The Ford Model T turns 100

Oct 8, 2008

It was 100 years ago--on October 1, 1908, to be exact--that Ford Motor built the very first of the iconic gasoline-powered automobiles to be sold.

Whatever catches your fancy amid today's evolving automotive technology--the Chevy Volt, the Roadster or the sedan from Tesla, perhaps a hydrogen-equipped BMW , or something in the X Prize realm--you'd do well to pause and reflect on the legacy of the Model T. By the time formal production halted in May 1927, more than 15 million had been built, and American lives and landscapes had been set on a very new road.

Early adopters of the Model T got a simple, durable, low-cost machine. Like owners of other cars from the early 20th century, they also got a bit of exercise with the hand-cranking required to start the engine. (And they sometimes got an arm injury if the car backfired, throwing the crank back in the opposite direction.) The Model T got updated to an electric starter in 1919.