Autos of America History page 5
Ford Automobiles
After selling his share of the Henry Ford Company in 1902 Henry Ford built his second race car ,the 999 and hired Barney Oldfield to race it to victory . He then had Barney take the car coast to coast to make the name Ford well known . This helped Henry Ford to attract the backing he needed and lead to the start of Ford and Malcomson Limited . 1n 1903 Henry Ford re-incorporated the company and founded his new company .
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Henry Ford used auto racing to get his automobile company known to the world . In 1901 Henry set the land speed record at 91.3 mph .
The Ford Motor Company was founded by Henry Ford in 1903 in Dearborn Michigan . It was Henry
s 3rd automobile company after the Detroit Motor Company and then the Henry Ford Company . Henry started the Ford Motor Company with 12 partners . The Dodge Brothers John and Horace were two of those partners with a 10% share in Ford . The Dodge Brothers Machine Shop was also hired to manufacture many of the parts for Henrys automobiles . The Dodge Brothers were the best machinists in the business at that time .
Henry built his first automobile (the Quadricycle) in 1896 and several more before opening Ford Motor Company . His first automobile at the new Ford Motor Company , was the Model
A . The first Cadillac was almost Identical to the Model A as the Cadillac was also built from a Henry Ford Design in 1903 . Henry Ford wanted to build dependable , inexpensive automobiles that the average working person could afford to buy and operate . This idea worked out well for Henry ,as the more vehicles he sold , the less money he could sell them for and the less they cost the more people bought Ford automobiles . Every year the sales numbers increased and the cost to buy Ford autos went down . In 1908 Henry introduced his Model T . The Model T was the first automobile with the steering wheel on the left side . It was a very simple car and was the easiest auto to drive . It was noted for its dependability . It was priced at $825.00 , a very low price for that time . Sales of the T were very good and by 1914 sales exceeded 250,00 and the price was down to $350.00 . By 1918 over ½ the automobiles on the road were Model T Fords and Ford Motor Company was the largest and most profitable auto company in the world . By 1927 when the last Model T was made , over 15 million had been sold . During the years of his Model T , Henry introduced assembly line production to the world and conveyor belt systems to bring parts to the workers . He also doubled the workers wages to $5,00 per day , so his workers could
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afford to buy the automobiles they made . The high wages also brought the best tradesmen to work at Ford and workers stayed for very long terms which gave them more experience and lowered training costs . These factors increased productivity and helped to lower the production costs which helped to bring the price of Ford Autos even lower . Henry Ford believed in High moral standards for his company and its workers and gave a share of the profits to employees to encourage those standards .
In 1927 the new Model
A Ford was introduced and it also sold very well . By 1931 it sold over 4 million vehicles . (continued on page 4)
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Ford Motor Company was the first to go to a 5 day 8 hour day work week (40 hour). This meant that the workers were more rested and were happier and more productive . Ford Motor Company also built military vehicles and engines for airplanes in WWI .
In 1922 Ford bought Henry Leland
s , Lincoln Motor Company from receivership , which could be considered Henrys getting even after the miss-dealings that took place when Henry Leland took over the Henry Ford Company (that became Cadillac Motor Company) .
In 1925 Ford Motor Company got into the Aviation business when Henry bought the Stout Metal Airplane Company . The Ford Tri-Motor was a very big success and 199 were built and sold . The Tri-Motor was the first passenger airplane and would carry 12 passengers .
During WWII Ford
s involvement is credited by some for shortening the war and turning the advantage to win the war in favour of the allied forces .
When the aviation industry could only produce B24 Bombers at the rate of one per day . Henry and Ford Motor Company produced the B24 Bombers at a rate of one per hour , and had pilots lined up at the door to fly the planes away .
When the US and allied army
s needed Jeeps built , the Willys facility could not produce anywhere near to number required . Ford Motor Company produced Jeeps in large numbers , very quickly . 280,000 jeeps were built by Ford Motor Company . Ford also supplied trucks and engines for tanks etc for the military during the war . In 1949 Ford Motor Company introduced the brand new look , streamline 1949 Ford automobiles . The public loved it and thousands were ordered before they were even in production . This car used a new latter frame and strong life guard body that was said to be a much safer car . Ford cars sold very well in 1949 and 1950 . In 1951 a hardtop model was added and an automatic transmission was made available . The 1951 Ford out sold Chevrolet by10 % .
In 1955 Ford ended the use of their flathead engines in favour of overhead valve engines . In 1956 Ford went to a 12 volt battery and electrical system .
In 1958 Ford introduced the Edsel which sold over 63,000 the first year but did not sell very well after that , and it was discontinued in 1960 . There were no real problems with the car but some of the options were far ahead of their time . Ford F150 has been the top selling vehicle for over 25 years and out sell all car models . Ford has also the #1 in sales of SUVs.
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The Crown Victoria is the most popular police package and has been for over 10 years . The Crown Victoria is very fuel efficient for its size and still has reasonable power . Ford also offers a Corwn Victoria , taxi special which is 9 inches longer . This was popular for years but now mid size cars are becoming more popular as cabs and the Ford Escape Hybrid now offers a taxi package . Ford now has more Hybrid models to hit the market very soon . They also have Ethanol powered vehicles and even hydrogen powered internal combustion vehicles that will likely be on the market as soon as fueling stations are set up .
The Ford Motor Company now has five brand names Ford , Lincoln , Mercury , Mazda and Volvo .
Ford Motor Company sells automobiles in over 130 countries in the world today and has assembly plants in USA , Canada , and Mexico as well as in Europe , Asia South America and Australia .
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Behind the scene designs and research at Ford to bring new automobile to you !
Continued on Autos of America History page 6
