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Ford Model T: Ultimate starter car

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When it was introduced in 1908, a Model T cost about $850. By 1926, when production stopped, one could be had for about $260. The Model T was not Ford Motor Co.'s first car. That was the original Model A of 1904. Other models included the sporty Model K, the economical Model N and the slightly more refined Model R. All went away as Ford concentrated solely on the T.

The Model T's introduction, and its ever-decreasing price, brought an end to the maddening isolation that marked rural life for most Americans. In cities, automobiles and trucks brought welcome relief from the health, safety and odor problems presented by large numbers of work horses. (Besides manure, a source of various diseases, hard-worked horses often just gave out in the street. About 15,000 carcasses a year had to be cleared from the streets of New York City, according to the book "The Automobile Age," by James Fink.)

Today we have traffic jams, road rage and a jetliner-worth of American lives being taken every day in traffic accidents. We also have dependence on foreign oil. (Though Henry Ford hated oil companies and worked to find some other fuel that could run his cars.)

So the Model T - rolled out 100 years ago this fall- has brought trade-offs and challenges along with prosperity, Super 8 Motels, Denny's and "Are we there yet, Dad?"

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Last updated April 22 2008: 5:03 PM ET

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