On November 1, 1927, Ford Motor Company began production of the Model A, its first new model in decades. On the day the Model A was offered for sale in early December of that same year, after a nationwide advertising blitz, 50,000 cash deposits were received in NYC alone and mob scenes took place at dealerships.

Though it was hugely successful, the Model T, predecessor to the Model A, had outlasted its usefulness and was losing market share to more powerful, more stylish, more comfortable, and more option-packed cars from rival manufacturers. Henry Ford had essentially created the modern automobile industry but had missed one of its key trends: consumers’ desire for newer, updated vehicles, especially more expensive models as one’s economic status improved.

Five million Model As were sold by time production ended in early 1932.