Story Highlights
- Historical event
- 23 July 1903
- The vehicle was called Ford Model A, and its base price was $750. Henry Ford eventually became one of the richest men in history. Adolf Hitler held Ford in high regard, mentioning him in his book Mein Kampf as the only independent American.
On this day the American Ford Motor Company sold its first car. The vehicle was named Ford Model A and it was sold to Ernst Pfennig from Chicago.
Model A was a two-seater and had a two-cylinder boxer engine with 1,668 cubic centimeters. It had eight horsepower and could go up to 45 km/h.
The base price was $750 and included options such as a rubber roof for $30 or a leather roof for $50, and two additional rear seats ($100).
The car came only in red. The real revolution happened only five years later with Ford’s Model T, the first car produced on the assembly line.
Mass production enabled the Model T price to drop to only $260. While only around 1,750 Model As was sold, Model T reached the number of 15,000,000 cars sold.
Henry Ford became one of the richest men in history. It is less known that Henry Ford was an anti-Semite and that he published anti-Semitic texts, including the controversial The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
Adolf Hitler held Ford in high regard, mentioning him in his book Mein Kampf as the only independent American. Apparently, Hitler had a large portrait of Ford in his office because considered him his role model.
