Nikolaus Otto invented the internal combustion engine, Karl Benz and Daimler-Gottlib concept car, Louis Renault, cardan transmission, Vincenzo Lyancha-bearing body, Ferdinand Porsche - the full drive ... invented by Henry Ford did not even score anything yet, his name is the first line in the «Hall of Fame» automotive world. For exactly 100 years ago, he created the Ford Motor, one of the companies not only turned America into a superstate, but also to determine the vector of development of mass transport on a global scale.

Henry Ford I and Edsel

Life the way born in 1863 into a prosperous family of Irish migrant farmer-boy, identified the two events. In 12 years, he saw a portable engine, and the father put on the cross, as a continuation of family affairs.

Henry, manifest uncommon ability to engineer and build its own steam tractor, could become so skazt, the first agricultural machine with a capital letter, but his inquisitive mind peasant came into irreconcilable conflict with the rural lifestyle. Fortunately, next to the patriarchal Dirbornom rages center of industrial activity of America, Detroit, which was very firm, Thomas Edison, in razglyadevshego «pale young man with burning eyes» potential excellent engineer.

And yet unknown, which would be the pride of the curve is removed the future nation, do not run into a sample of Otto engine, bought then sequestered eliktrifikatsiey games for Detroit Edison. Obstinate Henry out a mechanism so that in 1892 he built from its own analog output of the German gimmick 4 hp, do ishitrivshis located oppozitno cylinders of exhaust system ... Obrezkov written off the steam engine. Yeshe took four years overseas Kulibin to in their spare time, put the engine to the 4 - wheeled trolley again of its own design and make it stable ride.

Edison insightful, if not bizarre, thought all this zabovoy no commercial future, but not interfere with the experiments, and even persuaded the mayor of Detroit give Ford some semblance «rights» in the operation of the city inhabitants frightening machines. But a group of financiers prdvinutyh cochla Quadricycle worthy of attention and in 1899 formed the Detroit Automobile Co., In which Ford has been a shareholder and chief engineer.

Parovik, obstacles brichke paternal way, and overseas motor gave only the general direction of the work of Ford's thinking. At first, he first became a solid financial and industrial base, with the head is not left in the business, but in motor racing, in 1901 won the prestigious ippodromnuyu race car of its own design with a 8.8 - liter engine. After this victory, Henry zamahnulsya already at record speeds by building a race car «999» of the 70-strong motor capacity 18.9 liters. However, after beaten the national record, he decided that was too young for a meeting with the founder and a record 147,014 km / h on the ice of Lake Michigan instead developed a well-known to all the States and racing cyclist sorvi head Oldfild Barney.

All of the really serious kaif achieve broke shareholders-pragmatists napomnivnishie Ford that gave money to the sports of higher achievements, but to create a full-road vehicles rather than baldly «quadricycle», hardly gained 25 customers. Ford to start up in the pose of injured majesty and slapped the door, but common sense prevailed and in 1903 from the gate of his new joint-stock company Ford Motor went first Ford A. Until 1908 the company moved the majority of letters of the alphabet until it reached the T perevernuvshey all about the car itself.

Indeed, as early as the first, released in 15 months in the quantity of 1708 pieces, visible features of high-yield mass production. Working on them, Ford has made the idea of the future superbestsellera: «... do not need a car as is - do they have to be all equal and all alike, that one did not differ from each other, so that even through all the production sites, they were the same».

However, 11 of the 12 major shareholders saw the prospect of expensive manufacturing machinery and the remainder of Ford proudly odinochistve, reluctantly, had to take them over, and even make a 40-strong model of K, for life give him strong dislike to the 6-cylinder engine . It took five years to squeeze out did not understand their own benefit the shareholders of the business and to concentrate power in the workplace only, but doomed to the success of the machine.

Bestseller designed is not Ford, but wisely podobranaya «Group of Friends», everyone involved in its work under the leadership and guide dlanyu boss. Another six years spent on the implementation of ambitious quantitative breakthrough fait in 1914, when the line first appeared in 1903, soon burnt to the Oldsmobile plant where pereinachili on his way to rehash the filing processing of carcasses, praktikovavashiysya on the Chicago massacre.

Ford shamelessly borrowed everything from light and sound vanadium steel, hit him in the eye back in 1905-m of rubble crashed in Palm Beach French racing cars, to black Japanese lacquer, the only paint to dry for the time to 93 minutes, that Model T went on conveyor. And only two things he invented himself, but they brought the production to perfection. First, Ford Motor has refused the services of unreliable suppliers, producing within itself all «consumables», from the ore and electricity to the manufacturing of machine tools.

And secondly, it is «a shark capital» svoh plants introduced to the minimum wage to $ 5 a day, twice higher than the industry average and an order of magnitude greater than that of other «Captain economy», steel worker was Andrew Carnegie. Add to this All-employed in «Empire Ford» have access to almost darmovym agencies «sotskultbyta» (nurseries, laundry, dining, etc.), so that he and the head did not come to listen to seyaschim the seeds of class struggle in other enterprises socialists.

Taken together, yielded phenomenal results - Issue «Tin Lizzie», dubbed as simple as the dollar, Model T, even «on lap» reached 110 units per day, and in the first year of work was done konvyera 300 000 cars - 100 000 more than the total output of all the American automobile industry. Latest Ford T, leave the parent plant in Dirborne had serial number 15 007 031 - German «Zhuku» Only half a century later, was able to override this achievement.