In 1898, Henry Ford won the loyalty of Detroit mayor William C. Maybury after he built a carburetor, for which Maybury awarded him a patent.

Maybury would prove instrumental in helping Ford become an automobile maker. 

"Maybury's support, combined with Ford's bold ideas and charisma, helped assemble a group of investors who contributed some $150,000 to establish the Detroit Automobile Company in early August 1899," says History.com. 

That allowed Ford to quit his day job at the Edison Illuminating Company — and found the companies that would make the first mass production cars.