Cars. We all have them. Most of us, anyway.
They started to come around in the late 1800s. But, the most famous of them all at the very start of things was Henry Ford’s Model T.
It was on this date, August 12, 1908, that the first Model T was introduced.
They were black. Henry Ford once said, or maybe he said it a lot, I don’t know. But he said, “You can get the Model T in any color you want, as long as it is black.” This was true until the later years when you actually could get them in different colors.
No matter the color of the car, most people don’t realize how difficult they were to drive. First and foremost, the brake pedal is where the gas pedal is in today’s car. Then, there were two other pedals that shifted gears. The one on the far left allowed drivers to shift into neutral, first gear, and second gear. The middle pedal would send you backward, in reverse.
To top that off, the Model T’s throttle was operated by hand. The firing of the spark plugs was also controlled by hand. The driver had to operate both while driving. Now, that’s some sparky timing.
Most of us know the driver had to manually crank the engine to start the vehicle. But here is the thing. The engine sometimes backfired, which could break the driver’s arm. Now, if it were me? I’d flip a coin with my passengers for the honor of cranking the car. Wisely, Ford included an electric starter in models made from 1919 onward. Yeah. Eleven years later. But most people didn’t get it, because it cost so much more. Break an arm, save a buck.
Ford didn’t care that it was incredibly difficult to drive because his buyers didn’t care. So, the Model T was wildly popular most likely because its low prices made it all the rave.
The car’s body is made out of wood covered with a thin sheet of metal. In case you were wondering, but I doubt that it floats.
Regardless, Ford’s assembly-line production became more efficient. With those improvements, he was able to lower the price of the Model T. The 1908 version sold for $850. Over the years, it got down to the point of $300 in 1925.
Take two. They’re small.
Ford employees, all of them, were required to sign a contract that stated they had to buy a Model T as soon as they were able to afford one. That helped sales a little bit, I’m sure. But. In the end, more than 15,000,000 Model T’s were built and sold. That number surprises me. The population in the 1920s was just over 100 million people.
Finally. Back when only two roads existed in the entire state of Kansas, two Model T’s managed to crash into each other at the only intersection. Destiny? Coincidence? Serendipity?
Forget about the two in the wreck. There are still probably 10,000 to 15,000 on the road today. And today marks the birthday of the very first one.
And. We go as we can. We go as we go.
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Patience is something you admire in the driver behind you and scorn in the one ahead.
— Mac McCleary
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Wherever you are, be all there.
— Jun Elliot
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Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly.
— Author Unknown
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It was a model of all models. Cranky.
