I. Introduction
A. Imagine it’s the summer of 64’, the heat is radiating, but you’re riding around with the top down, your tunes blasting, and sunglasses on, your hair blowing in the wind, you feel on top of the world. Yep, you guessed it you’re in a Ford Mustang, the coolest car around and the car that everyone is completely envious of.
1. Ford was created by the visionary Henry Ford when he first unveiled the Model T in October 1908. This car was built to be inexpensive, highly-dependable, and easy to repair for a total of $825, according to Frost on his biography about Ford himself.
a. This was said to be the most important product ever introduced in America because it introduced the assembly line, which is what Ford is most known for. The assembly line cut the amount of time required to build the Model T from twelve and a half hours, to 93 minutes. By the mid-1920s, the Model T could be assembled in less than 30 seconds. This more efficient production process greatly helped decrease the cost, therefore allowing more Americans to get behind the wheel.
b. Sean McCullom stated in his article in scholastic update, More than 15 million Model T’s rolled off of assembly lines between 1908 and 1927, and soon car manufacturing became the biggest industry in the US.
c. By 1927, one and every five Americans had cars. The car greatly appealed to the restless nature of Americans. People began to cut down on necessities, just to own a car. Now people could live far away from their jobs, which created suburbs. Cars invented the idea of autocamping, so now Americans could explore and see more of their country. By the end of the 30s, there were more than 120,000 gas stations nationwide, motels lined major roads, and camp grounds were set up to lure tourists. Roads had to be created and paved, maps had to be printed, and road signs had to be made, there were many jobs being created by the addition of cars in the country. Ford was certainly to blame for all the factors that greatly boosted the quality of living as well as the economy in America. In the McCullom’s article, he refers to a humorist, named Will Rogers who stated, “Good luck, Mr. Ford. It will take a hundred years to tell if you have helped us or hurt us, but you certainly did not leave us like you found us”. It’s safe to say, it didn’t take one hundred years to figure out that if it weren’t for Ford, our economy wouldn’t have grown to be as innovative and successful as it is today. Ford Motor Company’s early achievements only foreshadowed the successes they would have with their future cars.
2. The Ford Mustang was first launched in New York World's Fair in April 1964. According to Bill Saparito in his article in Time Magazine, “Eventually, the Mustang became one of the longest continuously produced cars in U.S. history.