Mahwah Assembly was a

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 ...

manufacturing plant in

Mahwah, New Jersey Mahwah is the northernmost and largest municipality by geographic area () in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population of the township was 25,487, a decline of 403 from the 25,890 counted in the ...

, 30 miles (48 km) from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It occupied over 172 acres.

History

The factory began operations in 1955, and was closed in 1980. It was one of three manufacturing facilities in New Jersey. It was built two years after the

Edison Assembly Edison Assembly, also known as Metuchen Assembly, was a Ford Motor Company manufacturing plant in Edison, New Jersey. It was located at 939 U.S. Route 1 and occupied over 100 acres when it was open. The factory began operations in 1948 and closed ...

plant opened and would eventually replace the

Ford Motor Company Edgewater Assembly Plant The Ford Motor Company Edgewater Assembly Plant was located in Edgewater, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The factory began operations in 1930 and was closed in 1955, having been replaced by the Mahwah Assembly plant. The building was ...

which closed in 1955. Mahwah Assembly produced 6 million cars in the 25 years it operated before the last car rolled off the line on June 20, 1980. At the time of its completion, it was the largest motor vehicle assembly plant in the United States. The Ford plant, along with other businesses such as American Brake Shoe and Foundry Company, helped contribute to the economic development of the town and its reputation for low home property taxes. The Mahwah town sports teams remain named Thunderbirds in honor of the Ford plant. A portion of the plant site was the U.S. headquarters of

Sharp Corporation is a Japanese multinational corporation that designs and manufactures electronic products, headquartered in Sakai-ku, Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. Since 2016 it has been majority owned by the Taiwan-based Foxconn Group. Sharp employs more than 5 ...

, but now is home to the US Headquarters of Jaguar/Land Rover and Amazing Savings building.

Products

Vehicles produced at the plant included the 1957 Ford,

Edsel Edsel is a discontinued division and brand of automobiles that was marketed by the Ford Motor Company from the 1958 to the 1960 model years. Deriving its name from Edsel Ford, son of company founder Henry Ford, Edsels were developed in an effor ...

Ford Fairmont The Ford Fairmont is a model line of compact cars that was manufactured by Ford from the 1978 to 1983 model years. The successor of the Ford Maverick, the Fairmont marked the third generation of compact sedans sold by Ford in North America and ...

Ford Galaxie The Ford Galaxie is a full-sized car that was built in the United States by Ford for model years 1959 through to 1974. The name was used for the top models in Ford's full-size range from 1958 until 1961, in a marketing attempt to appeal to the e ...

, Ford Granada, Ford LTD,

Ford Thunderbird The Ford Thunderbird (colloquially called the T-Bird) is a personal luxury car produced by Ford from model years 1955 until 1997 and 2002 until 2005 across 11 distinct generations. Introduced as a two-seat convertible, the Thunderbird was pro ...

Lincoln Versailles The Lincoln Versailles is a mid-size luxury car that was marketed by Lincoln from the 1977 to 1980 model years. The first Lincoln introduced outside of the full-size segment, the Versailles is a rebranded version of the Ford Granada and Mer ...

Mercury Colony Park The Mercury Colony Park is an American Luxury car, luxury full-size station wagon that was marketed by the Mercury (automobile), Mercury division of Ford Motor Company between 1957 and 1991. Distinguished by its Woodie (car body style), simulated ...

Mercury Meteor The Mercury Meteor is an automobile that was produced by Mercury (automobile), Mercury from the 1961 to 1963 model years. Adopting its nameplate from the Meteor (automobile), namesake Ford of Canada brand, the Meteor was introduced as the base- ...

Mercury Monarch The Mercury Monarch is a compact automobile that was marketed by the Mercury division of Ford from the 1975 to 1980 model years. Designed as the original successor for the Mercury Comet, the Monarch was marketed as a luxury compact vehicle; al ...

and the

Mercury Zephyr The Ford Fairmont is a model line of compact cars that was manufactured by Ford from the 1978 to 1983 model years. The successor of the Ford Maverick, the Fairmont marked the third generation of compact sedans sold by Ford in North America and ...

Popular culture

Bruce Springsteen's 1982 song "

Johnny 99 ''Johnny 99'' is the 69th album by American country singer Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records in 1983. It is notable for including two covers of Bruce Springsteen songs, " Highway Patrolman" and " Johnny 99". "I'm Ragged but I'm Right ...

" mentions the closure of the Mahwah plant in its opening line.

References

External links

Mahwah Museum
{{Ford factories Ford factories Former motor vehicle assembly plants Mahwah, New Jersey Motor vehicle assembly plants in New Jersey 1950 establishments in New Jersey 1980 disestablishments in New Jersey

History

Products

Popular culture

See also

References

External links