Designed primarily by Ford’s assistant C. Harold Wills,
the Model A could accommodate two people side-by-
side on a bench; it had no top, and was painted red.
The car’s biggest selling point was its engine, which
at two cylinders and eight-horsepower was the most
powerful to be found in a passenger car.
On July 15, 1903, the newly formed Ford Motor Company
took its first order from Chicago dentist Ernst Pfenning:
an $850 two-cylinder Model A automobile with a tonneau
(or backseat).
The car, produced at Ford’s plant on Mack Street (now
Mack Avenue) in Detroit, was delivered to Dr. Pfenning
just over a week later.
Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947)
