The Model T was the first car aimed at, and affordable to, a mass market. It was also the first car to be a true American sensation at a time when America was transforming from the rural, more craft-based and agrarian economy of the nineteenth century to the urban mass market of the twentieth century. By the post-World War II era, most Americans owned a car and much of where and how they lived, shopped, and worked had been altered by the ability to travel long distances at a faster rate. Mass production, mass marketing, and mass use of automobiles contributed to this shift. From its debut in 1908, the Model T was America's most popular car.

The 1908 Model T

Henry Ford, along with his team at the Ford Motor Company in Detroit, designed the Model T for durability and ease of maintenance. Ford aimed to produce...