Henry Ford

Henry Ford and the Assembly Line

Henry Ford was a pioneer in automobile making.  Born in Dearborn, Michigan in 1863 Henry took an interest in machines at an early age. He always liked working on machines. At age sixteen, he went to work in a Detroit machine shop.  With hard work, Henry built his first car in 1896.  To make his first car, he spent many hours and made each part separately by hand.

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Henry Ford

Multiple Choice

1. When did Henry Ford make his first car?

• 1863

• 1896

• 1908

• 1927

Henry Ford began his own car company in 1903, which later became known as the Ford Motor Company.  His company started with limited money and only twelve workers. Luckily, he was given additional money by the Dodge brothers who helped him keep his company going. At first the cars made by the Henry Ford were bought only by rich people. Yet he dreamed of finding a way to build cars that ordinary workers and farmers could afford to buy.

Henry Ford believed the fulfillment to his dream relied on mass production, which is a way of making many cars at once. Henry Ford’s first mass-produced car was the Model N. This car came out in 1906 and cost only $500. Soon, Henry Ford started working on the Model T. Even though he could barely get together enough money to make it, the first Model T rolled out in 1908. It could go forty miles an hour and cost $850. It only came in the color black.

Multiple Choice

2. What kind of car was the first mass-produced automobile?

• horseless carriage    

• Model N 

• Model T

• Dodge

In 1909 Ford started to use the assembly line method to produce more Model T automobiles.  Along a line of workers each one did a special job as cars passed them on a long belt. One worker placed a certain part on the car. Another worker tightened a certain bolt. This method made it possible to produce many cars in a short period of time, and it also saved money! Not only did Ford produce many more cars that way, mass production made prices go lower.

By 1916 the Model T, nicknamed the Tin Lizzie, cost only $360!  
Henry Ford’s production idea worked so well that 15 million black Model T cars were sold between 1908 and 1927. For a time most of American car-owners drove Model T automobiles or Tin Lizzies. Other automobile makers soon produced assembly line cars, and by the middle of the 1920s, about half of American families owned a car. Henry Ford’s inventiveness definitely helped change the way of life for many Americans.​

Multiple Choice

Another name for the Model T was the

• Tin Lizzie

• Car of the Year

• Model N

• Dearborn

Multiple Choice

By the year 1916 how much did a Model T car cost?

• $500

• $850

• $360

• It was free.

Multiple Choice

In what year did Ford stop making the Model T?

• 1863

• 1896

• 1908

• 1927

Multiple Choice

. In what country did Henry Ford make his early automobiles?

• Japan

• England

• Germany

• United Stated

Multiple Choice

7.   The main idea of this selection is

• Henry Ford built the Model N.          

• Henry Ford was born in Michigan.

• Henry Ford liked working with machines from a young age.

• Henry Ford was one of the first leaders in car-making.

Multiple Choice

From the selection you can tell that

• . Ford’s parents didn’t want him to work in a machine shop.

• Ford strongly believed in his ideas about making cars.

• Ford didn’t like the Model N.

• Ford didn’t like the Dodge brothers.

Multiple Choice

What method did Henry Ford use to make cars quickly?

•     a robot method

• computer driven method   

• assembly line method

• hand-made method

Multiple Choice

How does an assembly line work?

• Each car is made one at a time by hand.

• Parts are added by wheeling the car from one place in the factory to another. 

• Each worker in a line adds a part to an unfinished car as it passes on a     moving belt.

• Each car must pass tests before it is driven.

Multiple Choice

What is the benefit of making cars on an assembly line?

• You can make cars for less money in a shorter amount of time.

• You can make cars in a wider variety of colors.

• You can make cars to enter in races.

• You can transport cars from the factory to car dealers at a lower cost.