Ford's Model T went on sale

On October 1, 1908, the Ford Motor Company introduced the Model T, the car that would carry America off horseback and onto the open road. At $850, it was strikingly cheap for its day, when rival automobiles often ran two or three thousand dollars and remained playthings of the wealthy.

The Model T was deliberately modern yet unfussy: light, rugged, and simple enough for a farmer to repair. That blend of price and practicality made it a runaway success — orders poured in faster than the factory could fill them.

Ford kept driving the price down through relentless efficiency, later pioneering the moving assembly line. Over a production run that stretched to 1927, the company built more than 15 million Model Ts, a record that stood for decades.

Henry Ford reputedly quipped buyers could have any color they liked, “so long as it is black.”