Who and what was Henry Ford? Depending on what you read, you get answers ranging from laudatory praise to scathing reviews. Admittedly, most observers today fall into the former camp, ignoring the negative aspects of Ford's reputation. However, no one can dispute that Henry Ford was one of the most influential figures in the automotive world. His contributions are powerful and long lasting, and mark a major transition defining the industry in significantly new and different ways.
To those with a decidedly capitalist mindset, Henry Ford is nothing short of a folk hero. He was born into an agricultural environment, and dragged himself up 'by the boot straps,' through creativity and dedicated hard work.
His lack of secondary education and his nouveau riche success left him with very little restraint in sharing his frequently uneducated views on world affairs. A man with more limited financial resources might have bought himself more trouble than he could handle with some of his now rather well-known anti-Semitic statements and alleged support for Hitler in the 1930's.
Many people consider him the father of the automotive industry, but this label is a bit misleading. He certainly was not the first to build a car. He was not first to patent one, or to actually test one on the streets. But inaccuracies and assumptions abound concerning the 'firsts' with which Henry Ford is associated.
Did he build the first gasoline engine? Ford is supposed to have created a gasoline engine, assembling it on his kitchen table sometime 'in the 1890's.' But its existence is disputed until the car it powered was actually tested in 1896. Nevertheless, even if the engine was constructed in 1890, it would not have been the first gasoline engine built.
America was about a decade behind the Europeans. But even considering only the United States, he was not first to drive an automobile prototype on the streets. The first car to be driven on the streets of America was made by the Duryea brothers. A bit later, the first car to be driven on the streets of Detroit was built by Charles B. King. Its maiden voyage was in 1896. Henry Ford was in attendance. With his own car almost ready to test (two months later), Ford was an eager witness to this 'first' by King, who was an acquaintance, and indeed an advisor to Ford, leading by example.
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