Dodge Viper RT/10

A lot of water passed through the mill from the time the Dodge brothers assembled engines for Henry Ford until the Dodge Viper peeked out from under its wraps at the 1989 Detroit auto show. Dodge Viper RT/10Over the course of that era, the Dodge brothers split with Ford to begin building cars of their own under the imaginative Dodge Brothers name; Dodge Brothers was bought by Walter P. Chrysler as he built Chrysler Corporation in the image of his previous employer, General Motors; and Dodge (sans Brothers) went from an icon of performance during the halcyon years of the Sixties to becoming largely irrelevant by the late Eighties. Omnis and K-cars  will do that, no matter how proud one’s history.

Bringing Dodge model back to life

A quickly fading brand with a dreary image were what faced Chrysler Corporation planners as they considered what they should do for the ’89 Detroit show, and their response — a huge, brutal two-seat sports car — Read more . . .

Ford V8

From 1932 to 1954 the fate of Ford Motor Company would ride a wild roller coaster of ups and downs. Ford V8At times, sales forged ahead rapidly, and at others the company narrowly scaped going under.  However, throughout this 22-year period,  there was one constant, one everlasting icon that Ford enthusiasts could count on – the flathead Ford V8.

When it became abundantly obvious even to Henry Ford that his Model T was on its last legs in the marketplace, along about 1927 or so, the old man wanted to assemble a V-8-powered car to take its place. With the company’s future hanging by a thread, though, an interim move created another four cylinder car, the Model A. Read more . . .

1964 Mercury Marauder

Mercury has always existed in a Never-Never Land  inside Ford Motor Company. The brand was established in 1939 to fill the huge gap that existed between the luxury Lincoln and the popular-priced Ford, but for some reason, in the 60-plus years, the product has been in existence, Ford execs have been unable to give it a strong identity. 1964 Mercury MarauderCertainly, the mid-priced brands from General Motors —  Oldsmobile, Pontiac, and Buick — and Chrysler’s Dodge division have always had better-defined personas than Mercury, and that has always been to Mercury’s disadvantage. It seems that over the course of its history, Mercury has wavered from being just a tarted-up Ford to a near-Lincoln, which has made it improbable for the buying public to pin down. Of course, in the clutter of the American car market, if a brand has a puzzled image, it really has no image at all. Read more . . .

Ford Mustang

Success has many fathers, whereas failure is an orphan.Ford Mustang

So true with the Ford Mustang.

Learning from faults

In the decade before the Mustang was launched in 1964, Ford Motor Company was no stranger to success and to failure. For the 1955 model year, Ford had introduced the Thunderbird as a competitor to Chevrolet’s Corvette sports car, and soon the Thunderbird was out-selling the Corvette. It was a success all of Ford could be proud of.

When Ford management decided to turn the Thunderbird into a four-seater model for the 1958 model year, the company again had a winner on its hands. In fact, the modified Thunderbird invented its own market segment, the personal luxury class. Read more . . .

1949 Ford

Some celebrated cars are born of vision; others are created by necessity. Of these, the 1949 Ford belongs in that second class. 1949 FordAs a major component of “The Arsenal of Democracy,” Ford Motor Company was a gigantic contributor to the war effort, building not just trucks and Jeep and other vehicles but also airplane components.  However, like some veterans, Ford survived and thrived in the war only to have its very existence threatened by the peace.

Innovation is good, even better

When World War II came to a close in 1945, four years of war had created four years of pent-up consumer  need for automobiles, so the immediate post-war market swallowed up just about any new vehicle that could be manufactured. But Henry Ford II, who sat atop the Ford Motor Company, was savvy enough to recognize that when the initial boom died down, the consumer would seek out modern comfort and convenience, and that was something Ford Motor Company, in the immediate post-war days, was simply not ready to provide. Read more . . .