# What mass produced cars came after Model T? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 21, 2017, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mass-produced-cars-came-after-model-t/804996 "2017-12-21T14:44:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JakeRS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ab097/32.png) [@JakeRS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JakeRS)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mass-produced-cars-came-after-model-t/804996/1 "2017-12-21T14:44:38Z")
Is there a list or something that lists important mass produced cars that came after the Ford Model T? I can find links about the development of car engines themselves, links about Ford’s history, but I want to see what cars were made right after Model T, especially non-Ford ones. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mass-produced-cars-came-after-model-t/804996/2 "2017-12-21T14:52:29Z")
Well, obviously the [Model A](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Model_A_(1927%E2%80%9331)), for one. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mass-produced-cars-came-after-model-t/804996/3 "2017-12-21T14:59:03Z")
Almost all of the mass produced cars came after the Model T. This Wikipedia article on the evolution of cars is a pretty good start to identify some significant milestones in car development. > **[History of the automobile](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_automobile)** > > Development of the automobile started in 1672 with the invention of the first steam-powered vehicle, which led to the creation of the first steam-powered automobile capable of human transportation, built by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot in 1769. Inventors began to branch out at the start of the 19th century, creating the de Rivas engine, one of the first internal combustion engines, and an early electric motor. Samuel Brown later tested the first industrially applied internal combustion en Developmen... I know I have a great book at home that covers the evolution of automobile technology through roughly the 1980s or early 1990s. Unfortunately, I can’t remember its name. I could try to dig it up. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mass-produced-cars-came-after-model-t/804996/4 "2017-12-21T15:27:24Z")
If you look at car production figures by year, once the Model T was introduced Ford was leading the US car market until production stopped in 1927. But the introduction of the assembly line in 1913 gave Ford domination, and the production figures are startling. > **[U.S. Automobile Production Figures](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Automobile_Production_Figures)** > > \[unreliable source?\] The biggest competitors in the teens and 20’s were Chevy, Buick, and Dodge, but at one fifth the number of Fords. Looking at those brands would probably be the place to start, but I can’t find detailed sales figures online. Ford plants in other countries adopted Ransom Olds’ (he invented it, not Ford) moving assembly line but it’s not clear which other US brands did so before the Great Depression when many companies went out of business. The surviving companies had adopted it for the most part. ---
**Author:** ![JakeRS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ab097/32.png) [@JakeRS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JakeRS)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mass-produced-cars-came-after-model-t/804996/5 "2017-12-21T15:34:05Z")
> [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > Almost all of the mass produced cars came after the Model T. > > This Wikipedia article on the evolution of cars is a pretty good start to identify some significant milestones in car development. > > [History of the automobile - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_automobile) > > I know I have a great book at home that covers the evolution of automobile technology through roughly the 1980s or early 1990s. Unfortunately, I can’t remember its name. I could try to dig it up. No, I didn’t mean when cars started being mass manufactured, but **what exact models** were mass produced\*\* after the T\*\*, regardless of whether those other cars were at the same tech level or featured a new engine system or something. Basically if the T was the first real car ever produced, what were the first 5 or 10. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mass-produced-cars-came-after-model-t/804996/6 "2017-12-21T16:37:39Z")
Here’s a related trivia question that you can use to stump your friends: What is the longest continuously produced vehicle in the world (with no production interruptions)? Why, the Chevy Suburban. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mass-produced-cars-came-after-model-t/804996/7 "2017-12-21T16:58:41Z")
The first mass produced car was the [Oldsmobile Curved Dash](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldsmobile_Curved_Dash), from 1901-1907, entirely preceding the Model T. I’m not sure what JakeRS is looking for. Hundreds of car models were manufactured in the U.S. and hundreds more around the world in the decade after 1908. I don’t know which of them were mass produced, but any car history book of early autos would have them by the dozens. You can start [here](https://www.scaruffi.com/politics/cars.html) at this timeline of car history. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mass-produced-cars-came-after-model-t/804996/8 "2017-12-21T17:34:58Z")
The question seems straightforward to me. Ford was the first to make an affordable mass-produced car, and that gave them a huge business advantage. Other companies, seeing how successful Ford was, would surely have made efforts to copy that success. What were those other efforts? **FoieGrasIsEvil** , does the Suburban really beat out the (original) Beetle? That’s the answer I’ve always heard to that question, though I suppose that with the Suburban still in production, it might have passed up the Beetle recently. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mass-produced-cars-came-after-model-t/804996/9 "2017-12-21T19:07:54Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > … **FoieGrasIsEvil** , does the Suburban really beat out the (original) Beetle? That’s the answer I’ve always heard to that question, though I suppose that with the Suburban still in production, it might have passed up the Beetle recently. Wiki calls the Chevy Suburban “the longest continuous use automobile nameplate in production,” having been first introduced in 1935. The VW Beetle started production three years later, with some interruptions after 1974. > **[Chevrolet Suburban](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Suburban)** > > The Chevrolet Suburban is a series of SUVs built by Chevrolet since the 1935 model year. The longest-used automobile nameplate in the world, the Chevrolet Suburban is currently in its twelfth generation, introduced for 2021. Beginning life as one of the first metal-bodied station wagons, the Suburban is the progenitor of the modern full-size SUV, combining a wagon-style body with the chassis and powertrain of a pickup truck. Alongside its Advance Design, Task Force, and C/K predecessors, the C... > **[Volkswagen Beetle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Beetle)** > > The Volkswagen Beetle, officially the Volkswagen Type 1,\[a\] is a small car produced by the German company Volkswagen from 1938 to 2003.\[b\] It is one of the most iconic cars in automotive history that is recognised for its distinctive shape. Its production period of 65 years is the longest of any single generation of automobile,\[c\] and its total production of over 21.5 million is the most of any car of a single platform. > The Beetle was conceived in the early 1930s. The leader of Nazi Germany, A... ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mass-produced-cars-came-after-model-t/804996/10 "2017-12-21T19:26:52Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The question seems straightforward to me. Ford was the first to make an affordable mass-produced car, and that gave them a huge business advantage. Other companies, seeing how successful Ford was, would surely have made efforts to copy that success. What were those other efforts? The first successful cars produced on the same assembly line concept appear to have been Fords produced overseas, in England and France. It might be difficult to nail down specific models for other manufacturers in the States since multiple vehicles might be produced on the same line. The main models from Chevrolet, Dodge, Buick, and Willys-Overland would be the likeliest candidates. They were the companies (besides Ford) producing a lot of cars in that era. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mass-produced-cars-came-after-model-t/804996/11 "2017-12-21T19:53:58Z")
> [@JakeRS](#): > > No, I didn’t mean when cars started being mass manufactured, but **what exact models** were mass produced\*\* after the T\*\*, regardless of whether those other cars were at the same tech level or featured a new engine system or something. Basically if the T was the first real car ever produced, what were the first 5 or 10. I’m sorry I misunderstood your question. When you said that you wanted important mass produced cars, I thought you meant cars that were important because they advanced auto technology like the Model T. I guess you are just looking for any mass-produced cars contemporaneous with the Model T. I’m not sure if I have any books that focus on turn-of-the-century auto makers that includes production numbers. I’ll try to check. ---
**Author:** ![JakeRS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ab097/32.png) [@JakeRS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JakeRS)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mass-produced-cars-came-after-model-t/804996/12 "2017-12-21T20:01:33Z")
Yep. It’s strange that such a important thing is so hard to find, you can easily find a full list of airplanes used by various countries during both WW1 and WW2, but nowhere a list of first 5 or 10 cars ever made. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mass-produced-cars-came-after-model-t/804996/13 "2017-12-21T20:11:13Z")
> [@JakeRS](#): > > Yep. It’s strange that such a important thing is so hard to find, you can easily find a full list of airplanes used by various countries during both WW1 and WW2, but nowhere a list of first 5 or 10 cars ever made. That timeline I gave the link to has that info. The problem is that your OP made us think you wanted something else, and that the first cars were manufactured by Ford. As I said, there were [hundreds of car manufacturers by 1908, 241 just from 1904 to 1908](http://l3d.cs.colorado.edu/systems/agentsheets/New-Vista/automobile/). [List of defunct automobile manufacturers of the United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_automobile_manufacturers_of_the_United_States) has thousands of names. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mass-produced-cars-came-after-model-t/804996/14 "2017-12-21T20:45:16Z")
> [@JakeRS](#): > > Yep. It’s strange that such a important thing is so hard to find, you can easily find a full list of airplanes used by various countries during both WW1 and WW2, but nowhere a list of first 5 or 10 cars ever made. I think part of the problem with your question is that you don’t understand early car production. The Ford Model T was definitely a milestone as far as production lines were concerned, but there were many, many cars that were mass produced long before the Model T. They just weren’t made on efficient assembly lines like the Model T. The Model T was nowhere near first mass produced car. It wasn’t even the first car produced on an assembly line. It was just the first car produced on a much more efficient assembly line, and was made cheap enough and in huge numbers that it became a very popular car. The first mass-produced car was the Oldsmobile Curved Dash, in 1901. Oldsmobile also invented the basic concept of an assembly line for automobiles with the Curved Dash. The assembly line was not a new idea. Things had been made on assembly lines since the early 1800s. But Oldsmobile had the first automobile assembly line. Ford came out with their Model A in 1903. Confusingly, once Ford reached the end of the alphabet they started over again, and produced a different Model A (starting in 1927) after the Model T. But there was a 1903 Model A. Ford made the Model A in 1903 and 1904, then switched over to the Model C in 1904. They didn’t start producing the Model T until 1908. Part of the problem you are going to have in coming up with a list is what exactly are you going to call a car? Studebaker was making cars in the late 1800s, but they were electric cars. They didn’t switch over to gasoline engines until somewhere around 1910 or so. Is a mass-produced 1901 electric Studebaker a car or are you only looking for gasoline-powered cars? What about earlier cars like the Stanley Steamer? Steam competed with gasoline for many years. It wasn’t until gasoline cars got reliable enough that they outperformed steam cars, and then gasoline cars took over the market since they didn’t need to be warmed up and fiddled with so much just go get them going. The Stanley Steamer outsold all gasoline cars from 1899 to 1905 though. It was only after 1905 that gasoline cars began to dominate. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mass-produced-cars-came-after-model-t/804996/15 "2017-12-21T21:19:06Z")
And even after 1905, electric and steam were still significant competitors to gasoline. What is often considered to have put the nail in the coffin of the steamer was the invention of the electric starter - invented in 1911, commonplace by 1920. Before then gas cars had to be cranked - some people weren’t strong enough to do it, and if you did it wrong you risked getting your arm broken. Waiting for your steamer to warm up didn’t seem so bad then. Both electrics and steamers were manufactured in dwindling quantities for up through the 1930s. Also, once it became clear that automobiles were here to stay and not a passing fad, practically every carriage maker in existence tried to get into the automobile business. Note that they were already mass producing carriages to put motors in. Take look at wiki’s list of defunct car makers, and note how many of them were operating around the turn of the 20th century (already linked above): > **[List of defunct automobile manufacturers of the United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_automobile_manufacturers_of_the_United_States)** > > This is a list of defunct automobile manufacturers of the United States. They were discontinued for various reasons, such as bankruptcy of the parent company, mergers, or being phased out. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mass-produced-cars-came-after-model-t/804996/16 "2017-12-21T23:10:05Z")
Americans were not the inventors of the assembly line: > [@](#): > > The Long Shop in Leiston, East Suffolk, was built for the world’s first flow line assembly for portable steam engines 163 years ago and has largely survived in its original condition. > > Its name comes from the length of the building, which was known to workers as “the cathedral” and allowed for boilers on wheels to start at one end before having engine parts added as they moved from workstation to workstation. > > The factory was built as part of the Leiston Works, run by the Garrett family from 1778 to 1932. They produced agricultural machinery and early steam engines which powered the agricultural and industrial revolution in rural Suffolk. > > After the age of steam, the industrial works, which employed more than 2,500 people at their height, made pioneering electric-powered vehicles and Britain’s first diesel lorry, as well as hundreds of thousands of shell casings during the world wars. [http://www.longshopmuseum.co.uk/](http://www.longshopmuseum.co.uk/)