A real danger to Ford and his company during these early years was the threat of a patent suit. Back at the time of the _Times-Herald_ race in 1895, George Selden, a lawyer in Rochester, New York, had patented a “self-propelled vehicle driven by an internal combustion engine.” Although he never built an automobile, all those who did were threatened with infringement suits. This fact made it necessary for the makers of automobiles to pay royalties to the patent holder. The Ford Motor Company refused. The result was a long and involved battle in the federal courts, lasting until 1911 when the case was finally settled in favor of the Ford Motor Company. [Illustration: The farmhouse where Henry Ford was born in 1863 stands today in Greenfield Village ...] [Illustration: ... along with the small brick schoolhouse from the “Scotch settlement” where he began school in 1871.] [Illustration: The interior of the 58 Bagley Avenue workshop where Ford built his first car, as restored in Greenfield Village. The car itself is now on display in The Henry Ford Museum.] [Illustration: The “body drop” at the Highland Park plant of the Ford Motor Company in 1913. The modern automobile assembly line grew from such operations as this. _Photo courtesy Ford Motor Company Archives_] [Illustration: Henry Ford views his first car and the ten millionth Ford in 1924....] [Illustration: By this time the Model T standing in front of a farmhouse was a familiar sight all over America. _Photo courtesy Ford Motor Company_] The Model T is Born In spite of experimentation, reorganization, and patent difficulties, the year 1907 found the Ford Motor Company operating successfully. This was a year of panic in the nation, but the company made plans to build an even bigger factory to manufacture automobiles. In 1908, it was announced that the Ford Motor Company had purchased a race track in nearby Highland Park where it would construct the largest automobile plant in the world. At the same time, draftsmen and engineers were planning a new model, to be called model T. In October, 1908, the first model T appeared, and before the year ended, over three hundred of them had been shipped to dealers throughout the nation. The Ford company claimed that this new automobile “would sound the death knell of high prices and big profits.” Its advertisements announced that “we can devote all our time and money to taking care of the orders for the car that people have actually been waiting for—a family car at an honest price.” The engine was new and “get-at-able,” an important feature in a day when most automobile owners repaired their own cars.