Leighten Repp Ford and General Motors 1920s - 1930s

From 1909 to 1927 the Ford Motor Company without a doubt transformed the economic and social fabric of the 20th century by building more than 15 million Model T cars. But also another car company that was great during this time period was General Motors.

As demand for automobiles grew to unexpected heights in the 1920s, General Motors set the pace of production, design, marketing innovations for others to follow. Adding Chevrolet, Vauxhall and Opel, diversified the selection and added to the reach of GM. With the philosophy and strategy of a car for every purse and purpose, and a series of landmark innovations that changed the automobile itself, GMs vehicles went beyond transportation, becoming statements and aspirations in their own right. The milestone 1927 Cadillac LaSalle, with curves rather than sharp corners and a low stance, made people see cars as far more than just a mode of transport. Designed by Harley Earl, the LaSalle was a world apart from the high and boxy Ford Model T, marking the beginning of true automotive design. Earl would head GMs design studio until his retirement in 1959. Emotion of the hard times in America and political changes in Europe throughout the 30s brought new uncertainty, but GMs commitment to innovation continued unabated. The return of peace following World War II brought new optimism with consumers eager for goods that have been out of reach for so long. GM responded with an unprecedented string of milestone designs that continue to inspire to this day. In addition to Innovations like Independent from front wheel suspension, unibody

construction, and one-piece steel roof, General Motors pushed the envelope in design with a succession of vehicles including the 1949 Buick Roadmaster, the Chevrolet Corvette and BelAir, and the 1959 Cadillac El Dorado. These machines as much fun to drive as they were to see drive by. Henry Ford did not invent the automobile or the assembly line but he did change the world by using an assembly line technique to produce cars which could be afforded by everyone. From 1909 to 1927, the Ford Motor Company built more than 15 million Model T cars. Without a doubt, Henry Ford transformed the economic and social fabric of the 20th century. Ford is often quoted as saying I will build a motorcar for the great multitude. At first is was a revolutionary business model to lower a products cost and the companys profit margin in exchange for increased sales volume. Up until this point in time the automobile had been a status symbol and cars were painstakingly built by hand for the wealthy. By the end of 1913 Fords application of the moving assembly line had improved the speed of chassis assembly from 12 hours and eight minutes to one hour and 33 minutes. In 1914 Ford produced 308,162 cars, which was more than all 299 other auto manufactures combined. By the time the last Model T was built in 1927, the company was producing an automobile every 24 seconds. While Henry Ford and his team were planning his new car, he attended a race in Florida where he examined the wreckage of a French racing car. He observed that it was made of different kind of steel and the car parts were lighter than those he had been previously seen. He learned that this new steel was a vanadium alloy and that it had

almost three times the tensile strength of the alloys used by his contemporary American auto makers. No one really knows if Henry Ford ever said that the buying public could have Model T Fords in any color, so long as its black, but it is commonly attributed to him. While this saying is true for the model years after 1913, earlier cars were available in green, red, blue, and grey. In fact, in the first year, Model T Fords were not available in black at all. The switch to all black cars was due to Fords out going obsession with cost reduction, and not, as commonly believed, to reduce drying time and hence increased production.