This day in history

July 23: Henry Ford flogs his first motor

	Only three years later Ford was the top-selling car brand in the US, overtaking Skoda.

Yes indeed. Once upon a time in America, a bloke called Henry with a fascination for all things car-and-workman-like, flogged his very first car, the Ford Model A. Bugsy Malone himself, splurge gun in hand, wouldn’t look out of place leaning out the window.

He put it on the market for 0. It had a 110.5 cubic litre engine and 8hp. And being the first man to mass-produce stuff in assembly lines, soon the whole Land of the Brave was his for taking. In fact, only three years later Ford was the top-selling car brand in the US, overtaking Skoda.*

It’s doubtful that Greenpeace will be celebrating today, but Mr Shell and Mr ExxonMObil certainly will.

*The last part of this sentence is not true.