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Henry Ford's Model T reflected his obsession with functionality and low cost. Ford used volume manufacture and production efficiency gains to lower the price, a tactic that proved wildly successful. The Model T sold in the millions, and drove social and economic shifts that changed the world forever.

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Early advertising for the Ford F-series pickup was aimed at farmers and contractors. Decades later, F-series advertising would include endorsements by music stars, and footage of luxury features.

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The Ford F-series pickup truck was designed as a simple working vehicle, but it would later morph into a hugely profitable designer truck.

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This Beetle's homely shape inspired a series of classic ads by the Doyle Dane Bernbach agency and made it a perennial best-seller. The Beetle's success altered the course of the automotive industry.ARND WIEGMANN/Reuters

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1964 Ford Mustang advertisement. The original Ford Mustang launched the pony car movement and became a symbol of 1960's America.

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The original Mini was a brilliant work of design, enabling four adults to ride in a car that was just three metres long. Engineer Alex Issigoni's ingenious front-wheel drive powertrain with its sideways-mounted engine would become the world's dominant car design, used in millions of vehicles.Bob English/The Globe and Mail

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The Toyota Prius was the world's first mass-market green car. Combining fuel efficiency with practicality the Prius defined a new kind of automotive performance, and shifted the direction of the car industry.Dewhurst Photography

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By highlighting the vast differences between the East and West, the humble Trabant played a bit part in the fall of the Berlin Wall.STRINGER/GERMANY/Reuters

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