Henry Ford

Henry Ford. . , Did You Know? , On June 4, 1896 after more than two years of experimentation, 32 year old Henry Ford completed his first gasoline-powered motor car. He named it the Quadricycle because it ran on four bicycle tires. When Henry drove his car into Detroit the people exclaimed, "Here comes Henry with that crazy machine." All the horses in town were scared. Finally a man rode on a bicycle ahead of Henry, waving a red flag to clear the way. By the end of the year he sold this prototype for $200., After quitting his job at the Edison Illuminating Company, Henry Ford became involved in forming the Detroit Automobile Company in 1899. No production cars were made and the company was dissolved in February 1901., With several supporters he started the Ford Motor Company in 1903. In 1919 Henry and Edsel Ford became the sole owners of the company., In October 1908 Ford offered the Model T (known as the Tin Lizzie) for $850 and more than 15 million were sold until production ended on May 27, 1927. The car evolved from a luxury item for the well-to-do to essential transportation for the ordinary man; by the end of 1926 the cost was cut to about $260 because of increased efficiencies of assembly line technique., In 1917 the Ford Motor Company produced their first commercial vehicle, a Model T one-ton truck conversion of the car chassis. The truck featured a stronger frame, a two foot longer wheel base, stiffer rear suspension, 2 solid rubber rear tires and the use of two new rear springs (passenger cars used only one)., In 1918 Henry Ford retired as active head of the company and his only son Edsel became President. When Edsel died in 1943, Henry Ford again resumed leadership. In 1945, due to ill health, he stepped aside and his grandson Henry Ford Il took over as president. After Henry Ford II resigned in 1979 Philip Caldwell became the first CEO who was not a member of the family.