When Henry Ford’s Model T ruled the planet, it was the most beloved and the most hated vehicle on the roadways. On the one hand, it was the first vehicle that was affordable for “the masses.” As a result, people named it “The Common Man’s Car.”

But on the other hand, there were so many problems with it that it was given the nicknames of Jalopy, Jitney and Tin Lizzie. Some even referred to it as the “Universal Car” because you could use it to pull old tree stumps out of the ground, store grain, generate electricity and even plow a field with a simple conversion. Here are some more facts about this forerunner to the modern vehicle that you may or may not have known.

• The first Model T sold for about $850, but the price was later reduced to less than $300 for the basic models. Henry Ford saved on production costs and he passed this savings on to the consumer.

• Model Ts were produced in Detroit on a street called Piquette Avenue. Production later moved to a new Highland Park plant in Michigan in 1910.

• All of the Model Ts was built on the same chassis, but there were essentially nine different body styles.

• Henry Ford’s assembly line was the single greatest contribution to vehicle mass production. As a result, he was able to produce about 300,000 Ford vehicles during 1914 with only 13,000 employees. Other companies combined only produced 280,000 units during the same year with more than 66,000 employees.

Do you think these were interesting? We’ll have some more intriguing facts tomorrow!

To purchase slightly new Ford vehicles, please visit one of our dealerships, at our Ford dealers in Missouri or our Ford dealership in Waterloo, IL.