Affordable Chassis history

The Ford Motor Company manufactured its first car - the Model A - in 1903.

By 1906, the Model N was in production but Ford had not yet achieved his goal of producing a simple, affordable car.

A few months later- in July 1908 - Sorensen and a plant foreman spent their days off developing the basics of the Assembly Line:

The Piquette plant could not keep up with demand for the new car, however, and a new plant built in Highland Park, opened on January 1, 1910.

In 1913 the plant began using the moving assembly line to build the chassis, and automobile production was never the same.

The average assembly line worker could purchase one with four months’ pay in 1914.

In May of 1927 the Ford Motor Company ceased production of the Model T, after producing more than 15 million.

By the early 1950's, the "Big Three" (General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Chrysler Corporation) dominated new car sales, leaving the smaller companies such as Crosley, Hudson, Kaiser-Frazer, Nash, Packard, Studebaker and Willys to fight for their share of the market.

Development of the Ford Thunderbird began in February of 1953, just one month after GM debuted their Corvette Dream Car at the Motorama in New York.