It’s well known that Ford sold millions of Model T cars around the world, but it was so much more than just a best-selling product. It was capable, affordable, easy to drive and repair — and it literally put the world on wheels by making personal transportation accessible to the masses.

Known as ‘the Universal Car’ because of its versatility, the Model T was brought to life in a secret third-floor room of the historic Piquette Plant in Detroit. Behind a locked and sealed door, a small team of select individuals, including Edsel Ford and Henry Ford himself, experimented with various propulsion methods, developed a planetary transmission system and perfected the magneto.

They took this secretive approach because, even at that time, the competitive landscape of the early automotive industry was ferocious. Every bicycle maker in America thought that they could add two more wheels and an engine and suddenly have themselves a car. As the No. 1 automaker in the U.S. at the time, Ford had a lot to lose.

As the company pumped out other alphabetized models such as the popular Model N, Henry Ford had a vision for the expansion of personal transportation with a car for the masses.

Putting the ‘U’ in universal

The Model T was more than a single model or body style — it was a flexible platform. With their capability, reliability and repairability, some early Model Ts were fodder for stunts like driving to the top of Pike’s Peak in the Rocky Mountains, climbing the stairs of a courthouse or competing in a cross-country race from New York to Seattle along the nation’s primitive roads, a contest it won over other higher-powered competitors.

The utilitarian Model T proved itself invaluable in countless everyday scenarios of the 1910s and ’20s, too. It was adapted for use by first responders such as fire trucks and ambulances, and it was at home on the farm powering machinery or sausage grinders. The car could even be transformed into a snowmobile for use by farmers and loggers by replacing the front wheels with snow skis and swapping the rear wheels for caterpillar tracks.

While color choices for the Model T were famously limited in order to keep production running smoothly during its peak, the car was offered in different body styles such as the Tudor Sedan, Fordor Sedan, Coupe, Touring Car and Runabout. Ford also sold a heavy-duty Model TT truck chassis for commercial customers, while the Model T Runabout offered a pickup body beginning in 1925. It was the company’s first factory-produced pickup.

Picking up the pace

The proliferation of the Model T came with the introduction of the moving assembly line in 1913 — some five years after the vehicle’s introduction. In its early years at Piquette, the Model T was assembled at different stations located throughout the building. It’s difficult to imagine today just how arduous that process must have been. The assembly line was later applied at the Model T’s second home, Ford’s Highland Park plant, vastly speeding the production process.

While moving assembly had been used before in the meatpacking industry and assembling rifles, Ford perfected the concept. No one else had anything approaching what Ford was doing at that time.

There was also another key ingredient to the success of the moving assembly line. Production was also made more efficient by the introduction of the sub-assembly process, which saw parts such as radiators and steering wheels delivered to the workers on the assembly line as they were needed. The savings created by producing the Model T at scale were passed on to consumers, and affordable personal transportation quickly spread around the world.

Full circle

Now Ford is going back to its roots for another Model T moment. Ford leaders will share more about our plans to design and assemble breakthrough electric vehicles in America. Join Monday, Aug. 11 at 10:20 a.m. EDT for a special livestream to learn more.

Ted Ryan is Heritage and Brand manager at Ford.