Ford Cars

1903: Ford begins. Model A Ford produced.

1908: Model T Ford introduced, initially built at the Piquette Road Manufacturing Plant. Assembly line production was developed over the next 5 years.

1911: Ford assembly in the UK, at Trafford Park, Manchester.

1925: Ford assembly in Australia.

1929: Production started at a new UK factory, Dagenham.

WWII: Ford produced Jeeps.

1948: Introduction of the F-Series (F-1 to F-8) "bonus built" trucks.

1953: First F-100 pickup truck (replaces the F-1).

1954: Ford Thunderbird production began in September.

1964: The Ford Mustang began production in March. It made an appearance in the movie Goldfinger but not as Bond's drive which was a DB5.

1965: The Ford Transit Van was launched in the UK and Europe, eventually the typical Transit driver became colloquially known as "white van man."

1966-1969: Ford GT40s won the Le Mans 24-hour race 4 years in a row.

1975: First Ford F-150 pickup truck (ute).

1990: Ford bought Jaguar.

1999: Ford bought Volvo's car-making division.

2000: Ford bought LandRover from BMW. LR joined Aston Martin, Jaguar, Lincoln and Volvo in Ford's Prestige Automotive Group.

2001: Ford F250 and F350 trucks back on sale in .au.

2002, Feb. 28: The Ford R7 4×4 concept or, it was said, prototype of a possible passenger car of the near future at the Melbourne International Motor Show.

Feb 2002, Ford R7 4×4 concept

The R7 featured independent suspension front and rear. The car looks very large but is shorter than the current Ford Falcon.

2002 July: The updated `BA' (Barra) Ford Falcon (4×2) soon to replace the unloved `AU'.

7/2002

2003 February: Ford had one of its 15 prototype Territory (was R7) all wheel drives at the Melbourne Motor Show.

Feb 2003, Ford Territory 4×4 prototype


July 2003, Fraser Island

2004: On sale as 6-cyl. 4×4 and 4×2 versions.

2007, March: Needing to raise cash, Ford sold Aston Martin to an investment group for £475m (apart from a £40m holding). David Richards, head of Prodrive, became the new chairman of Aston Martin.

2007: Jaguar and LandRover also put up for sale.

2008 February 17 (.au): FG series Ford Falcon sedan and ute revealed. Petrol 4-litre I6, or 5.4-litre V8 engines.

2008, March 26: Ford agreed to sell Land Rover and Jaguar to Tata Motors of India for about $2.3billion.