Hi 3, I am absolutely one of those people that ALWAYS challenges the Impossible. I'm going to say this with a bit of humilty so please take it as So.......................
When I was a young Child my most frequent Dream was about me having the ability to raise my Arms in the Air, like SuperMan, and Fly. In my Dream it was all about my "Willing Myself to Actually Fly" under my own seemingly simple ability to Defy Gravity. It was so incredibly easy to do in my Dreams because I made it Real by Visualising it as Being So! I am not a firm believer in the Impossible. I come form the.....
"It just hasn't been done yet" crowd!!
Please take no offense.....but somewhere back in the early 1900's perhaps some other Good Folks said something very similar about building 5 Cars a Week to Henry Ford??
Just a Piece of Automotive History:
Originally published in "The Model T Times" July/August, 1996
This year marks the 100th Anniversary of the American Automobile Industry. There has been and will be celebrations in many areas of the country.
Historians have credited the Duryea brothers for the start of the American Automobile Industry. It was J. Frank and Charles Duryea of Springfield, Massachusetts that produced 13 cars from the same design in 1896. It was a 4-horsepower, 1 cylinder engine. This time more than one vehicle was produced from the same design. However the first American built car dates back to 1805.
In 1899, Rams Olds organized what is now the longest lived car company in the business. His 1901 curved dash runabout was the first big hit. It was a 7-horsepower, 1 cylinder with a two speed transmission which sold for about $625.
Now Henry Ford was busy getting into the act and got off to a rocky start. In June 1896, Ford built his first vehicle, the Quadricycle. By 1899, he had built two more cars and was attracting some attention. Along with other investors, Henry Ford became owner of one-sixth of the stock of the newly formed "Detroit Automoble Company." The Company folded in 1900 and formally ended February 1, 1901. During this time period, Henry continued to work on two racing automobiles.
On November 30, 1901, along with five other investors, Henry started the "Henry Ford Company." Henry continued to work on his race cars and did not produce any cars for sale. After four months, Henry either left, or was forced out of the company. When Henry left, he took with him his tools and rights to his name. Prior to his departure, Henry Leland had joined the company. He had worked in firearms factories and learned the basics of parts interchangability, a concept he later brought to the auto industry. After Henry Ford's departure from the company, Leland reorganized and renamed the company the "Cadillac Automobile Company."
Henry Ford conpleted work on his "999" and "Arrow" racers and on October 15th, 1902, in a race with Barney Oldfield driving, Henry's car set a new American speed record of just under sixty miles per hour. About this time Alexander Malcomson joined forces with Henry. On August 10, 1902 the two men entered into a partnership and formed the "Ford and Malcomson Company, Ltd." The original plan was for additional shares of stock to be sold to investors. Ten investors were found and a meeting was held in Malcomson's office. This meeting took place on June 13, 1903 and it was decided a new company would be formed, the Ford Motor Company."
The investors were as follows:
President - Alexander Malcomson 255 shares
Vice Predident - Henry Ford 255 Shares
Treasurer - John Gray (Malcomson's Uncle) 105 shares
Secretary - James Couzens (Malcomson's employee) 25 shares
Vernon Fry (Malcomson's Cousin) 50 shares
Charles Woodall (Marcomson's bookkeeper) 10 shares
Albert Strelow (owner of Ford "factory" building) 50 shares
Charles Bennett (President of Plymouth Iron Windmill Company) 50 shares
John Anderson (Malcomson's attorney) 100 shares
Horace Rackham (Partner in Anderson's law firm handling Malcomson's affairs) 100 shares
John Dodge 50 shares
Horace Dodge 50 Shares
For payment of their shares Malcomson and Ford gave the "Ford Motor Company" all the assets of "Ford and Malcomson Company, Ltd."
The "Ford Motor Company" was incorporated June 16, 1903. Malcomson soon thereafter went back to the coal business and Gray went back to the band of which he was president. This left Henry Ford as the effective president and Couzens as secretary/treasurer. By September 1907, Henry purchased stock from several of the initial investors, and owned 585 shares giving him controlling interest in the company. By 1919 Henry Ford had purchased all the remaining shares of the company and was the sole stockholder.
In 1913, the Dodge brothers left the company to form their own automobile company. Prior to that they were the major supplier of the Ford Chassis and parts except for bodies, tires and wheels.
On July 11, 1903, the Ford Motor Company sold the first car to Dr. E Pfenning for $850 cash. This was a Model A. Following the alphabetical series, the most successful design was established with the Model T.
Records show that by 1908, 485 different companies were building the horseless carriages, but the most successful would be the "Ford Motor Company's" Model T. The first Model T was delivered October 1, 1908. Ford Motor Company has been producing cars ever since. Yes...Henry Ford put America on wheels by producing a car for the working man.
AI
Market Data 
Markets 
