<P> The Ford Model T was named the most influential car of the 20th century in the 1999 Car of the Century competition, ahead of the BMC Mini, Citroën DS, and Volkswagen Type 1 . Ford's Model T was successful not only because it provided inexpensive transportation on a massive scale, but also because the car signified innovation for the rising middle class and became a powerful symbol of America's age of modernization . With 16.5 million sold it stands eighth on the top ten list of most sold cars of all time as of 2012 . </P> <P> Although automobiles had already existed for decades, they were still mostly scarce, expensive, and unreliable at the Model T's introduction in 1908 . Positioned as reliable, easily maintained, mass - market transportation, it was a runaway success . In a matter of days after the release, 15,000 orders were placed . The first production Model T was produced on August 12, 1908 and left the factory on September 27, 1908, at the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant in Detroit, Michigan . On May 26, 1927, Henry Ford watched the 15 millionth Model T Ford roll off the assembly line at his factory in Highland Park, Michigan . </P> <P> Several cars were conceived by Henry Ford from the founding of the company in 1903 before the Model T was introduced . Although he started with the Model A, there were not 20 production models (A through T); some were only prototypes . The production model immediately before the Model T was the Model S, an upgraded version of the company's largest success to that point, the Model N. The follow - up was the Ford Model A (rather than any Model U). The company publicity said this was because the new car was such a departure from the old that Henry wanted to start all over again with the letter A . </P> <P> The Model T was Ford's first automobile mass - produced on moving assembly lines with completely interchangeable parts, marketed to the middle class . Henry Ford said of the vehicle: </P>

Where did the name model t come from
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