Model a (1903–04)

[burner31]

The first person to own a Ford Motor Company car: Ernst Pfennig, a dentist from Chicago. He bought the first Model A ever produced on July 23, 1903.

Ford’s very first motor vehicle wasn’t a letter-model car at all—it was his Quadricycle. Ford built it—engine and all—in a shed in his yard over a period of two years, finishing it in 1896, seven years before he launched the Ford Motor Company. The Quadricycle consisted of four bicycle wheels mounted to a simple frame, with a wooden box as a seat and rear wheels powered by an ethanol engine via a chain. Ford sold the Quadricycle for $200 and later built two more. (The original Quadricycle can be seen today in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.)

MODEL A (1903–04): The Ford Motor Company’s first car. It consisted of little more than a frame with an upholstered bench seat mounted on top of it. (A rear bench seat compartment was optional.) There was no front compartment, no hood (the engine was under the seat), and nothing resembling a windshield or dashboard—the steering wheel simply stuck up out of the floor in front of the bench. Top speed: 28 mph. Cost: $750 (about $20,300 today). Color: red (only). About 1,700 were sold before production stopped in 1904—which was enough to keep Ford going. (Note: The name “Model A” was recycled in 1927 and used for the car that replaced the Model T.)

[Cory Moffat]

Yup

[Mike Peters]

Yes, that's pretty much the way it was. Humble beginnings. No one could have predicted what was to follow.

[Patrick L.]

Ford kept the first 'A' and the good doctor got the second. [ At least thats the story I've read]. When I was young my grandfather ended up buying one that turned out to be #3. We would drive the thing around the neighborhood. My grandmother sold it because she thought we were spending too much time fooling around with it and it was the only time I ever saw my grandfather get mad. I believe that car is about 30 miles away hanging up in another Ford dealership, I've never been able to talk Skip into letting me climb a ladder to check the numbers.
The one car of his I still have is the first Studebaker[ EG] he sold in 1918 which he got back in on trade during the depression and kept. I also have his guns and old outboard motors.

[rotorwrench]

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The first company that Henry started with investors predates the original model A. While they were building the factory in 1902, he fell out with the other investors. He did manage to keep his name but he lost the rest. That factory went on with the foundation of Cadillac under Henry Leland. Henry Ford had to restart in the relatively small Mack Avenue building that was owned by one of the remaining investors. It was originally a wagon manufacturing facility and was too small the way it was. They had to build on to it to set up for assembly. His machine shop was at a different address and the Dodge Brothers built a lot of assemblies for the early cars. Starting out with less money invested helped to insure that the company would survive. Henry also had some luck with the investors he ended up with. Some of them helped to build the company up in more ways than one. Eventually he bought them all out but it cost him a good bit.

I'm sure that Henry felt that he got a bit of payback when Ford Motor Company acquired Lincoln Motor Company from Henry Leland years later.