Back to 1970's Groovy baby, "Ford a Car is born"

[6R07mi]

Interesting sample of methods & process circa 1970

jim p

[5566]

Kinda looks like a Mustang II, or possibly Granada, clay at 12:54-13:00.

[98SVT - was 06GT]

Henry started building the River Rouge in 1915. It fulfilled his dream of raw material in one door and cars out another door in 1927 when The Model A was introduced. They were able to assemble up to 9100 cars a day then plus producing all the engines and many of the other parts and stampings that went to the 34 US and 17 foreign assembly plants. It covers nearly a square mile. Many of the methods they developed then are still in use today.

The Deuce when he was 2 with help from his grandfather, lit the first blast furnace at Ford Motor Company's Rouge factory in 1920. Two years later, his younger brother Benson Ford, three years old at the time, lit the Rouge's second furnace with the same torch. Each of the furnaces, nicknamed "Henry" and "Benson", produced 1,200 tons of iron a day.

The steel plant has been independent from Ford since the 1980s. The plant has had several owners over the years, including:
Severstal: A Russian company that purchased the bankrupt Rouge Steel around 2004
AK Steel: Acquired the plant in 2014 for $707 million.
Cleveland Cliffs: Acquired the plant in 2020

Henry didn't like the glass quality he was getting so he added a glass plant to the Rouge in 1925. When a test driver was cut up in a crash he developed safety glass for use in the Model A. In the 80s Ford was producing the complex rear window for the Chevy Camaro. Ford told GM their design was bad and after a lot of warranty work they let Ford redesign it (thickness and mounting).

Henry was buddies with Firestone but built his 5,500 sq mi Fordlandia in Brazil along with rubber plantations (it was one of his few failures) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fordl%C3%A2ndia

It wasn't just cars. What do you do with all the little scraps of wood from making the bodies and shipping crates? Henry had bought nearly 500 sq mi of forest with the help of his cousin (and Ford dealer) Edward Kingsford. They came up with a new process for pressing blocks of reconstituted char. The innovative charcoal briquet was initially marketed under Ford's own brand, it was eventually renamed Kingsford Charcoal in Edward's honor. It got so big they built a plant in the Upper Peninsula to produce it. Anybody got a Ford picnic BBQ set?

[FL SAAC]

kool video, thanks for sharing

[crossboss]

I also noticed the workers smoking, using no gloves, and the painters had no masks on. Yikes!

[deathsled]

Minute 2:05 "I need a wagon.  I have a dog and three kids."  I wonder if he was referencing an actual pet or something else.

[FL SAAC]

Minute 2:05 "I need a wagon.  I have a dog and three kids."  I wonder if he was referencing an actual pet or something else.

You are going into time out young man !

LMAO

[ssmustang]

 Great Video, thanks for posting. I have seen many through the years, but none are so complete that include styling, engineering, pilot plant, etc.