Ford Cars

1901: Henry Ford built and raced (10 Oct.) his Sweepstakes car v. Alexander Winton.

1903: Ford begins. Model A Ford produced.

1908: Model T Ford introduced, initially built at the Piquette Road Manufacturing Plant. A 2-door roadster cost $825. Assembly line production was developed over the next 5 years.

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

1913: Ford introduced the moving assembly line.

1922: Ford bought the Lincoln Motor Company from Henry Leland on 4 February.

1925: Ford assembly in Australia.

1927: "The formal end of Model T production."

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

WWII: Ford produced Jeeps.

1945: Fordson Major tractor begins production at Dagenham.

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.

1960, June 28: The first, XK, Falcon was produced at Broadmeadows, .au -- 2359cc ohv straight-6, 67kW, 187Nm, 3-speed manual or 2-speed auto..

1964: The Ford Mustang began production in March, priced at us$2,368. 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."

1965: Jim Clark won the Indianapolis 500 in a Lotus-Ford.

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

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

1987: Ford bought 75% of Aston Martin, and 100% in 1994.

1990: Ford bought Jaguar.

1999: Ford bought Volvo's car-making division (but not the trucks).

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. (On sale May 2008, from au$36.5K.)

2008, March 26: Ford agreed to sell Land Rover and Jaguar to Tata Motors of India for us$2.3billion. The deal was completed on 2 June 2008.

2010 March 28: Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. Ltd (.cn) signed to buy Volvo Cars from Ford for us$1.8billion.

2010: Ford ends production of the Mercury marque, in late 2010, in favour of Lincoln (announced 2 June 2010).