The Ford Model T

[Jerry Thompson]

http://safeshare.tv/w/ShbgvwazCZ

[Chuck Wintle]

http://safeshare.tv/w/ShbgvwazCZ

an american icon of mass production. Henry Ford was a genius for industrial organization. He took the ideas and words of Adam Smith and made it a reality.

[Rick Potter]

If you have never been there, go to the Henry Ford Museum/Deerfield Village complex. Get a two or three day pass, and learn a lot about antique things, not just cars. Fantastic place in Dearborn, Michigan. Learn about the connections between Henry, Thomas Edison, George Washington Carver, and a whole bunch of other folks.

Nearby you can visit Henry's home, Fairlane, and while there see his wife's car, a Baker Electric, which she preferred to gasoline autos back in the wayback.

[Bill Neely]

There were a few still on the road when I was a boy. A neighbor down the street, an older man, drove a phaeton.

[Matt Meiser]

Nearby you can visit Henry's home, Fairlane, and while there see his wife's car, a Baker Electric, which she preferred to gasoline autos back in the wayback.

The Henry Ford now includes the Henry Ford Museum, Greenfield Village and the Rouge Factory Tour which takes you on a mezzanine-level tour Dearborn Truck Plant, one of 2 places Ford builds the F150. The Automotive Hall of Fame is also adjacent.

Fairlane is closed to the public currently. Ford had donated it to the University of Michigan to create the UofM Dearborn campus. About 5 years ago the university transferred the house to a non-profit. They are currently doing restoration work on the house.

The Ford Piquette Avenue Plant where the Model T was developed and the first 12,000 were built is open for public tours. They've done a bit of restoration and have a pretty good collection of early Model T's and other early cars. http://www.fordpiquetteavenueplant.org/ We visited there this past summer.

There is also a group attempting to purchase part of the Ford Highland Park Plant which is where Ford moved after Piquette. Last I read they have a purchase agreement in place and are working to raise funds to restore the administrative building and executive garage and open it as a museum in about 3 years. The factory is used as a document storage facility for Ford Motor Company and artifact storage for The Henry Ford. Also coming soon is a new location for the Yankee Air Museum which has purchased part of the former GM Willow Run Plant which Ford actually built for the war effort to build bombers.

Chrysler (well I guess I should say Fiat Chrysler America) I believe has a museum open to the public at their headquarters in Auburn Hills. GM's headquarters are partially open to the public downtown Detroit but there's not a whole lot to see there other than a showroom with current production vehicles.

[mike holden]

Scott, et al,
The Chrysler museum is no longer open with regular hours. It opens just for special events. Shame, as it has quite a few good exhibits, but it is located on the FCA tech center campus and so did not draw enough crowds when open to justify the cost.
Used to walk over on lunch breaks when I was working for DaimlerChrysler.