The Model T is not a very good car, even considering the time. It's about as simple transmission as you can get, terrible brakes, a gas tank under the front se

The Model T is not a very good car, even considering the time. It's about as simple transmission as you can get, terrible brakes, a gas tank under the front seat (how convenient), would roll over in heartbeat, you'd get soaked when it rained and freeze in the winter, and only came in black. It was wildly successful because Henry Ford knew one thing - customers wanted cars but they couldn't afford the current offerings. Everything he did was to make the car affordable to the common man. I will disagree that timing doesn't matter. Ford was definitely at the right-place at the right-time. 5 or 10 years later and he probably wouldn't have been so successful, someone would've beaten him to the punch. The plain fact is that while timing isn't everything, it can't be considered irrelevant.