Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"The Ford Model T . . . Is an automobile produced by Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, the car that opened travel to the common middle-class American; some of this was because of Ford's efficient fabrication, including assembly line production instead of individual hand crafting. The Ford Model T was named the most influential car of the 20th century in the 1999 Car of the Century competition, ahead of the BMC Mini, Citroën DS, and Volkswagen Type 1. Ford's Model T was successful not only because it provided inexpensive transportation on a massive scale, but also because the car signified innovation for the rising middle class and became a powerful symbol of America's age of modernization. With 16.5 million sold it stands eighth on the top ten list of most sold cars of all time as of 2012." [Wikipedia] "Ford put wages up and cut working hours. A Model T started coming off the production line every twenty-four seconds, and the price was down to $290 by the time production stopped in 1927. More than fifteen million had been sold; the world's love affair with the automobile had begun." [Furtado: 1001 Days]