Ford of Britain (officially Ford Motor Company Limited)The Ford 'companies' or corporate entities referred to in this article are: *

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

, Dearborn, Michigan, USA, incorporated 16 June 1903 * Ford Motor Company Limited, incorporated 7 December 1928. Current (May 2010) registered office at Eagle Way, Brentwood, Essex, CM13 3BW, manufacturer and seller of motor vehicles and parts * Ford Motor Company (England) Limited, incorporated in 1909, ''purchased by Ford Motor Company Limited December 1928'' * Henry Ford and Son, Dearborn, Michigan, November 1915, incorporated 8 October 1917 * Henry Ford and Son Limited, Cork incorporated 17 April 1917, ''purchased by Ford Motor Company Limited December'' 1928 Holding company for Ford's European and Egyptian businesses and in addition Lincoln Cars Limited, London, and Henry Ford and Son, Cork: * Société d'Investissements Ford, Luxembourg, was liquidated during 1939 and its assets transferred to: * Ford Investment Company Limited, Guernsey, Channel Islands is a British wholly owned

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

of Ford Technologies Limited (formerly called Blue Oval Holdings), itself a subsidiary of Ford International Capital LLC, which is a subsidiary of

. Its business started in 1909 and has its registered office in

Laindon Laindon is a commuter town in Essex, between Basildon and West Horndon. It was an ancient parish in Essex, England, that was abolished for civil purposes in 1937. It was based on the (probably smaller) manor of the same name and now lies mostly ...

, Essex. It adopted the name of Ford of Britain in 1960. Ford of Britain operates two major manufacturing sites in the UK, in

Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Forest ...

(diesel engine production) and

Halewood Halewood is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. It lies near the city of Liverpool's southeastern boundary, bordered by the suburbs of Netherley, Hunt's Cross and Woolton. Historically a part of Lancashire, ...

(transmissions). It also operates a large research and development facility in Dunton, Essex, which employs over 3,000 engineers. In 2010, Ford had been the UK's biggest-selling car and commercial vehicle brand for 34 and 45 consecutive years respectively.

History

1903–1918

Fordson tractor with members of British Women's Land Army 1940s

The first Ford cars, three Model As, were imported into the UK in 1903, and the first dealership opened in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in November 1910. In 1909 the Ford Motor Company (England) Limited was established under the chairmanship of

Percival Perry Percival Lea Dewhurst Perry, 1st Baron Perry KBE (18 March 1878 – 17 June 1956) was an English motor vehicle manufacturer who served as chairman of Ford Motor Company Limited in Britain for 20 years from its incorporation in 1928, completing al ...

, opening an office at 55 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, in 1909.

Trafford Park

assembly plant A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...

in an old tram factory in

Trafford Park Trafford Park is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, opposite Salford Quays on the southern side of the Manchester Ship Canal, southwest of Manchester city centre and north of Stretford. Until the l ...

, Manchester, was opened in 1911, employing 60 people to make the

Model T The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relati ...

, and the company was re-registered as Henry Ford & Son, Ltd. This was the first Ford factory outside North America. At first, the cars were assembled from imported chassis and mechanical parts, with bodies sourced locally. Six thousand cars were produced in 1913, and the Model T became the country's biggest selling car, with 30% of the market. In 1914, Britain's first moving assembly line for car production started, with 21 cars an hour being built. After the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the Trafford Park plant was extended, and in 1919, 41% of British registered cars were Fords.

Cork

In 1917, a plant opened in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

, Ireland, initially for tractor manufacture, but from 1921 cars were built there as well. This factory was the first to be purpose-built by Ford in Europe. The company of Henry Ford and Son Limited—Fordson—was officially incorporated on 17 April 1917, starting its life on the site of an old Cork racecourse. Its first registered office was at 36

South Mall The South Mall is an enclosed shopping mall located on Lehigh Street south of Interstate 78 exit 57 near Allentown's southern border with Salisbury Township and Emmaus in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. History 1970s and 19 ...

, Cork.

Dagenham

Although the Manchester plant was served by the Manchester Ship Canal, Ford decided that access to a deep water port was required, and in 1923 a new site was chosen by the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

, east of London.

Formation of Ford Motor Company Limited

In December 1928 Ford (since 1924 entirely owned by Henry Ford, his wife and their son Edsel) announced in London that it had formed a new company, Ford Motor Company Limited, with three US directors (Henry Ford,

Edsel Ford Edsel Bryant Ford (November 6, 1893 – May 26, 1943) was an American business executive and philanthropist who was the son of pioneering industrialist Henry Ford and his wife, Clara Jane Bryant Ford. He was the president of Ford Motor Company f ...

Charles E. Sorensen Charles Emil Sorensen (7 September 1881 – 11 August 1968) was a Danish-American principal of the Ford Motor Company during its first four decades. Like most other managers at Ford at the time, he did not have an official job title, but he served ...

) and four British directors ( Sir Percy Perry, Roland Kitson, Sir John T Davies and Lord Illingworth), with a capital of £7 million. This company acquired all Ford's European and Middle Eastern businessFord Motor Company (England) Limited, Henry Ford and Son Limited, Cork. And by holding their share capitals: Automobiles Ford S.A., Paris, Ford Motor Company A/S, Copenhagen, Ford Motor Company S.A.E., Barcelona, Ford Motor Company of Belgium S.A., Antwerp, Ford Motor Company d'Italia S.A., Trieste, N.V. Ford Motor Company of Holland, Rotterdam * Ford Motor Company A.B., Stockholm, Ford Motor Company A.G., Berlin, Ford Motor Company of Finland O/Y, Helsingfors, Ford Motor Company Pen Island 2015. in exchange for 60% of its capital. The balance of 40% of the capital of the new Ford Motor Company Limited, 2.8 million shares of £1 each, was now available for public subscription. These shares were heavily over-subscribed. There was considerable investing interest from America, as US investors had had no previous opportunity of investing in a Henry Ford business. The new chairman, Sir Percival Perry, had been, and now was again, central to the development of Ford in Europe. Perry's association with Henry Ford dated from 1905, when Perry became a shareholder of Ford's first British agency, but the very first link between them was earlier, in 1903. The two men first met in 1906 in Detroit. From Britain, Perry envisioned Ford making vehicles outside USA and selling them across the British Empire and Europe. He raced the company's cars, organised a chain of exclusive dealers, and superintended the Trafford Park assembly plant. In 1919, Henry Ford chose to run operations from Detroit, but Perry was determined to run all European business himself. Perry resigned in May 1919. His American managers having failed him, Henry Ford offered Perry the chairmanship of this new Ford Motor Company Limited in 1928. At the first meeting of shareholders in London on 6 March 1929, Perry reported "during the first three months of our first year we and our associated companies in Europe have delivered upwards of 50,000 Model 'A' vehicles into the hands of satisfied owners. The improved Fordson tractor is not yet in production but it is hoped to deliver the first tractors completely manufactured at our Cork works within the next month."

Europe's largest car plant

Construction started at Dagenham in 1929, and, in October 1931, Britain's and Europe's largest car plant opened, producing the

Ford Model AA Ford Model AA is a truck from Ford. As the Model T and TT became obsolete and needed to be replaced, Henry Ford began initial designs on the Model A and Model AA in 1926. Basic chassis layout was done rapidly and mechanical development wa ...

truck and Model A car. This was at the height of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, and the Model A was too expensive to tax and run in Britain; very few were sold: only five in the first three months. A smaller car was urgently needed, and this came in 1932 with the 933 cc Model Y, a car much more suited to the market, becoming in 1935 Britain's first £100 car (accounting for inflation £). This was Ford's first car specifically designed for sale outside North America. Between 1932 and 1937, over 157,000 were made at Dagenham and Cork, and at its peak it captured 41% of its market sector. In 1938, Ford's Cork factory hit an important milestone, producing its 25,000th vehicle since becoming an assembly plant in 1932. In all, 73,000 cars, trucks and tractors had been built at Cork up to that time.

Associated companies

The original 1928 plan was for Canada, having the benefit of

Imperial Preference Imperial Preference was a system of mutual tariff reduction enacted throughout the British Empire following the Ottawa Conference of 1932. As Commonwealth Preference, the proposal was later revived in regard to the members of the Commonwealth of N ...

tariff A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and poli ...

s, to manufacture components for Ford assembly plants in the British Empire. Dagenham was to do, and did, the same for assembly plants in Europe, but in 1932, mired in the financial depression, both France and Germany announced their intention to impose heavy new tariffs on imported components. In France, urgent arrangements were made with Mathis for their plant to be leased by a joint-venture to be known as

Matford Matford was a French automotive manufacturer established as a joint venture in 1934 by local firm Mathis and US-based Ford Motor Company. The name ''Matford'' derived from both companies' names. The company ceased activities in 1940. Overview ...

and devoted to the full manufacture of Ford or Matford products. More capital was required. There were consequential exchanges in shareholdings between Dagenham and Dearborn and other shareholders.

Ferguson tractors

As an indication of the British and Irish company's sense of independence, in 1938 Henry Ford and Harry Ferguson came to 'a gentlemen's agreement', whereby Ford would manufacture tractors designed by Ferguson, using the "Ferguson System". Production commenced in the USA in June 1939, and the product was outstandingly successful, but Henry Ford was unable to persuade Ford in Britain to manufacture the Ford-Ferguson, though they did sell the US-made tractors. In 1945 Ferguson arranged British production with

Standard Motor Company The Standard Motor Company Limited was a motor vehicle manufacturer, founded in Coventry, England, in 1903 by Reginald Walter Maudslay. For many years, it manufactured Ferguson TE20 tractors powered by its Vanguard engine. All Standard's tracto ...

. Harry Ferguson sued US Ford for illegal use of his patents, asking for compensation of £90 million; this was settled out of court in 1952.

's autobiography—he was a director of this company—described Ferguson so unfavourably that his UK publishers were obliged to scrap all copies and pay costs; Sorensen made a public apology. Ford Pilot ca 1950 extensively restored subsequently

Ford Pilot ca 1950 extensively restored subsequently

World War II

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Dagenham plant turned out 360,000 vehicles, and a new factory in

, Manchester, made 34,000

Rolls-Royce Merlin The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British liquid-cooled V-12 piston aero engine of 27-litres (1,650 cu in) capacity. Rolls-Royce designed the engine and first ran it in 1933 as a private venture. Initially known as the PV-12, it was late ...

engines.

Post war

After World War II, civilian production resumed. Dagenham made 115,000 vehicles in 1946, and factories in

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in East London, east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London and the Historic counties of England, ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Chari ...

in Essex (later London) and

Langley Langley may refer to: People * Langley (surname), a common English surname, including a list of notable people with the name * Dawn Langley Simmons (1922–2000), English author and biographer * Elizabeth Langley (born 1933), Canadian perfor ...

in Buckinghamshire (later

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

) were acquired. The millionth vehicle made since the Dagenham factory started production in October 1931 rolled from the assembly line on 27 August 1946, a cream Ford Prefect 10 hp saloon.

1950 Dearborn buys back Ford Europe

Henry Ford resigned in 1945 in favour of grandson Henry Ford II, and died in April 1947. Perry, founder-chairman of Ford Motor Company Limited and each of the Ford Group's European subsidiaries, retired in 1948. In 1950, Ford's controlling interests in the European businesses were sold to Ford Dearborn. In 1953, following the death of its Detroit founder, Briggs Motor Bodies, whose parent provided bodies to Ford America, was purchased, giving the company more control of its supplies and so acquiring plants at

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

and

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...

. By 1953, Ford of Britain directly employed 40,000 people.

Subsidiary of Ford Motor Company

Until 1960, Ford Motor Company Limited remained a publicly quoted company, its shares freely listed on British exchanges, with more than 10,000 stockholders. The Ford Motor Company of Dearborn Michigan then held just 54% of its shares. That year, after eighteen months of rumour and denial, the US company offered to buy out the other shareholders. The offer was accepted, and Ford completed payment for the other 46% of Ford Motor Company Limited at the end of January 1961. Ford of Britain, properly Ford Motor Company Limited, then became a wholly-owned Ford subsidiary.

New factories

In 1962, Ford opened a factory at

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, to make the Anglia. This ceased to be a Ford plant (although remained under Ford ownership) when the last Escort came off the production line in 2000, and was then converted to make the

Jaguar X-Type The Jaguar X-Type is a front-engine, all-wheel/front-wheel drive compact executive car manufactured and marketed by Jaguar Cars from 2001 to 2009 under the internal designation ''X400'', for a single generation, in sedan/saloon and wagon/estat ...

in 2001, and latterly the

Land Rover Freelander The Land Rover Freelander is a compact luxury crossover SUV that was manufactured and marketed by Land Rover from 1997 to 2015. The second generation was sold from 2007 to 2015 in North America and the Middle East as the LR2 and in Europe as the ...

. Halewood was included in the sale of

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

and

Land Rover Land Rover is a British brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR currently builds Land Rovers ...

Tata Motors Tata Motors Limited is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturing company, headquartered in Mumbai, India, which is part of the Tata Group. The company produces passenger cars, trucks, vans, coaches, buses. Formerly known as Tata Eng ...

in 2008, although Ford retained ownership of its transmission works. Another new factory opened at

Basildon Basildon ( ) is the largest town in the borough of Basildon, within the county of Essex, England. It has a population of 107,123. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1159. It lies east of Central London, south of the city of Chelmsford and ...

in 1964 to make tractors, and, in 1965, a further plant was acquired at

Crymlyn Burrows Crymlyn Burrows () is an area of land in Wales, UK to the east of Swansea city centre, and south of Crymlyn Bog. It is bounded by Jersey Marine Beach to the south and the River Neath to the east. The land west of Baldwin's Crescent falls withi ...

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

, to make chassis components and axles. The Cork factory celebrated the 50-year anniversary in 1967. As part of that landmark event, a £2 million investment programme was announced to rebuild, re-equip and modernise the assembly plant. As a result, the plant was to become the largest and most modern factory of its kind in Ireland. In the same year, Ford of Europe was formed with Henry Ford and Son Limited. It was an important partnership from the start. Another £2 million was spent on assembly facilities and operations, to ensure that Cork production equalled the highest European standards of quality. By 1977, the total area of the plant was well over 450,000 square feet. The rationalisation plan put in place meant that, in 1972, the Cork plant became a two-car plant that was producing the two best selling cars in Ireland: the Escort and Cortina. Between them, these two models were accounting for 75% of Ford sales in Ireland at the time. The Irish company was also exporting around 4,000 cars (mostly Escorts) to Britain. The Cork plant closed in 1984.Cork Ford Plant Closure 1984

RTÉ Archives (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

Ford sewing machinists strike of 1968

The Ford sewing machinists strike of 1968 was a landmark labour-relations dispute in the United Kingdom. The strike began on 7 June 1968, when women sewing machinists at Dagenham plant walked out and were later followed by the machinists at Halewood Body & Assembly plant. The women were responsible for car seat covers, and their strike eventually led to a complete halt to all car production. The Dagenham sewing machinists walked out when, as part of a regrading exercise, they were informed that their jobs were graded in Category B (less-skilled production jobs), instead of Category C (more-skilled production jobs), and that they would be paid 15% less than the full B rate received by men. The strike ended three weeks after it began, following the intervention of

Barbara Castle Barbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn, (''née'' Betts; 6 October 1910 – 3 May 2002), was a British Labour Party politician who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1979, making her one of the longest-serving female MPs in Bri ...

, the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity. The deal brokered immediately increased their rate of pay to 8% below that of men, rising to the full category B rate the following year.

Commercial vehicles

Ford produced a range of commercial vehicles, starting with the Model TT in 1917. From 1933 to 1939 these were badged ''Fordson''; this changed to ''Fordson Thames'' until 1957, after which it became plain ''Thames''. From 1965 they reverted to Ford. After the closure of the Trafford Park factory, most of the larger commercials were built at Langley. The truck operation was sold to the Iveco group of Italy in 1986, and became Iveco Ford (48% owned by Ford). The Langley plant closed in 1997.

2013: End of production

At midday on Wednesday, 26 July 2013, Ford ended more than 100 years of vehicle manufacturing in the UK, with end of assembling Transit vans, by moving production of the next generation Transit to the

Ford Otosan Ford Otomotiv Sanayi A.Ş. (''Ford Automotive Industry'') is an automotive manufacturing company based in Turkey that is equally owned by Ford Motor Company and Koç Holding. It was established in its current form in 1977, with original relation ...

plant in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Ford Southampton plant The Ford Southampton plant was a motor vehicle assembly plant, located in Swaythling on the north eastern outskirts of Southampton, England. It was the western European centre for production of the Ford Transit van. The last vehicle was produce ...

built 28,000 vans, barely a third of its 2007 production.

Chairmen

1928–1948, also managing director 1928–1948 * Roland Kitson 1948–1956 * Patrick Hennessy 1956–1968, also managing director 1948–1968

Ford of Europe

Ford of Europe Ford of Europe GmbH is a subsidiary company of Ford Motor Company founded in 1967 in Cork (city), Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with headquarters in Cologne, Germany. History Ford of Europe was founded in 1967 by the merger of Ford of Bri ...

was created in 1967 by the merging of the businesses of Ford Motor Company Limited and

Ford-Werke GmbH Ford-Werke GmbH is a German car manufacturer headquartered in Niehl, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company, which operates two large manufacturing facilities in Germany, a plant in Cologne and a plant in Saa ...

Models

Passenger cars

* Ford Model T (1913–1927) * Ford Model A (1928–1931) * Ford Model B (1932–1935) *

Ford Model Y The Ford Model Y is an automobile that was produced by Ford Britain, Ford SAF and Ford Germany from 1932 to 1937. It was the first Ford automobile specifically designed for markets outside the United States, replacing the Model A in Europe. Prod ...

(1932–1937) *

Ford 7Y Ford 7Y is a car built by Ford UK from 1938 until 1939. During that time 65,098 cars were produced. The car was officially marketed as a Ford Eight, and was a rebodied and slightly larger version of the Model Y. The car was powered by a 8hp ...

(1937–1939) *

Ford V8 Ford engines are those used in Ford Motor Company vehicles and in aftermarket, sports and kit applications. Different engine ranges are used in various global markets. 3 cylinder A series of Ford DOHC 12-valve inline-three engines with Twin Ind ...

(1932–1939) *

Ford Model C Ten The Ford Model C Ten is a car that was built by Ford UK between 1934 and 1937. The Ten moniker signifies its 10 British fiscal horsepower. The car was also assembled in Spain (Barcelona) between 1934 and 1936. The German version produced in the ...

(1935–1937) *

Ford 7W The Ford 7W Ten is a car built by Ford UK between 1937 and 1938. The car was an updated version of the Model C Ten with the same 1172 cc engine and three speed gearbox, and used the same transverse leaf front and rear suspension. The c ...

(1937–1938) *

Ford Anglia The Ford Anglia is a small family car that was designed and manufactured by Ford UK. It is related to the Ford Prefect and the later Ford Popular. The Anglia name was applied to various models between 1939 and 1967. In total, 1,594,486 Anglias ...

(1939–1967) *

Ford Prefect The Ford Prefect is a line of British cars which was produced by Ford UK between 1938 and 1961 as an upmarket version of the Ford Popular and Ford Anglia small family cars. It was introduced in October 1938 and remained in production until 19 ...

(1939–1961) *

Ford V8 Pilot Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

(1947–1951) *

Ford Consul The Ford Consul is a car that was manufactured by Ford of Britain from 1951 until 1962. The name was later revived for a model produced by Ford in both the UK and in Germany from 1972 until 1975. Between 1951 and 1962, the Consul was the four-cy ...

(1950–1962) * Ford Zephyr/Zodiac (1951–1972) *

Ford Popular The Ford Popular, often called the Ford Pop, is a car from Ford UK that was built in England between 1953 and 1962. When launched, it was Britain's lowest priced car. The name Popular was also used by Ford to describe its 1930s Y Type model. Th ...

(1953–1962) * Ford Escort/Squire (1955–1961) *

Ford Consul Classic The Ford Consul Classic is a mid-sized car that was launched in May 1961 and built by Ford UK from 1961 to 1963. It was available in two or four door saloon form, in Standard or De Luxe versions, and with floor or column gearshift. The name F ...

(1961–1963) *

Ford Consul Capri The Ford Consul Classic is a mid-sized car that was launched in May 1961 and built by Ford UK from 1961 to 1963. It was available in two or four door saloon form, in Standard or De Luxe versions, and with floor or column gearshift. The name F ...

(1961–1964) *

Ford Cortina The Ford Cortina is a medium-sized family car that was built initially by Ford of Britain, and then Ford of Europe in various guises from 1962 to 1982, and was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s. The Cortina was produced in fiv ...

(1962–1982) *

Ford Corsair The name Ford Corsair was used both for a car produced by Ford of Britain between 1963 and 1970, and for an unrelated Nissan-based automobile marketed by Ford Australia between 1989 and 1992. Ford Consul Corsair (1963–1965), Ford Corsair V4 (19 ...

(1963–1970) * Ford Escort (1968–2000) *

Ford Capri The Ford Capri is a fastback coupé built by Ford of Europe, designed by Philip T. Clark, who was also involved in the design of the Ford Mustang. It used the mechanical components from the Mk2 Ford Cortina and was intended as the Euro ...

(1969–1986) * Ford Granada (1972–1994) *

Ford Fiesta The Ford Fiesta is a supermini car marketed by Ford since 1976 over seven generations. Over the years, the Fiesta has mainly been developed and manufactured by Ford's European operations, and has been positioned below the Escort (later the ...

(1976–present) *

Ford Sierra The Ford Sierra is a mid-size car or large family car manufactured and marketed by Ford Europe from 1982-1993, designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz and Patrick le Quément — and noted for its aerodynamic styling producing a drag coeffi ...

(1982–1993) *

Ford Orion The Ford Orion is a small family car (C-segment in Europe) that was produced by Ford Europe from 1983 until 1993. A total of 3,534,239 units were sold during the car's ten-year production life. The Ford Orion was based on the Ford Escort, but i ...

(1983–1993)

Commercial vehicles

Note – cwt is the abbreviation of hundredweight (112 pounds or 1/20 ton) *

Fordson tractor Fordson was a brand name of tractors and trucks. It was used on a range of mass-produced general-purpose tractors manufactured by Henry Ford & Son Inc from 1917 to 1920, by Ford Motor Company (U.S.) and Ford Motor Company Ltd (U.K.) from 1920 to ...

(1917–1964) * Ford Model TT 1 ton (1917–1927) *

30cwt (1928–1932) * Ford Model BB (1932–1934) *

5 cwt (1932–1937) * Thames/Fordson E83W 10cwt van and pick-up (1938–1957) * Fordson War Office Truck (WOT) **WOT 6 - 4x4 3-ton truck (1942 - 1945) **WOT 8 - 4x4 15 cwt truck (1941 - 1942 * Fordson E04C 5 cwt (1945–1948) * Fordson E494C 5 cwt (1948–1954) * Thames/Fordson 300E 5 cwt (1954) * Thames 400E 10,12,15 cwt * Thames 300E 5 & 7 cwt (1954–1961) * Thames 307E 5 & 7 cwt (1961–1967) *

Thames Trader The Thames Trader was a range of trucks manufactured by Ford UK built between 1957 and 1965. Forward Control models Design The distinctive cab design, which sets it apart from other British commercial vehicles, was a forward-control (or semi-for ...

30 cwt, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7-ton (1957–1962) * Thames Trader MkII (1962–1965) * Ford H (1962–) * Ford K (Trader rename) (1965–) * Ford Transit (1965–present) *

Ford A series The Ford A series is a range of trucks that was built by Ford of Britain, Ford UK to bridge the gap between the relatively small Ford Transit, Transit of 3.5 metric tonnes GVW and the bigger 7-tonne Ford D series, D series. In 1967, Ford made ...

(1973–1983) *

Ford D series The Ford D series is a range of middle-weight trucks that were introduced by Ford UK in 1965. It replaced the Thames Trader and appears to have been envisaged as a more modern competitor to the Bedford TK produced by General Motors' UK truck s ...

* Ford D800 * Ford D1000 (1967–) *

Ford R series The Ford R series was a range of single-decker bus and single-decker bus, single-decker coach (bus), coach chassis, built by Ford of Britain, Ford that evolved from designs made by Thames Trader until the mid-1960s. A number of components were ...

Ford Transcontinental The Ford Transcontinental is a heavy goods vehicle tractor and rigid unit that was manufactured between 1975 and 1984 by Ford Europe in the Netherlands and Britain. A total of 8735 units were produced, 8231 in Amsterdam and another 504 at the ...

(1975–1983) *

Ford Cargo The Ford Cargo is a forward control (cab-over-engine) truck model manufactured by Ford since 1981. Designed by Ford of Britain as the successor of the larger Ford Transcontinental, the Cargo entered the North American market as the intended s ...

(1981–1993)

Supercars

* Ford GT40 (1966–1968) *

Ford GT70 The Ford GT70 was a limited production sports car designed by Ercole Spada, made by Ford UK in 1970 and intended for use in the World Rally Championship. Designed to compete with high speed rally cars such as the Porsche 911 and Renault Alpine, ...

(1970–1973)

Notes

References

The Story of Ford
– The fifth largest automaker in the world and manufacturer of some of the best-selling cars of all time

External links

*

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ford Of Britain

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

Electric vehicle manufacturers of the United Kingdom British brands 1909 establishments in England Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1909 British companies established in 1909 British subsidiaries of foreign companies British Royal Warrant holders

History

1903–1918

Trafford Park

Cork

Dagenham

Formation of Ford Motor Company Limited

Europe's largest car plant

Associated companies

Ferguson tractors

World War II

Post war

1950 Dearborn buys back Ford Europe

Subsidiary of Ford Motor Company

New factories

Ford sewing machinists strike of 1968

Commercial vehicles

2013: End of production

Chairmen

Ford of Europe

Models

Passenger cars

Commercial vehicles

Supercars

See also

Notes

References

External links