Henry Ford II was jetting around Asia last week with a new and better idea. The chairman of Ford Motor Co. proposed to the leaders of Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Taiwan a plan for joint production of a low-cost auto. It would have a 30-h.p. engine, be available in about two years and sell for $800 to $1,000. The car could be called a modern Model T, an updated and streamlined car-for-Everyman, reminiscent—in concept at least—of the original, which Henry Ford I built 15.5 million times over between 1908 and 1927.
The clincher, in the eyes of many...