The industrialist who put the world on wheels with his most famous car

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henry ford model t

From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.

Henry Ford with a Model-T in Buffalo, New York, 1921.

In this 1921 photo, American industrialist and founder of the Ford Motor Company stands next to the world's first-mass-produced car - the Model T - at the height of his career.

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At 58-years-old, Henry Ford manufactured more than half of the world's cars, created the modern assembly-line, and became one of the richest men on the planet.

Ford presented his ninth car, the Model T, also known as "Tin Lizzie," on October 1, 1908. "The first Model T had a 20-horsepower, four-cylinder engine, reached a top speed of about 45 miles per hour, got about 13 to 21 miles per gallon of gasoline and weighed 1,200 pounds," according to Ford Motor Company.

The car was originally priced at $850 but was later reduced to $260 due to the savings earned from his cost-effective assembly process. Ford built and sold more than 15 million Model T's.

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