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The Ford Motor Company This is the story of the Ford Motor company. I am going to take you on a journey through time to start us off on July 30, 1863 in Dearborn Michigan. That is the date of the birth of one of the most well known men of all time, Henry Ford. When Henry was sixteen he walked to detroit and apprenticed himself to a mechanic for two dollars and fifty cents a week but his boarding cost three so he worked nights for a watchmaker to make ends meet. Later in 1884 Henry took of a little farm his father gave him. He got married and seemed settled down but after two years Henry moved back to Detroit and worked as a night engineer for the Detroit Edison Company.
In 1899 Ford helped organize the Detroit Automobile Company. Ford wanted to build cars that didnt cost a lot so many people could afford them but Fords partners disagreed so Ford sold out and moved on. In 1903 Ford developed the Ford Motor Company with only twenty eight thousand dollars. That money came from eleven stockholders.
Ford converted a small Detroit Wagon Factory into an automotive plant and was staffed with ten people. The first car Ford produced was the model A. Ford sold seventeen hundred model As in the first fifteen months of production. Between 1903 and 1908 Ford and his engineers used the first nineteen letters of the alphabet to name their masterpieces but some were experimental and never made the line. In 1908 Ford created the Model T, the car was a drastic improvement over all the previous cars and became an instant success. By 1927 Ford had sold more than fifteen million model Ts.
On May 31, 1927 All Ford plants shut down to retool and improve upon the fifteen year old design of the model T. The result was the second Model A, it was a vastly improved car in all respects. It came in many body styles and a wide variety of colors. Between late 1927 and 1931 more than four million five hundred model As rolled off the assembly line. But even the model A had to have an end and it came in 1931 when consumers demanded more luxury and more power out of their vehicles. This demand gave birth to the legendary Ford V- 8.
The public saw the engine for the first time on April 1, 1932. Ford was the first company in history to cast an eight cylinder engine in one engine block. In 1938 Ford produced the Mercury which had the V- 8 that was now eight years old. The Mercury was Fords entry into the growing medium price range. Sadly in 1942 all production on civilian driven cars came to a screeching halt. Indicated by Edsel Ford the company converted to wartime and produced 8, 600 four- engined B- 24 liberator bombers, 57, 000 aircraft engines, over 250, 000 jeeps, tanks, tank destroyers, and other pieces of war machinery and all under three years.
Edsel Ford died in 1943 when his war program was at its peak. Henry Ford took over as president again until, Henry Ford II, Fords oldest grandson could take over on September 21, 1945. In 1954 the Thunderbird, an American classic, joined the Ford team. The 1955 model was a two seater sports car.
The Thunderbirds introduction single- handedly started the personal luxury car segment of the market in the United States. The original Thunderbird came with the famous Ford V- 8 engine that produced one hundred and sixty horsepower and had a three speed manual transmission. The thunderbird also came with a convertible option. The roof was detachable and plastic. On April 17, 1964 at the worlds fair in New York The Ford Motor Company unveiled its new addition. The Mustang with its long hood and short rear deck had a sporty look and caused a craze.
The Ford designers had predicted a sporty car would appeal to the world war two baby boomers. The Mustang had all the characteristics of a expensive sports car but along with Ford tradition was in the mid price range. Dealers had twenty two thousand orders for the mustang in its first day of production. The mustang sported quite a few engines when first introduced in 1964 1 / 2 you had the option of five engines. A 170 - 6 cyl was available. There was the 26 2 v which was still slow but getting there.
There was the 289 - 2 v and 4 v the four barrel was fast but no match for the 289 hi-po which had high compression heads, performance cam shaft, and 3 / 4 stroke crank shaft. The 289 hi-po created 271 horsepower and wouldnt die out until 1967. In 1965 no engine changes were made because it had been only six months since the Mustang had been introduced. Even in 1966 the only engine change that was made was to get rid of the 260 - 2 v. In 1967 the 200 - 6 cyl was introduced and the 170 - 6 cyl was discarded. In 1968 the 302 big gun came about.
In 1968 1 / 2 Ford created the 428 CJ and also Ram air was invented which is a process of running ducts from the cars air scoops to the carburetor which gives the car air easier so that in turn gives the car more horsepower. The 428 was only available in the convertible and fastback not the coupe model. In 1969 the 250 6 cyl was created but that was nothing compared to what else was made. Starting with the 302 - 2 v which was the 5. 0 liter that is so popular today in the Thunderbird and the modern day Mustang. The boss 302 which was the fully blown version of the 302 - 2 v.
The brother of the boss 302 was the boss 429. The boss 302 was almost unbeatable on the oval track and the boss 429 couldnt be beat on the drag strip. The 351 W 2 v and 4 v that is still around today in many ford trucks. Also the 390 big block was invented and was going to be a key engine in the galaxie and the mustang. In 69 another addition was the 428 super cobra jet, this engine had ram air and Le Mans push rods that are next to impossible to to find today.
The 428 super cobra jet or 428 SCJ as it was commonly called was rated at about 350 horsepower but in reality produced well over 400. Hot Rod magazine along with the SCCA or sports car club of america said, the 428 super cobra jet was the fastest pure running stock car in the History of man. Carrol Shelby throughout the 60 s was working at the same time with Ford products to make them faster and more powerful. In 1962 The first Cobra rolled off the line. The first fifty had the 289 - 4 v which produced about 260 horsepower. After the first fifty the cobra got the 289 hi-po.
In 1965 the cobra improved a little it got the 427 side oiler FE, which meant Ford Edsel. The 427 FE produced over 600 horsepower. In 1965 Carrol Shelby started producing the GT- 350 which had a shelby ized 289 that unlike the Ford 289 hi-po that produced 271 horsepower the Shelby 289 produced about 350 horsepower hence the name GT- 350. When Shelby created the GT- 350, to be produced he had to make 100 prototypes to be recognized by the SCCA.
When the deadline was up Shelby had only twelve done. He lined up the first twelve and the next 88 were just shells with no engines or suspension just a body and a chassis with wheels welded to them and an interior. The SCCA officials never noticed. In 1967 Shelby created a new GT model this one just a little bit bigger. The name was the GT- 500.
The GT- 500 came with a 427, 428 cj, or a 428 see. Ford now had become the first international automotive company in the world. Ford built factories in Canada, Europe, Australia, South America, and Japan. Fords slogan was build them where you sell them. Ford of Europe was built in 1967, twenty years ahead of the European Economic Community's arrival. Ford established the North American Automotive Operations consolidating the U.
S. , Canada, and Mexico in 1972. In 1973 Ford made operations with Spain and recieved fifty-five dealers in and around Madrid. In 1976 Ford built a manufacturing plant near Valencia, Spain. There the festiva and Escort cars are made along with manufacturing engines. In 1979 Ford bought twenty-five percent of the Mazda motors corporation. After 1970 The Mustang was still around as well as all the other models but Ford made no performance cars until the mid eighties when they introduced the 5. 0 302 to the Mustang again.
In 1985 Ford introduced the Taurus that came with a 3. 0 liter four cylinder but in 1988 Ford introduced the 3. 8 liter v- 6 to the Taurus. Ford is still running strong today and is the second largest automotive company second only to General Motors. They keep producing newer and better cars to keep we the public happy and will keep going strong until we quit driving cars.
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