DEARBORN, Mich. (WXYZ) — A globally recognized brand is celebrating a Detroit invention that put the world on wheels. LEGO Group has teamed up with Ford Motor Company to build the Model T.
It’s a project that started a year ago, and the LEGO set officially comes out Monday.
Watch Jolie's piece in the video player below:
A Ford archivist and LEGO enthusiast was able to work on this project that’s right in his wheelhouse.
“We always, always build with the kids. So, I missed the ability to build with the kids, so I just said, 'heck, I'm gonna start getting them myself,'" said Ted Ryan, archives and brand manager for the Ford Motor Company.
Ryan says it was his passion for LEGOs and his passion for Ford that brought this amazing project together.
“I’ve got the Colosseum and the Eiffel Tower… and once you get the bug, it's, you just get it," he said.
LEGO and Ford have done a number of LEGO sets over the years, but he says the replica of a Model T is different.
“In this particular case, the questions and the level of details that the designer was looking for… it made me know that she was really invested in making the project exactly as perfect as it could be," said Ryan.
And to get it just right, Ryan flew to Billund, Denmark, LEGO’s headquarters, where he met with the designers in person and shared original artifacts.
“It was a one-of-a-kind, unique experience getting to be in the LEGO campus at LEGO Idea House, seeing a prototype of something that I'd only seen pictures of," he said.
From classic old school tires and rims to a folding cloth top, this 1,000+ piece LEGO set is highly detailed and historically accurate.
"The wheels were white because the tire manufacturers hadn't switched to dyeing or to creating black wheels, so they did that," he said.
Designers also included a gas tank, which was under the main seat back in the day.
“The group that actually produced it within the LEGO Group is called the LEGO Icons Team. And so they're the ones that look for things in culture that are significant enough to turn into a LEGO set, and they chose the Model T because it's the car that changed the world," said Ryan.
It's a Detroit invention that's still celebrated in 2026, more than a century later.
“It's putting the Model T back up on a pedestal that it rightly belongs to be on," he said.
