sixty five dollars. Pretty good deal, right. Ford received 178 00:10:57,280 --> 00:11:02,000 Speaker 1: Thomas Edison's encouragement in his pursuits, and I assume that 179 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:05,400 Speaker 1: Edison's words helped Ford make the decision to strike out 180 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:08,640 Speaker 1: on his own and found his own company. He resigned 181 00:11:08,679 --> 00:11:13,680 Speaker 1: his position with Edison on August five and co founded 182 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:18,120 Speaker 1: a company called the Detroit Automobile Company. He received funding 183 00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:21,800 Speaker 1: from a dozen investors, including William Maybury, who was the 184 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:25,440 Speaker 1: mayor of Detroit at the time. They raised fifteen thousand 185 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:28,200 Speaker 1: dollars for the business, which would be equal to about 186 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:31,800 Speaker 1: four hundred seventy three thousand dollars today, which is a 187 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:34,920 Speaker 1: good chunk of change, but probably less than what you 188 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:37,560 Speaker 1: would expect for a startup company that was going to 189 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:42,000 Speaker 1: be building cars. Henry salary was established at one fifty 190 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:45,320 Speaker 1: dollars per month, which would be around four thousand, seven 191 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:49,320 Speaker 1: hundred thirty bucks these days, or fifty six thousand dollars 192 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:52,760 Speaker 1: per year, or so just about fifty seven thousand dollars, 193 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:55,560 Speaker 1: so Ford wasn't quite rolling in cash yet that he 194 00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:58,920 Speaker 1: was making a decent living. Of course, in those days, 195 00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:02,760 Speaker 1: cars were built hand by small groups of engineers, and 196 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 1: they were mostly the playthings of the wealthy. They were 197 00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:09,960 Speaker 1: a curiosity, something that made headlines, but was still a 198 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:12,520 Speaker 1: very rare sight on the streets. A lot of people 199 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:16,000 Speaker 1: had never seen one. The first vehicle Ford got to 200 00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:20,240 Speaker 1: work on at the Detroit Automotive Company was a delivery truck. 201 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:23,320 Speaker 1: It was a a small vehicle for a truck, but 202 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:26,520 Speaker 1: showed that Ford was thinking about practical uses for automobiles 203 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:29,200 Speaker 1: because we weren't yet at a point where the average 204 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:32,360 Speaker 1: person was going to own one. But you know, you 205 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:35,040 Speaker 1: could make delivery trucks, make something that's really useful for 206 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:38,560 Speaker 1: purposes like hauling stuff around, and businesses could buy them. 207 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:42,160 Speaker 1: But Ford and his backers started to have some problems. 208 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:45,760 Speaker 1: Ford was focused on improving his designs and making his 209 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:50,120 Speaker 1: vehicles more reliable and easier to handle and etcetera. But 210 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:54,040 Speaker 1: his backers were more interested in, you know, selling cars. 211 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:56,960 Speaker 1: And it is hard to make money if the guy 212 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:00,040 Speaker 1: in charge of manufacturing your product is spending all the 213 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:04,480 Speaker 1: time on improving that product, not selling it. The Detroit 214 00:13:04,520 --> 00:13:07,439 Speaker 1: Automobile Company lasted only a year and a half before 215 00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:12,480 Speaker 1: Ford's investors exasperated through in the towel and dissolved the company. 216 00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:15,960 Speaker 1: Ford meanwhile kept his hand in by designing and building 217 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:19,440 Speaker 1: cars to compete in various races. In nineteen o one, 218 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:22,640 Speaker 1: a car he built competed in a ten mile race 219 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:26,160 Speaker 1: in Gross Point, Michigan, and the driver won the race. 220 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:30,800 Speaker 1: That driver was Henry Ford himself. Ford then designed a 221 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:35,560 Speaker 1: better race car called the n Ford also sought out 222 00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:39,400 Speaker 1: new investors to give that whole company thing another go. 223 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:43,079 Speaker 1: The remains of the Detroit Automobile Company would serve as 224 00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:47,479 Speaker 1: the foundation for a new company called the Henry Ford Company. 225 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:50,040 Speaker 1: Ford was able to convince more investors to jump on 226 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:53,439 Speaker 1: after this successful races. He had built up a lot 227 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:56,840 Speaker 1: of positive pr and the company took shape in November 228 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:01,640 Speaker 1: nineteen o one. But these new investors soon encountered the 229 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:06,079 Speaker 1: same issues as their predecessors. They watched as Henry kept 230 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:10,040 Speaker 1: changing designs and attempting to improve vehicles and claiming they 231 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:12,680 Speaker 1: weren't yet ready to be sold to the public. And 232 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:17,040 Speaker 1: he was probably right, But keeping a business afloat is expensive, 233 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:20,160 Speaker 1: and if there's little to no money coming in from sales, 234 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:23,680 Speaker 1: then that means the investors have to shoulder that load. 235 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:27,800 Speaker 1: Tensions between Ford and those investors reached a boiling point, 236 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:31,520 Speaker 1: and ultimately Ford decided to leave in a huff, or 237 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:34,560 Speaker 1: maybe a minute and a huff. Anyway, he decided to leave. 238 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:38,600 Speaker 1: And it had been less than half a year. Yikes. Now, 239 00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:41,760 Speaker 1: if you listened to my episodes about General Motors, you 240 00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:45,600 Speaker 1: know it was this company, the Henry Ford Company, that 241 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:49,720 Speaker 1: would transform into the Cadillac Company. After a guy named 242 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:53,800 Speaker 1: Henry Leland was brought in to assess the company assets. Now, 243 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:56,680 Speaker 1: the original plan was that the investors were going to 244 00:14:56,760 --> 00:15:01,000 Speaker 1: liquidate everything and just you know, call the loss. But 245 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:04,600 Speaker 1: Leland convinced them to stick with it, and the Cadillac 246 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:07,680 Speaker 1: was born, which would later get scooped up as part 247 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:11,280 Speaker 1: of GM. When Ford left, one of the few things 248 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:13,760 Speaker 1: he got to take with him was his name. I 249 00:15:13,760 --> 00:15:16,480 Speaker 1: mean it was his name after all. He also took 250 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:19,880 Speaker 1: his determination to stick with the whole car thing third 251 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:22,880 Speaker 1: times the charm right. And so he sets out to 252 00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:25,200 Speaker 1: get a new group of investors to help him create 253 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:28,800 Speaker 1: an automobile company. And sure enough, this one would be 254 00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:32,440 Speaker 1: the real success. It would be the Ford Motor Company. 255 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:35,200 Speaker 1: When we come back, i'll talk about the early days 256 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:37,600 Speaker 1: of that company and the birth of the Model T. 257 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:49,560 Speaker 1: But first let's take a quick break. It was three 258 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:53,240 Speaker 1: and Henry Ford was now thirty nine years old. The 259 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:56,480 Speaker 1: first two companies he found it fizzled out as investors 260 00:15:56,520 --> 00:15:59,960 Speaker 1: backed away from Ford. The automobile was still in its 261 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:02,480 Speaker 1: infancy and Ford wanted to play a part in its 262 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:06,640 Speaker 1: early development. He had new investors, including the Dodge Brothers, 263 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:09,520 Speaker 1: whom I also mentioned in the GM episode. It's a 264 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:15,080 Speaker 1: very incestuous group automakers. Collectively, his investors raised more money 265 00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:18,640 Speaker 1: than went into either the Detroit Automotive Company or the 266 00:16:18,680 --> 00:16:22,240 Speaker 1: Henry Ford Company twenty eight thousand dollars in fact, and 267 00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:25,760 Speaker 1: the Ford Motor Company was born. Like the other companies 268 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:30,240 Speaker 1: it called Detroit Home. Ford himself was heavily invested in 269 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:33,480 Speaker 1: the company. He owned slightly more than twenty five of 270 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:36,960 Speaker 1: the company's stuck upon its formation. For the first few 271 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:40,320 Speaker 1: years he shared control of the company with fellow investors, 272 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:42,800 Speaker 1: but by nineteen o six he assumed the position of 273 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:47,320 Speaker 1: president and controlled the company pretty effectively. And skipping ahead 274 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:49,720 Speaker 1: a bit, and will touch back on this late in 275 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:53,800 Speaker 1: the episode, in nineteen nineteen and nineteen twenty, he and 276 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:57,000 Speaker 1: his wife Clara and their son Edsel would hold a 277 00:16:57,080 --> 00:17:00,920 Speaker 1: buy back of all outstanding stock. That's putting lightly. We'll 278 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:04,159 Speaker 1: get to it. It's actually a little more amusing than that, 279 00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:08,000 Speaker 1: but anyway, they spent more than a hundred million dollars 280 00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:11,160 Speaker 1: to essentially buy up all the stock, or at least 281 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:14,680 Speaker 1: enough for them to have controlling interest, and became effectively 282 00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:17,680 Speaker 1: the soul owners of the company. Now. The first car 283 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:21,760 Speaker 1: produced by the Ford Motor Company became known as the 284 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:26,040 Speaker 1: Model A Ford. Now clearly this was not the Model 285 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:30,000 Speaker 1: A that the Ford Company would produce in nineteen twenty seven. No, 286 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:33,119 Speaker 1: this was the nineteen oh three Model A, and it 287 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:36,800 Speaker 1: was a different beast altogether. The Model A was a 288 00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:40,600 Speaker 1: style of car called a runabout. It was an open vehicle, 289 00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:43,600 Speaker 1: meaning there was no top to the car. There's no roof, 290 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:46,760 Speaker 1: there's no windshield, there are no doors. In fact, you 291 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:49,960 Speaker 1: would just step up onto the car and then into 292 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:53,080 Speaker 1: it and sit on a bench style seat similar to 293 00:17:53,119 --> 00:17:55,200 Speaker 1: a horse drawn buggy. In fact, it looked a lot 294 00:17:55,359 --> 00:17:59,119 Speaker 1: like a buggy, just you know, without the horse. This 295 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:02,440 Speaker 1: vehicle measure four ft nine inches tall or about one 296 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:05,840 Speaker 1: point four meters. It was five ft five inches or 297 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:09,400 Speaker 1: one point six five ms wide, and it was about 298 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:11,959 Speaker 1: eight and a half feet long or two point six meters. 299 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:16,439 Speaker 1: It had a two speed manual transmission, had eight horsepower, 300 00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:19,600 Speaker 1: and thankfully it did have a steering wheel and brakes. 301 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:23,240 Speaker 1: The sales price was eight hundred fifty dollars or about 302 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:26,159 Speaker 1: twenty four thousand, eight hundred bucks if we had just 303 00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:29,800 Speaker 1: for today's you know, inflation rates. The average salary in 304 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:33,119 Speaker 1: America at that time was just four hundred eighty nine dollars, 305 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:35,720 Speaker 1: So that meant it would take nearly two years of 306 00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:38,280 Speaker 1: savings for the average person to be able to purchase 307 00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:41,800 Speaker 1: a Model A. That's assuming that, you know, it didn't 308 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:45,560 Speaker 1: spend money on anything else. The Forward company was ready 309 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:48,080 Speaker 1: to take orders in the summer of nineteen o three, 310 00:18:48,359 --> 00:18:52,200 Speaker 1: and the company was on borrowed time. In mid July three, 311 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:56,359 Speaker 1: Ford received three orders for Model A cars. One was 312 00:18:56,400 --> 00:18:59,520 Speaker 1: payment in full and the other two were large deposits. 313 00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:02,240 Speaker 1: At the time, the company had a bank balance of 314 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:07,320 Speaker 1: just two dollars sixty cents. In other words, the Ford 315 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:09,959 Speaker 1: Motor Company was in danger of running out of cash 316 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:12,960 Speaker 1: and not even having enough to cover the company payroll. 317 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:17,199 Speaker 1: But those orders brought in another one thousand, twenty bucks, 318 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:20,040 Speaker 1: which kept the lights on, so to speak. Oh and 319 00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:23,600 Speaker 1: that wasn't the only existential crisis that the company faced 320 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:26,639 Speaker 1: early on. While the orders made sure that the company 321 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:29,840 Speaker 1: had enough money to keep going, a consortium called the 322 00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:35,119 Speaker 1: Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers or a l a M 323 00:19:35,119 --> 00:19:38,760 Speaker 1: threatened to shut things down. The group, formed in an 324 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:42,280 Speaker 1: effort to get total control over the blossoming automobile industry 325 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:45,760 Speaker 1: in the United States, controlled by a board of five members, 326 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:48,359 Speaker 1: who had to reach a unanimous decision when it came 327 00:19:48,359 --> 00:19:51,760 Speaker 1: to granting licenses. And if you'll forgive me, I think 328 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:53,760 Speaker 1: we need to go down a little tangent here because 329 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:57,879 Speaker 1: this story is fascinating. At the heart of the matter 330 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:02,760 Speaker 1: was a patent that originally belonged to George B. Selden. 331 00:20:03,280 --> 00:20:05,879 Speaker 1: He was an engineer at heart, but a patent lawyer 332 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:08,439 Speaker 1: by trade, and he filed for a patent for an 333 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:12,560 Speaker 1: internal combustion engine specifically intended for the use in vehicles 334 00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:16,160 Speaker 1: way back in eighteen seventy nine. However, he didn't receive 335 00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:20,840 Speaker 1: the patent until eight In the meantime, other folks had 336 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:24,719 Speaker 1: started making cars that relied on internal combustion engines and 337 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:29,200 Speaker 1: did not, you know, rely specifically on Seldon's patent. Selden, however, 338 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:33,000 Speaker 1: held that patent, which meant he could pursue those rights 339 00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:36,000 Speaker 1: and demand a fee from companies that were making cars 340 00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:39,399 Speaker 1: that were running on internal combustion engines, and he helped 341 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:42,760 Speaker 1: co found the Electric Vehicle Company and worked to get 342 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:47,119 Speaker 1: royalty fees from various car manufacturers. The A L. A M. 343 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:51,480 Speaker 1: Group essentially formed to help fight back against this practice 344 00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:54,719 Speaker 1: of what, in their point of view, amounted to extortion, 345 00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:57,760 Speaker 1: and you could say this was sort of an early 346 00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:03,120 Speaker 1: example of someone acting like a control Ultimately, the companies 347 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:06,280 Speaker 1: represented by A L. A M. We're able to secure 348 00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:09,199 Speaker 1: a better deal with E V M, the holder of 349 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:12,560 Speaker 1: the patent, and now the A L a M. Was 350 00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:15,880 Speaker 1: acting kind of like a gatekeeper for the car manufacturing 351 00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:19,600 Speaker 1: business in America. It seems like most folks in the 352 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:22,159 Speaker 1: industry viewed that the patent at the center of all 353 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:25,600 Speaker 1: this was somewhat weak, but no one was really up 354 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:27,840 Speaker 1: to the task of testing it out because it would 355 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:32,359 Speaker 1: mean a lengthy and expensive court battle. Ford had attempted 356 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:35,480 Speaker 1: to secure a license from the A L a M. 357 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:38,399 Speaker 1: But he had been denied. Now, one reason for that 358 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:41,320 Speaker 1: denial may have been that a member of the board 359 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:44,679 Speaker 1: worked for the Olds Company, the company that made the 360 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:48,280 Speaker 1: Oldsmobile and would later be part of GM, and Ford's 361 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:52,160 Speaker 1: cars were the chief competitor to the Oldsmobile in Detroit, 362 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:55,920 Speaker 1: So there's the possibility that there was some anti competitive 363 00:21:55,920 --> 00:22:00,119 Speaker 1: practices going on here. But the official reason was that 364 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:03,480 Speaker 1: Ford's previous two companies had fizzled out less than two 365 00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:06,399 Speaker 1: years after they had launched, and that meant that Ford 366 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:09,080 Speaker 1: had no proven track record that he could deliver upon 367 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:13,159 Speaker 1: his desire to make cars. However, Ford went ahead with 368 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:16,920 Speaker 1: making cars without a license from the A L a M. 369 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:20,320 Speaker 1: That led to a lawsuit against the company filed by 370 00:22:20,359 --> 00:22:23,280 Speaker 1: the A L a M. The trial would stretch on 371 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:26,600 Speaker 1: for several years, with one judge finding in favor of 372 00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:29,600 Speaker 1: A L. A M. In nineteen o nine, but then 373 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:32,600 Speaker 1: the Court of Appeals overturned that decision in favor of 374 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:36,200 Speaker 1: Ford in nineteen eleven, at which point the A L 375 00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:38,840 Speaker 1: a M decided to just let it be. Part of 376 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:42,119 Speaker 1: the winning strategy was that Ford's lawyers argued that the 377 00:22:42,119 --> 00:22:45,240 Speaker 1: design of the car engines weren't based off of Selden's 378 00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:48,920 Speaker 1: design at all, but rather one that had been earlier 379 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:52,560 Speaker 1: created by Nicholas Otto way back in the mid nineteenth century. 380 00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:57,040 Speaker 1: Also just to kind of drive home how absurd things 381 00:22:57,080 --> 00:22:59,080 Speaker 1: like this can be when you take the long view. 382 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:02,119 Speaker 1: By the time I'm this case had finally concluded in 383 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:05,159 Speaker 1: the courts, the patent only had one more year of 384 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:09,320 Speaker 1: protection for Selden because patents expire, and once they do so, 385 00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:13,680 Speaker 1: the invention enters the public domain. Anyway, the entire time 386 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:17,200 Speaker 1: this lawsuit was going on, Ford was still making vehicles, 387 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:20,720 Speaker 1: and after the battle, the automotive industry as a whole changed. 388 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:23,960 Speaker 1: For around a year and a half, the company made 389 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:27,840 Speaker 1: Model A cars. In fact, it made around seventeen hundred 390 00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:31,640 Speaker 1: of them. While assembly lines were a thing in which 391 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:34,080 Speaker 1: people would be in charge of specific tasks and the 392 00:23:34,119 --> 00:23:37,800 Speaker 1: assembly process which sped things up a bit, we weren't 393 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:42,240 Speaker 1: at real mass production yet. We weren't at mechanized electrified 394 00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:47,800 Speaker 1: assembly lines where stuff was brought specifically to assemble workers, 395 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:50,240 Speaker 1: so it wasn't as efficient as it was going to be. 396 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:53,080 Speaker 1: The Model A was successful enough to give Forward the 397 00:23:53,119 --> 00:23:55,120 Speaker 1: cash to work on the next car, which is really 398 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:58,200 Speaker 1: kind of how Ford had been operating since the eighteen nineties. 399 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:03,800 Speaker 1: What followed were eight other cars, the Model B, the A, C, 400 00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:08,120 Speaker 1: the C, the F, the K, the N, the R, 401 00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:11,840 Speaker 1: and the S. The B was a touring car and 402 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:14,760 Speaker 1: the first Affords vehicles to have the engine placed in 403 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:18,359 Speaker 1: front of the driver. The previous ones had the engine 404 00:24:18,359 --> 00:24:22,520 Speaker 1: mounted behind the driver's seat. It was much more expensive 405 00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:24,720 Speaker 1: than the Model A. It was kind of a luxury 406 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:27,760 Speaker 1: vehicle for the time. The Model C looked a lot 407 00:24:27,840 --> 00:24:30,080 Speaker 1: like the Model A, but had a more powerful motor. 408 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:34,240 Speaker 1: Than a slightly revised appearance. The A C, as you 409 00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:37,560 Speaker 1: might imagine, was a Model A body powered by a 410 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:41,879 Speaker 1: Model C engine. But let's skip ahead to the Model N, 411 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:45,320 Speaker 1: which was sort of a breakout star of these early 412 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:48,600 Speaker 1: years at the Ford Motor Company. It was the replacement 413 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:51,560 Speaker 1: to the Model A and the Model C, and it 414 00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:54,520 Speaker 1: was designed to be an entry level vehicle for customers. 415 00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:57,760 Speaker 1: Like the B, the N had an engine in front 416 00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:00,200 Speaker 1: of the driver. It also had an engine that ran 417 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:04,320 Speaker 1: on four cylinders which provided fifteen horsepower. It was a 418 00:25:04,359 --> 00:25:07,399 Speaker 1: two seater runabout, so still didn't have any doors on 419 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:09,879 Speaker 1: the sides, although you could get a version of the 420 00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:13,159 Speaker 1: model and had a canopy to provide some shade and 421 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:16,480 Speaker 1: some limited protection from the elements. I say limited because 422 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:20,199 Speaker 1: with no doors and still no windshield, rain would hit 423 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:23,639 Speaker 1: you if you were driving through rain. H The Model 424 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:26,280 Speaker 1: IN had a four cylinder engine and actually used a 425 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:29,840 Speaker 1: shaft drive rather than a chain drive. The combination of 426 00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:32,159 Speaker 1: the engine and the drive made the Model IN a 427 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:35,400 Speaker 1: pretty handy vehicle when they could reach higher speeds than 428 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:39,159 Speaker 1: earlier models. The Model ENDS price tag was a pretty 429 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:42,040 Speaker 1: big selling point. It was priced at five hundred dollars 430 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:44,600 Speaker 1: at a time when the average Americans wage had hit 431 00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:48,480 Speaker 1: around five three dollars per year. Now we're still talking 432 00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:52,240 Speaker 1: about an expensive possession, obviously, but one that the average 433 00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:55,240 Speaker 1: American might be able to afford with some savings or 434 00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:59,640 Speaker 1: paying in installments. The success of the Model IN fed 435 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:03,600 Speaker 1: into the next big project, the Model T. This would 436 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:07,560 Speaker 1: be the car synonymous with Ford. Heck, you could argue 437 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:11,280 Speaker 1: that the Model T was almost synonymous with the word automobile, 438 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:14,240 Speaker 1: at least in America in the early days. Not that 439 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:17,800 Speaker 1: Ford was the only car manufacturing company at that time. 440 00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:21,200 Speaker 1: In fact, far from it. There were numerous other companies 441 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:26,199 Speaker 1: and brands that were active Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Buick, tons of 442 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:29,359 Speaker 1: other ones that the average person today may not have 443 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:34,040 Speaker 1: ever heard of because those companies no longer exist. But 444 00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:37,840 Speaker 1: the Model T s popularity was undeniable. It was the 445 00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:41,640 Speaker 1: most popular type of car on the roads for more 446 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:44,520 Speaker 1: than a decade, and a lot of histories dumped the 447 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:47,119 Speaker 1: success of the Model T squarely in the lap of 448 00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:50,359 Speaker 1: Henry Ford. But we should always remember that these sorts 449 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:53,480 Speaker 1: of things are the products of lots of people working together. 450 00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:56,480 Speaker 1: It's very rare that we can point to a single 451 00:26:56,520 --> 00:27:00,240 Speaker 1: person and say they are the sole person responsible for 452 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:03,280 Speaker 1: such and such. Whether that person is building on the 453 00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:07,320 Speaker 1: work of another or they are collaborating actively with a 454 00:27:07,359 --> 00:27:09,720 Speaker 1: group of other people, the real story is usually a 455 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:12,760 Speaker 1: little more complicated, and that is how it is with 456 00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:17,520 Speaker 1: the Model T. For example, there is child Harold Wills 457 00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:21,280 Speaker 1: or C. H. Wills if you prefer. Wills was a 458 00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:26,800 Speaker 1: machinist who offered to work for Ford way back in Grattis. 459 00:27:27,119 --> 00:27:30,200 Speaker 1: That is, he worked for Ford for free. He had 460 00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:33,679 Speaker 1: a steady day job, but he wanted to learn more 461 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:37,840 Speaker 1: about automobiles, and he figured he could learn quickly by doing, 462 00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:42,600 Speaker 1: and he soon became indispensable to Henry Ford. Wills was 463 00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:45,720 Speaker 1: a draftsman and would draw up plans for his creations, 464 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:48,919 Speaker 1: and he played an important role in the design and 465 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:53,040 Speaker 1: engineering of a lot of Ford's early vehicles, including that 466 00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:56,159 Speaker 1: race car the I mentioned earlier, as well as the 467 00:27:56,200 --> 00:28:01,120 Speaker 1: Model A. Wills was the one to design the Ford emblem. 468 00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:05,080 Speaker 1: In fact, he's the one who created that particular styleised 469 00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:09,000 Speaker 1: design for Ford. Wills was responsible for taking many of 470 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:12,359 Speaker 1: Ford's ideas about what the Model T should be and 471 00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:15,080 Speaker 1: making them a reality, and he was not the only 472 00:28:15,119 --> 00:28:18,480 Speaker 1: major contributor to the design of the car. Another was 473 00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:23,440 Speaker 1: a mechanical engineer named Joseph Galam. Originally from Austria, Hungary, 474 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:26,720 Speaker 1: he moved to American nineteen o three and found work 475 00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:29,160 Speaker 1: with the Ford Motor Company in nineteen o five as 476 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:32,480 Speaker 1: a designer, and he had become the lead designer and 477 00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:36,000 Speaker 1: contributed to the development of the Model T. Another person 478 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:39,640 Speaker 1: who designed parts for the Model T was Eugene Farcas, 479 00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:42,360 Speaker 1: who was born in Hungary but who moved to the 480 00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:46,040 Speaker 1: United States in nineteen o six. Farcas worked for Ford 481 00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:48,960 Speaker 1: a couple of different times, and it was during his 482 00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:51,680 Speaker 1: second stint at the company when he did his design 483 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:54,200 Speaker 1: work on the Model T. He would end up working 484 00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:57,600 Speaker 1: for a lot of other car companies, including GM, and 485 00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:00,640 Speaker 1: would even work for Ford again a few years later. 486 00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:03,320 Speaker 1: There were other people on the team too, of course, 487 00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:07,680 Speaker 1: there was Peter Martin, C. J. Smith, Gus Denyer and 488 00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:10,920 Speaker 1: Henry Love. They all made contributions to the design of 489 00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:13,400 Speaker 1: the Model T, so the Model T was a true 490 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:17,640 Speaker 1: collaborative effort. Henry Ford created the project goal, which was 491 00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:20,800 Speaker 1: a car that would be reliable and affordable, one that 492 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:24,800 Speaker 1: would be relatively easy to assemble. The assembly line approach 493 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:27,560 Speaker 1: at the time was still not yet dependent upon electric 494 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:31,920 Speaker 1: motors and conveyor belts. It was, however, dependent on unskilled 495 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:35,000 Speaker 1: or semi skilled laborers who would specialize in a particular 496 00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:38,560 Speaker 1: task and focus on that. This made assembly more efficient, 497 00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:41,640 Speaker 1: though it would be another decade before mass production really 498 00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:47,000 Speaker 1: became a possibility, a fact of life in manufacturing that 499 00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:50,080 Speaker 1: would change the world, and Ford would lead the way. 500 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:52,760 Speaker 1: When we come back, i'll talk more about the Model T, 501 00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:56,680 Speaker 1: how it shaped the automotive industry and beyond. But first 502 00:29:57,200 --> 00:30:08,600 Speaker 1: let's take another quick break. In The first Model T s, 503 00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:12,240 Speaker 1: or the ten Lizzies as they were also known, were 504 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:16,640 Speaker 1: assembled by hand using tried and true methods. It was reliable, 505 00:30:17,040 --> 00:30:19,960 Speaker 1: but it was also slow. Ford introduced the Model T 506 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:25,200 Speaker 1: on October one, and by November one, the assembly plant 507 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:29,160 Speaker 1: at Piquette Avenue had only put together eleven of the cars. 508 00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:33,160 Speaker 1: Even with the best assembly practices of the time, this 509 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:36,600 Speaker 1: was slow work, demand was high, and supply was low 510 00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:40,040 Speaker 1: due to the limitations of the assembly plant. The Model 511 00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:44,320 Speaker 1: T had a twenty horsepower four cylinder engine. Like the 512 00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:47,520 Speaker 1: most recent forward vehicles of the time, the engine was 513 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:50,080 Speaker 1: at the front end of the car and the engine 514 00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:53,680 Speaker 1: could run on gasoline, ethanol, or according to one source 515 00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:57,760 Speaker 1: I read kerosene, it used a radiator to cool the engine, 516 00:30:58,080 --> 00:31:01,320 Speaker 1: which means I get to explain how idiator's work, which 517 00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:05,360 Speaker 1: is actually pretty simple. All right. So, internal combustion engines 518 00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:09,080 Speaker 1: generate a lot of heat because you've got combustion going 519 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:14,240 Speaker 1: on there, effectively explosions happening within cylinders multiple times a minute. 520 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:18,800 Speaker 1: So to cool the engine, Ford's designers built water passages 521 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:22,560 Speaker 1: where water could flow past the engine essentially in tubes 522 00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:26,960 Speaker 1: or pipes really and help carry heat away from the engine. 523 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:30,920 Speaker 1: So coolant, essentially water in the early days, would flow 524 00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:33,360 Speaker 1: through these passages. It would pick up heat from the 525 00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:36,600 Speaker 1: engine block, carry that heat away from the engine so 526 00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:40,800 Speaker 1: that it doesn't overheat, and then that heated water would 527 00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:47,200 Speaker 1: transfer heat to thin fins of thermally conductive metal. That phrase, 528 00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:50,440 Speaker 1: by the way, is way easier to write than it 529 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:54,240 Speaker 1: is to say. Anyway, that heat would then radiate out 530 00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:58,959 Speaker 1: into the environment through these thin fins. Two DA and 531 00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:03,800 Speaker 1: early Model T the first so even had water pumps 532 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:07,560 Speaker 1: to physically push the water through the system from you know, 533 00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:11,760 Speaker 1: essentially a reservoir through the water passages past the engine block, 534 00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:15,280 Speaker 1: transfer the heat to the fins and then back into 535 00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:21,600 Speaker 1: the reservoir. But after those first Model T s Ford's 536 00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:25,440 Speaker 1: team came up with a Thermo siphon approach, which really 537 00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:28,080 Speaker 1: just relied on physics because as the water would heat up, 538 00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:31,840 Speaker 1: it would expand become less dense, and naturally move up 539 00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:36,440 Speaker 1: through the system. It essentially used gravity and and heat 540 00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:38,640 Speaker 1: to do all the work, so you didn't have to 541 00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:43,080 Speaker 1: have a mechanical pump. The cars fuel system was also 542 00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:46,240 Speaker 1: gravity fed, meaning that the fuel tank was just built 543 00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:48,840 Speaker 1: in a higher position than the engine and the weight 544 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:52,440 Speaker 1: of the fuel would push gas or kerosene or whatever 545 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:55,600 Speaker 1: to the engine. This worked okay if you were driving 546 00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:59,440 Speaker 1: on level ground or downhill, but on really steep climbs 547 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:03,080 Speaker 1: that could become an issue. Even so, for demonstrate the 548 00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:07,160 Speaker 1: Model TS capabilities with some pretty notable stunts, like driving 549 00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:11,640 Speaker 1: up Pike's Peak, starting a Model T engine required attaching 550 00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:14,280 Speaker 1: a crank handle to the front of the vehicle and 551 00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:16,160 Speaker 1: giving it a good crank or two to get the 552 00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:18,920 Speaker 1: engine to turn over. I covered that process in the 553 00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:21,600 Speaker 1: recent GM episodes, so if you want to learn more 554 00:33:21,640 --> 00:33:24,920 Speaker 1: about it and how it could be really super dangerous, 555 00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:28,360 Speaker 1: you should check out those episodes. The Model T also 556 00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:32,000 Speaker 1: had three gears, two were for forward drive and one 557 00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:35,640 Speaker 1: was for a reverse and the steering wheel had a 558 00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:38,760 Speaker 1: couple of controls that would seem strange to us. The 559 00:33:38,760 --> 00:33:42,760 Speaker 1: throttle the accelerator was actually a lever that attached to 560 00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:45,800 Speaker 1: the steering wheel, so you didn't have an accelerator pedal 561 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:48,760 Speaker 1: the way we do with modern cars. Likewise, the steering 562 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:53,200 Speaker 1: wheel also had a spark advancer lever on it. Now 563 00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:55,680 Speaker 1: again I kind of covered this in the GM episode, 564 00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:59,680 Speaker 1: but essentially this control adjusted the frequency at which the 565 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:03,880 Speaker 1: spar plugs that are part of the engine's cylinders would 566 00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:08,040 Speaker 1: actually spark to light those uh mixtures of gas and 567 00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:13,040 Speaker 1: air and cause combustion. And finding the right frequency so 568 00:34:13,080 --> 00:34:16,200 Speaker 1: that you were lining up the sparks precisely with the 569 00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:20,080 Speaker 1: right part of the the four stroke process meant that 570 00:34:20,120 --> 00:34:23,200 Speaker 1: you would change the Model T from a herky jerky 571 00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:30,880 Speaker 1: engine car to a nice and smooth engine experience. Ish. 572 00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:34,680 Speaker 1: The early Model T s had a transmission brake, but 573 00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:38,120 Speaker 1: not wheel brakes, so there are no brakes attached to 574 00:34:38,120 --> 00:34:41,720 Speaker 1: the wheels in early Model T s. Those would actually 575 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:44,040 Speaker 1: follow later in the production life of the Model T. 576 00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:47,080 Speaker 1: In fact, there were some aftermarket wheel brakes made for 577 00:34:47,120 --> 00:34:50,959 Speaker 1: the Model T, which convinced Forward to finally include them 578 00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:54,600 Speaker 1: on the actual Model T models that were rolling off 579 00:34:54,680 --> 00:34:58,799 Speaker 1: the assembly line. I guess that that would be somewhat concerning. 580 00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:01,120 Speaker 1: I mean, the top speed for the Model T was 581 00:35:01,239 --> 00:35:04,720 Speaker 1: somewhere in the neighborhood of forty hour or around seventy 582 00:35:04,760 --> 00:35:08,160 Speaker 1: kilometers per hour. That's not, you know, screaming fast by 583 00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:11,360 Speaker 1: modern standards, but when you consider you don't have wheel breaks, 584 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:15,480 Speaker 1: it's a darn good clip. As one source I saw said, 585 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:20,120 Speaker 1: Model TS were designed to go, they weren't designed to stop. Originally, 586 00:35:20,200 --> 00:35:23,239 Speaker 1: the headlights on Model TS were not electric. They were 587 00:35:23,280 --> 00:35:27,400 Speaker 1: Ascettlene headlamps. They also had oil side lamps, but the 588 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:29,960 Speaker 1: Model T stuck around long enough so that later versions 589 00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:34,200 Speaker 1: would get electric lights. The steering wheel on the Model 590 00:35:34,239 --> 00:35:36,760 Speaker 1: T was located on the left side of the vehicle 591 00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:39,959 Speaker 1: rather than on the center or on the right, which 592 00:35:40,040 --> 00:35:42,800 Speaker 1: was a big change and ended up becoming a standard 593 00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:46,120 Speaker 1: in the automotive industry for American cars. Much of the 594 00:35:46,160 --> 00:35:49,400 Speaker 1: car was made out of vanadium steel, which is a 595 00:35:49,440 --> 00:35:54,360 Speaker 1: relatively lightweight and strong steel alloy. There are actually several 596 00:35:54,400 --> 00:35:57,799 Speaker 1: different versions of the Model T all based on the 597 00:35:57,840 --> 00:36:02,560 Speaker 1: same fundamental design, but with slightly different features. You had 598 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:05,480 Speaker 1: the coupe, which had a tall, narrow look to it 599 00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:09,279 Speaker 1: and could seat to passengers. You had a touring car, 600 00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:12,880 Speaker 1: which was a bit more of a luxury car, and 601 00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:18,240 Speaker 1: it had models that included convertibles. There was a roadster model, 602 00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:21,359 Speaker 1: there was a runabout, and then at the high end 603 00:36:21,400 --> 00:36:25,000 Speaker 1: there was the town car. Also. At the time, Ford 604 00:36:25,080 --> 00:36:28,200 Speaker 1: made these vehicles in a few different colors, but that 605 00:36:28,200 --> 00:36:31,720 Speaker 1: would change after just a few years. The initial price 606 00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:35,160 Speaker 1: tag for the Model T was eight hundred fifty dollars, 607 00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:38,400 Speaker 1: which was significantly more than the average wage at the time. 608 00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:42,360 Speaker 1: Ford's goal was to make an affordable automobile that he 609 00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:45,080 Speaker 1: could sell to a lot of people, and he figured 610 00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:47,640 Speaker 1: that the market was there if the price were right. 611 00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:50,399 Speaker 1: But it also meant having to find ways to bring 612 00:36:50,600 --> 00:36:53,840 Speaker 1: costs down, and that was something that would require a 613 00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:57,839 Speaker 1: few big leaps. In nineteen ten, the company opened up 614 00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:01,799 Speaker 1: a new production plant called the Highland Park Complex. This 615 00:37:01,920 --> 00:37:05,080 Speaker 1: was where the production line really started to take shape, 616 00:37:05,080 --> 00:37:10,040 Speaker 1: where Ford really began to rely more heavily on unskilled laborers, 617 00:37:10,040 --> 00:37:13,080 Speaker 1: with each person focusing on a specific task and then 618 00:37:13,120 --> 00:37:16,920 Speaker 1: repeating that over and over on car after car. The 619 00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:19,719 Speaker 1: assembly process became just a set of tasks that could 620 00:37:19,719 --> 00:37:22,840 Speaker 1: be assigned out to specific workers along the assembly line, 621 00:37:23,120 --> 00:37:25,560 Speaker 1: and as a result, the time to build a full 622 00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:28,520 Speaker 1: model t went from twelve and a half hours for 623 00:37:28,600 --> 00:37:33,279 Speaker 1: one car to ninety three minutes by nineteen fourteen. But 624 00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:36,600 Speaker 1: the company had also encountered a big problem. The repetitive 625 00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:42,120 Speaker 1: work was exhausting. Shifts were typically nine hours, and while 626 00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:45,600 Speaker 1: the tasks didn't require skilled workers, it really did take 627 00:37:45,600 --> 00:37:49,040 Speaker 1: a lot of time to onboard new employees and teach 628 00:37:49,120 --> 00:37:52,239 Speaker 1: them how to do their specific sets of tasks. The 629 00:37:52,360 --> 00:37:55,040 Speaker 1: daily take home pay at that time was just two 630 00:37:55,080 --> 00:37:59,320 Speaker 1: dollars twenty five cents. Adjusting for inflation, that's about sixty 631 00:37:59,440 --> 00:38:02,840 Speaker 1: bucks a day in today's money. But Ford was seeing 632 00:38:03,160 --> 00:38:07,440 Speaker 1: incredible turnover. The tasks took time to learn, so it 633 00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:11,080 Speaker 1: could be frustrating. They might not be terribly difficult tasks, 634 00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:15,040 Speaker 1: but they were repetitive, and work was also plentiful in 635 00:38:15,080 --> 00:38:17,080 Speaker 1: Detroit at the time, so Ford saw a lot of 636 00:38:17,080 --> 00:38:19,840 Speaker 1: people just kind of walk off the line and quit, 637 00:38:20,640 --> 00:38:24,439 Speaker 1: and that would bring production to a halt. Because each 638 00:38:24,480 --> 00:38:28,320 Speaker 1: person was important. Each person had a job in putting 639 00:38:28,360 --> 00:38:31,360 Speaker 1: the cards together, and one person leaving would kind of 640 00:38:31,440 --> 00:38:36,080 Speaker 1: muck everything up. So to stabilize the workforce, Ford more 641 00:38:36,120 --> 00:38:40,359 Speaker 1: than doubled salaries. He offered five dollars per day, and 642 00:38:40,440 --> 00:38:43,440 Speaker 1: this was more than competitive with other employers in the area, 643 00:38:43,600 --> 00:38:46,920 Speaker 1: and it helped create a more reliable workforce. So this 644 00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:50,600 Speaker 1: was a practicality. This was not altruism at work. The 645 00:38:50,680 --> 00:38:54,279 Speaker 1: process was efficient, but only as long as there were 646 00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:58,120 Speaker 1: people to actually do the work in the process. So 647 00:38:58,160 --> 00:39:01,759 Speaker 1: he needed to have that reliability. Losing someone meant you're 648 00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:04,120 Speaker 1: going to have to replace that person and train a 649 00:39:04,160 --> 00:39:08,000 Speaker 1: new person, and it would mean wasted time and money. 650 00:39:08,080 --> 00:39:10,800 Speaker 1: So in the long run, it just made more economic 651 00:39:10,840 --> 00:39:16,000 Speaker 1: sense to offer more money and keep people at that job. Um, 652 00:39:16,040 --> 00:39:19,719 Speaker 1: it was not an effort to make sure that employees 653 00:39:19,719 --> 00:39:21,800 Speaker 1: would make enough money where they could buy the cars 654 00:39:21,840 --> 00:39:24,960 Speaker 1: that were rolling off the assembly line. That often ends 655 00:39:25,040 --> 00:39:30,640 Speaker 1: up being part of the mythology around Ford. It was 656 00:39:30,680 --> 00:39:34,480 Speaker 1: really more that the company needed to have a stable workforce. 657 00:39:35,120 --> 00:39:39,280 Speaker 1: From nineteen fourteen to nineteen five, Ford would only offer 658 00:39:39,320 --> 00:39:41,839 Speaker 1: the Model T in black, which led to the joke 659 00:39:41,880 --> 00:39:43,800 Speaker 1: off Ford saying that customers could get a Model T 660 00:39:43,920 --> 00:39:47,719 Speaker 1: in any color, provided it was black. It made things 661 00:39:47,719 --> 00:39:50,479 Speaker 1: simpler if you were just churning out car after car, 662 00:39:50,560 --> 00:39:53,359 Speaker 1: and all the parts are interchangeable. He would also say 663 00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:56,560 Speaker 1: that there was never any use in overtaking a Model 664 00:39:56,640 --> 00:39:59,120 Speaker 1: TEA and passing it on the road, because there would 665 00:39:59,120 --> 00:40:02,000 Speaker 1: always be another one right up ahead, and that was 666 00:40:02,080 --> 00:40:04,959 Speaker 1: not much of an exaggeration. By the time Ford would 667 00:40:04,960 --> 00:40:07,760 Speaker 1: stop making the Model T in the late nineteen twenties, 668 00:40:08,200 --> 00:40:12,040 Speaker 1: the company had sold more than fifteen million of the things. 669 00:40:12,960 --> 00:40:16,000 Speaker 1: What helped was that as the company found more efficient 670 00:40:16,040 --> 00:40:19,800 Speaker 1: ways to build cars, the cost of manufacturing came way down, 671 00:40:20,000 --> 00:40:22,640 Speaker 1: and Ford would then pass that on to the customer. 672 00:40:22,960 --> 00:40:26,000 Speaker 1: He started pricing the Model T lower and lower, so 673 00:40:26,080 --> 00:40:29,480 Speaker 1: by nineteen sixteen, the car that had originally cost eight 674 00:40:29,600 --> 00:40:33,239 Speaker 1: hundred fifty dollars was now priced at three hundred sixty. 675 00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:36,760 Speaker 1: By nine four the price was down to two hundred 676 00:40:36,840 --> 00:40:40,319 Speaker 1: sixty dollars. At the end of nineteen eighteen, with a 677 00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:44,000 Speaker 1: little warning, Henry Ford resigned as president of the Ford 678 00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:48,000 Speaker 1: Motor Company. His son, Edsel, five years old at the time, 679 00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:51,680 Speaker 1: was elected to the role of president a Ford Henry 680 00:40:51,760 --> 00:40:55,120 Speaker 1: was still essentially calling all the shots, but he had 681 00:40:55,120 --> 00:40:57,479 Speaker 1: stepped back after he had made some moves to clear 682 00:40:57,520 --> 00:41:00,760 Speaker 1: out land for a new production facility, but he didn't 683 00:41:00,840 --> 00:41:05,560 Speaker 1: get full shareholder approval first, and so he was facing 684 00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:11,760 Speaker 1: some opposition among large stakeholders in Ford. Then Henry Ford 685 00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:14,200 Speaker 1: said he would start up a new car company and 686 00:41:14,280 --> 00:41:17,080 Speaker 1: produce a vehicle similar to the Model T, but sell 687 00:41:17,120 --> 00:41:21,080 Speaker 1: it for less money, which would undercut Ford. This turned 688 00:41:21,080 --> 00:41:23,640 Speaker 1: out to be a ploy, but it's scared investors into 689 00:41:23,640 --> 00:41:27,040 Speaker 1: selling off their stakes, and the Ford family was quietly 690 00:41:27,040 --> 00:41:30,319 Speaker 1: purchasing it through various lawyers. And that is how the 691 00:41:30,440 --> 00:41:34,200 Speaker 1: Ford family became majority owners of the Ford Company and 692 00:41:34,239 --> 00:41:37,680 Speaker 1: no longer beholden to cranky stockholders who objected to such 693 00:41:37,719 --> 00:41:41,400 Speaker 1: things as building factories without you know, getting approval first. 694 00:41:42,040 --> 00:41:44,840 Speaker 1: It was also around this time when Ford began to 695 00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:49,640 Speaker 1: publish anti Semitic articles in the journal The Dearborn Independent, 696 00:41:50,320 --> 00:41:53,719 Speaker 1: and it was some ugly, ugly stuff. Late in his 697 00:41:53,800 --> 00:41:57,520 Speaker 1: life he would sort of renounce what he had done. 698 00:41:58,200 --> 00:42:01,440 Speaker 1: It was not good stuff. Henry Ford was also clearly 699 00:42:01,520 --> 00:42:04,680 Speaker 1: still pulling strings at the Ford Motor Company, was still 700 00:42:04,760 --> 00:42:08,320 Speaker 1: running the show, even though his son was ostensibly in charge. 701 00:42:08,680 --> 00:42:11,680 Speaker 1: He refused to listen to people who were telling him 702 00:42:11,800 --> 00:42:14,520 Speaker 1: that the Model T had run its course and the 703 00:42:14,520 --> 00:42:18,000 Speaker 1: company really needed to update their their line with a 704 00:42:18,040 --> 00:42:21,879 Speaker 1: new model of car. Henry Ford held out against those 705 00:42:21,880 --> 00:42:26,440 Speaker 1: critics year after year until when it was clear that 706 00:42:26,560 --> 00:42:30,680 Speaker 1: they were right. Other companies, notably GM, we're seeing great 707 00:42:30,719 --> 00:42:34,920 Speaker 1: success with their approach to planned obsolescence, in which they 708 00:42:34,960 --> 00:42:39,400 Speaker 1: would introduce new versions of car models every year. They 709 00:42:39,400 --> 00:42:42,400 Speaker 1: would update the style, they would create a new type 710 00:42:42,440 --> 00:42:46,440 Speaker 1: of demand by kind of making cars of stylish status symbol. 711 00:42:46,680 --> 00:42:51,960 Speaker 1: Whereas Ford, while it would incorporate improvements in new versions 712 00:42:52,080 --> 00:42:55,160 Speaker 1: of the Model T, really wasn't changing the Model T 713 00:42:55,520 --> 00:42:58,640 Speaker 1: very much year over year. You know, a late Model 714 00:42:58,760 --> 00:43:03,080 Speaker 1: T looks pretty similar to an early Model T. The 715 00:43:03,160 --> 00:43:06,640 Speaker 1: Forward Company stopped production on the Model T in nineteen 716 00:43:06,719 --> 00:43:10,160 Speaker 1: twenty seven, shutting down the Highland Park facility for half 717 00:43:10,200 --> 00:43:13,160 Speaker 1: a year in order to change the assembly line process 718 00:43:13,239 --> 00:43:17,400 Speaker 1: over to making a new car, which was confusingly called 719 00:43:17,440 --> 00:43:21,080 Speaker 1: the Model A. I guess most folks didn't know about 720 00:43:21,360 --> 00:43:24,719 Speaker 1: or remember the old nineteen o three Model A. It's 721 00:43:24,719 --> 00:43:26,759 Speaker 1: not a big surprise. I mean, the company did make 722 00:43:26,880 --> 00:43:30,080 Speaker 1: fewer than two thousand of them, but the Model T 723 00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:34,200 Speaker 1: had by then changed the world in nineteen eighteen, the 724 00:43:34,239 --> 00:43:38,279 Speaker 1: Model T represented nearly fifty of all cars on the 725 00:43:38,440 --> 00:43:41,719 Speaker 1: road in America. So, in other words, about half the 726 00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:44,759 Speaker 1: cars in America were Model T s, and the other 727 00:43:44,800 --> 00:43:47,719 Speaker 1: half of the cars were spread across all the other 728 00:43:47,800 --> 00:43:51,400 Speaker 1: car companies that were scrabbling for that fifty percent. The 729 00:43:51,520 --> 00:43:56,240 Speaker 1: Model T helped push the urbanization of America. Cities grew, 730 00:43:56,600 --> 00:43:59,360 Speaker 1: people began to move to cities. You started to see 731 00:43:59,560 --> 00:44:04,400 Speaker 1: the ad ants of streets, and much later the highway system. 732 00:44:04,440 --> 00:44:08,640 Speaker 1: The mass production methods that Ford would adopt would end 733 00:44:08,680 --> 00:44:13,640 Speaker 1: up being used for everything from manufacturing airplanes to putting 734 00:44:13,680 --> 00:44:19,359 Speaker 1: together Hamburgers. It really was a transformational company, not just 735 00:44:19,600 --> 00:44:24,000 Speaker 1: in the auto industry but beyond, and a great deal 736 00:44:24,040 --> 00:44:27,440 Speaker 1: of credit does need to go to Henry Ford and 737 00:44:27,600 --> 00:44:30,480 Speaker 1: UH and the team that he put up around him. 738 00:44:30,480 --> 00:44:32,399 Speaker 1: It took him a few times to get it right, 739 00:44:32,760 --> 00:44:37,680 Speaker 1: and of course he still made some very um regrettable 740 00:44:37,719 --> 00:44:43,920 Speaker 1: decisions and and express some truly horrific viewpoints at different 741 00:44:43,920 --> 00:44:47,280 Speaker 1: times in his life. So he is by no means 742 00:44:47,400 --> 00:44:52,480 Speaker 1: someone we should hold up as an unimpeachable hero. But 743 00:44:52,840 --> 00:44:56,160 Speaker 1: he really was an important person in the world of 744 00:44:56,160 --> 00:45:00,640 Speaker 1: technology in general and the automotive industry in particular, world 745 00:45:00,640 --> 00:45:04,480 Speaker 1: would be very different head Henry Ford not gone into 746 00:45:04,520 --> 00:45:08,799 Speaker 1: the automotive business, and that concludes this story. Obviously, I 747 00:45:08,840 --> 00:45:11,880 Speaker 1: could do lots of episodes about the Ford Motor Company 748 00:45:11,920 --> 00:45:16,200 Speaker 1: and talk about it's transformation and change. I can talk 749 00:45:16,239 --> 00:45:20,319 Speaker 1: about how Henry Ford would come back to head up 750 00:45:20,440 --> 00:45:24,680 Speaker 1: the Ford Motor Company after his son passed away suddenly, 751 00:45:25,320 --> 00:45:28,480 Speaker 1: and talk about how his grandson would take up the 752 00:45:28,520 --> 00:45:32,560 Speaker 1: mantle later on. But those are topics we should tackle 753 00:45:32,640 --> 00:45:35,520 Speaker 1: and maybe a future episode of tech Stuff, And for 754 00:45:35,640 --> 00:45:38,480 Speaker 1: the time being, I'm ready to close the door on 755 00:45:38,640 --> 00:45:42,000 Speaker 1: the model t all right. Well, if you guys have 756 00:45:42,080 --> 00:45:44,920 Speaker 1: any suggestions for topics that I should cover in future 757 00:45:44,960 --> 00:45:48,000 Speaker 1: episodes of tech Stuff, let me know. The best way 758 00:45:48,040 --> 00:45:50,200 Speaker 1: is to reach out on Twitter. The handle for the 759 00:45:50,200 --> 00:45:53,879 Speaker 1: show is text Stuff H s W and I'll talk 760 00:45:53,920 --> 00:46:02,040 Speaker 1: to you again really soon. Text Stuff is an I 761 00:46:02,160 --> 00:46:05,640 Speaker 1: Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, 762 00:46:05,960 --> 00:46:09,160 Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 763 00:46:09,239 --> 00:46:10,760 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.