Romeo's foundry industry was already well established when Lyman Holmes contacted Ford Motor Company in 1907 as Ford struggled to obtain engine parts for the Model N from Detroit foundries. Holmes, manager of the Romeo Foundry, which had previously made metal parts for Romeo's thriving carriage industry, offered to produce the parts for Ford. His success led the foundry in 1908 to begin making complete engine blocks for Ford's new Model T, identified as the most important car in automotive history. Ford later purchased the Romeo foundry, which produced about 30,000 engine blocks for Model Ts built at Detroit's Piquette Avenue plant until 1910. The blocks were shipped by rail to the Dodge Brothers Company in Detroit, where Model T engines were assembled before being sent to Ford's Piquette plant.