1926 Model T Coupe

1926 Model T Coupe

1926 Model T Coupe



1926 Model T Coupe

Virgil Schwanke began his collection of vehicles when he was a young man of 15 years old with the purchase of this Ford Model T Coupe. He had used the money he had earned from shelling corn from a farmer from northern Minnesota.

The Ford Model T Coupe is just one of the Ford vehicles in the museum. Henry Ford the automobile manufacture born July 30, 1863. On the family farm near Dearborn, Michigan. As a young man Henry loved to tinker with machines as he worked on the farm. Henry's got him self a Parttime job as an employee of The Westinghouse Engine Company this afforded him the finances to build his first horseless carriage in 1896, which in turn he sold to finance his work to make an improved model.

Henry Ford struck out on his own and formed the Ford Motor Company in 1903, proclaiming, "I will build a car for the Great Multitudes." In October 1908, the Ford Motor Company offered the Model T for $980.00. The Model T was in production for 19 years and it price went as low as $280.00. Nearly 15,500,000 were sold in the United State alone. The Model T endure with little change in its design and was built from 1908 to 1927. Only one other car style has had a longer build run and that is the Volkswagen Beetle.

The Ford Motor Company revolutionized car manufacturing with the invention of the assembly line. The innovative production techniques that Ford had design made it so that they could produce a complete chaise every 93 minutes, this was a improvement over the production time of 728 minutes. Using a constantly moving assembly line and the subdivision of labor, with careful coordination of operations, Ford realized huge gains in productivity. With increased production Ford rewarded his employees by doubling what other manufactures were offering for pay. At $5.00 a day and a work day of eight hours production increased and with new mass production techniques, Ford company could produce a Model T every 24 seconds.

Eventually this would alter American Society, More Americans were able to afford a car, which lead to a national highway system. Ford witnessed many changes during his lifetime, which came to an end with his death on April 7, 1947.