On December 1, 1913, Henry Ford created the first moving assembly line for the mass production of an entire automobile, his iconic Model T. This photograph, taken in the same year, shows his innovation at work, helping to increase productivity by reducing the time it took to build his cars from 12 hours to just 2 and a half.
The Model T (colloquially known as the “tin Lizzie,” “leaping Lena,” “jitney” or “flivver”) is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans and was named the most influential car of the 20th century in the 1999 Car of the Century competition as it undoubtedly changed the motor industry forever.
