---
title: "After 102 Years, Ford’s Assembly Line Is Still Incredible"
description: "Take a look back at the definitive moment of the “century of the automobile.”"
date: "2015-12-01"
modified: "2015-12-01"
authors:
  - name: "The Drive Staff"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/the-drive-staff"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/vintage/1071/after-102-years-fords-assembly-line-is-still-incredible"
categories:
  - "Culture"
  - "Ford News"
  - "History"
  - "News"
  - "News by Brand"
tags:
  - "Ford"
---

# After 102 Years, Ford’s Assembly Line Is Still Incredible

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/archive-images/fordassemblyline_tn_0.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

![fordassemblyline\_hero.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/fordassemblyline_hero.jpg>)
*Fotosearch/Getty Images*

![fordassemblyline\_ss\_1.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/fordassemblyline_ss_1.jpg>)
*Hulton Archive/Getty Images*

![fordassemblyline\_ss\_2.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/fordassemblyline_ss_2.jpg>)
*Hulton Archive/Getty Images*

![fordassemblyline\_ss\_3.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/fordassemblyline_ss_3.jpg>)
*Hulton Archive/Getty Images*

![fordassemblyline\_ss\_4.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/fordassemblyline_ss_4.jpg>)
*Hulton Archive/Getty Images*

![fordassemblyline\_ss\_5.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/fordassemblyline_ss_5.jpg>)
*Camerique Archive/Getty Images*

![fordassemblyline\_ss\_6.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/fordassemblyline_ss_6.jpg>)
*AFP/AFP/Getty Images*

![fordassemblyline\_ss\_7.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/fordassemblyline_ss_7.jpg>)
*Fotosearch/Getty Images*

![fordassemblyline\_ss\_8.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/fordassemblyline_ss_8.jpg>)
*PhotoQuest/Getty Images*

![fordassemblyline\_ss\_9.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/fordassemblyline_ss_9.jpg>)
*Oxford Science Archive/Print Collector/Getty Images*

![fordassemblyline\_ss\_10.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/fordassemblyline_ss_10.jpg>)
*National Motor Museum/Heritage Images/Getty Images*

![fordassemblyline\_ss\_11.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/fordassemblyline_ss_11.jpg>)
*National Motor Museum/Heritage Images/Getty Images*

![fordassemblyline\_ss\_12.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/fordassemblyline_ss_12.jpg>)
*Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images*

![fordassemblyline\_ss\_13.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/fordassemblyline_ss_13.jpg>)
*Keystone Features/Getty Images*

The safety razor, that was a good one. The ballpoint pen, too. No mousetrap, however, could compare to what is roundly regarded as the greatest single technological innovation of the 20th Century: the [moving assembly line](<https://time.com/3623449/women-of-steel-life-with-female-factory-workers-in-world-war-ii/>).

On December 1, 1913, Henry Ford inaugurated the first such system in the world. The higher production volumes afforded by the setup fueled the hegemonic rule of Ford’s Model T over the U.S. passenger-car market for the next decade. Revisiting photos from those early days, we see not only the latent promise of American industry, but the bolts and rivets of every car we’ve ever loved.

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