By 1918, half of all cars in America were Model Ts. However, it was a monolithic bloc; as Ford wrote in his autobiography, "Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black".
[17] Model Ts in different colors were produced from 1908 to 1914, and then again from 1926 to 1927. It is often stated that Ford chose black because the paint dried faster than other colored paints available at the time, and a faster drying paint would allow him to build cars faster since he would not have to wait as long for the paint to dry. The technical aspect of this explanation is plausible, as a black paint will absorb the most light and convert it to heat which will help the solvents in the paint to evaporate,[
citation needed] however Ford engineering documents suggest black was chosen because it was cheap and durable. Over thirty different types of black paint were used on various parts of the Model T.
[18] These were formulated to satisfy the different means of applying the paint to the various parts, and they had distinct drying times, depending on the part, the paint, and the method of drying.
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