July 23, 2011 8:05:44 AM EDT
THIS DAY IN HISTORY 1903: First Ford Model A delivered to buyer
On this day in 1903, Dr. Ernst Pfenning of Chicago became the first owner of the Ford Model A, a two-cylinder beauty whose cousin, the Model T, would make Ford the nation's largest carmaker. Henry Ford and Alexander Malcomson, a Detroit coal merchant, collaborated on the Model A, designed chiefly by C. Harold Willis. Ford's company grew quickly after releasing the Model A. It would the later Model T. however, that made a car affordable for many Americans.