Stroker Shootout! Ford vs. Mopar 408S - Master Engine Ep 11.
The 1930s were full of fascinating experiences and classic exotic multicylinder, but few cars of that era were more important and more influential than the humble Ford flathead V8 cheap, pretty and fast, it launched the American fascination with cheap V8 engines and has spawned countless hot rods and customs This week we look at the 1932 Ford, 1933 1940 his successors, and the story of the famous final triumph Ford flathead V8 Henry Ford and the beginning of his fall .
Throughout his life, Henry Ford was a great admirer of the legendary inventor Thomas Alva Edison Ford had worked for Edison Illumination Company 1891-1899 and Edison himself had encouraged Ford in the design of his first car Ford and Edison later became friends, Edison and remained one of the greatest heroes of Ford throughout his life in 1925, Ford actually bought the old Edison laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey, and he had painstakingly recreated Dearborn, Michigan Greenfield Village.
While Thomas Edison was and often still is considered the inventor before all of America, its methods were surprisingly unscientific, based not on the hypothesis and experiment, but the exhaustive testing and errors, often delegated to a staff meagerly paid workers employed According time and longtime enemy Nikola Tesla, who wrote a scathing obituary published in the New York times the day after the death of Edison, Edison favored the process concrete, inventive material, however imperfectly or incorrectly executed on academic notions of science, he considered both distrust and disdain Tesla was hardly a neutral observer on the subject of Edison, but these characterizations are a essential part of the Edison mythology as American folk hero a self-taught native genius for an anti-intellectual culture deeply and, we believe, the root of the admiration of Henry Ford.
Henry Ford was a man too self Although he rose to become one of the richest individuals in the world, he was raised as a poor farmer with little formal education and throughout his life he has kept open contempt for the academic and intellectual Nevertheless, in the mid-twenties, many people were already called him a genius years later, it would be mentioned in the same breath as Edison, which would undoubtedly happy Ford greatly.
Perhaps no one was more convinced of the brilliance of Henry Ford Henry himself Such confidence is understandable given his achievements, he put Americans on wheels and revolutionized the mass production process John Dahlinger who claimed to be the author son later told illegitimate Henry David Halberstam Henry himself once described as the author of the modern industrial era demand, not without justice, it must be said, but who says long ego Henry.
The consequence of this self-perception was growing isolation Over the years later, Henry was surrounded by yes-men primarily as CEO Harry Bennett safety and the only qualities that he really enjoyed his staff were the loyalty and obedience that his company as a company are less than an industrial monarchy; titles and hierarchy, where they existed at all, were subject to personal whim Henry.
Henry Ford was primarily a Supreme Autocrat, it can sometimes be talked into something or tricked into changing his mind, but discuss with him was dangerous, he was known to pull the men just to have the air too bright or have too many ideas of their own even Edsel Ford, the only son of Henry, was not spared, sometimes suffering humiliating abuse for daring to express an opinion his father didn not like.
often said that Henry has stood for innovation, he was stubbornly opposed to the four-wheel brakes, and later hydraulic brakes It clung to the beam axle on springs to cross blades long after most of the industry had adopted an independent front suspension it is abhorred sliding speed transmissions itself has not learned to use until the late and introduced a conventional gearbox on the model only under duress while often justified as recalcitrant in terms that sounded conservative, we believe that Henry was not so afraid of innovation as it does not want to follow someone else LEAD Ford stuck due to box strange planetary gear Model T, for example, is that Henry hoped to introduce a self-shifting planetary transmission that would have allowed him to jump all rivals in its own mind, Henry Ford was a genius, and geniuses did not follow the crowd.
In the early twenties, the great dream of Henry Ford was to develop a radical new car to replace the Model T of the elderly, which was dangerously close to outlive its usefulness X car expected was to be powered by a radial engine eight cylinders, X-8 Ford has been working on this design from 1922 to 1926, but it never worked satisfactorily; while radians air cooled were frequent on airplanes after the Second World War, the configuration has posed an insurmountable cooling and oiling problems for cars.
Henry was not easily deterred, but in 1926, he finally admitted that the X-8 was a lost cause later this year, he reluctantly approved the creation of a replacement through four cylinders for the Model T , which became the model A.
Model A, introduced in late 1927, is the successor to Ford T model, powered by a 201 cu in 3285 cc four with 40 HP 30 kilowatts Unlike the Model T, Model A has a transmission with three standard speeds , the design of which has been closely linked to the transmission used in the contemporary Lincoln.
Henry hadn t given up the idea of an eight low price, however, and in 1928 he ordered engineer James C. Smith to start working on a V8 engine This project took on a new urgency a year later, Chevrolet presented its first six -cylinder engine Although both Ford Edsel and production boss Charlie Sorenson strongly called for Ford to introduce its own six, Henry only concession was to allow preliminary development work without commitment to production, he was not interested in sixes; in his mind, Ford would have a V8 or nothing.
Despite its commitment to offer an affordable V8, practical knowledge of Henry Ford for this engine configuration was surprisingly limited, after the V8 program began in earnest, he told Fred Thoms collecting and dismantling of rival designs for study the current state of the art.
The V8 engine was not very common in the twenties and early thirties Cadillac, of course, had used the V8 engines since before World War II and both Lincoln and briefly Chevrolet was adopted after the war, but most preferred automakers a pair of inline six and eight straight V8 engines were then introduced several significant practical problems, including the fact that the cylinder block was much more difficult to manufacture than an inline engine casting block V8 engine in one piece stretched the limits of contemporary technology, so more contemporary V8 blocks were assembled in several pieces and then bolted together, which was time consuming and expensive.
A second issue is the smoothness with a simple flat crankshaft plane 180 degrees, a V8 is essentially two ovens inline Siamese, multiplying rather than minimize the resulting jolt During this same period, briefly GM adopted flat V8s aircraft for Viking Oldsmobile short lived companion to Oakland and Pontiac, but the engines were rough and unrefined and were quickly ended the other, that Cadillac had adopted in 1923 was the split-plane crank 90 degrees with a counterweight with each stroke which is considerably smoother than a flat plane engine similar if slightly less powerful, but the crankshaft split plan was also more expensive and complicated to produce.
Such obstacles by developing a viable V8 for low cost, mass production car was a challenge and Henry Ford will make it easier Counting early works of Jimmy Smith, Ford had a total of four different teams working on V8 at different times, all under the personal supervision and everyone ignoring largely on their respective efforts of each Henry team was micromanaged by Henry himself, who often complicated engineers work with its arbitrary and sometimes irrational whims.
One of them, which proved caused the loss of the initial design of Smith, was the lack of will of Henry to allow the use of a water pump We are not sure that he was concerned about the potential problems patent license or if he had to decide that thermosiphon could do the same work for less money, but anyway, the absence of a water pump motor does impassable Henry eventually abandoned design altogether rather than allow Smith to develop it further.
In May 1930, Henry Arnold Soth attributed to begin again, which completely new 299 cu in 4905 cc engine with a 60 degree tilt angle of 90 degrees rather than the theoretically ideal This also proved unfeasible; Vee narrow angle created problems with balance and lubrication was hopelessly inadequate as Henry prohibits the use of an oil pump It was a step back curious, since the model had four ike a conventional oil pump but Henry was so adamant about it that he almost pulled engineer Gene Farkas to take him to design a suitable pump.
These issues were the one led by Carl Schultz, in collaboration with Fred Thoms and Ray Laird to start largely from scratch As Soth engine another impasse, if Henry left again and set up another team before every detail has been dictated by Henry Ford himself and allowed his engineers little leeway, vigorously opposing any deviation from its specifications engineers worked from sketches rather than appropriate drawings Henry who could barely read, in all cases and machined most parts themselves the work was exhausting, continues seven days a week, and engineers rarely left even to sleep.
As Tesla said later of Edison's methods, many Ford problems during this difficult period could have been avoided or at least mitigated by a more methodical, less Edisonian development, but Henry remained adamant He was a shortly before conceded the need for pressure lubrication without the V8 would most likely not to produce more, he was so paranoid about the possibility of information leakage from the engine to competitors that allowed only its own employees to talk to them about the project.
Schultz and Laird Thoms finally produced two prototype engines, one of 299 cubic inches displacement April 9 L and the other 233 cu in 3 8 L Both V8s were 90 degrees with three main bearings Like many contemporary American engines, they used a L -Head setting flathead page with two intake valves and exhaust in the block the block itself has been molded as a single piece it was not a first Viking and Oakland V-8s already sold by this point, had also blocks one piece of GM, but it was still a notable achievement Unfortunately, it was also extremely annoying, thanks in large part to the lack of specific procedures According foundry Charlie Sorensen, nearly half of all raw castings had to be scrapped due to inaccurate placement basis.
In an L-head flat head engine, the intake and exhaust valves are located in the block rather in the head, which is little more than a cover for Flatheads combustion chambers are cheaper and easier to manufacture than OHV engines OHV, but the thermal efficiency is low and their respiratory volumetric efficiency leaves much to be desired; Admission mixture and exhaust gas must follow a circuitous route in and out of copyright diagram cylinders.
The V8 had a number of specific design quirks, most of them imposed by Henry himself exhaust was routed by block outboard exhaust manifolds, making for packaging tidy and a quick winter warm engine, but has contributed to persistent overheating problems Compounding those was an unusual cooling system; Henry had finally authorized the use of not one but two water pumps, but instead of pumping cold water through the block in the conventional manner, they have been designed to take the hot coolant of the game Other than the block unusual features included a dispenser with a novel, but the annoying integral ignition coil executed by Emil Zoerlein to the direction of Henry and a simple single plane intake manifold, which was cheaper than the two collectors the most common plans V8 engines, but could not provide a homogeneous mixture to all the cylinders such oddities were a product of the stubborn faith of Ford in his own instincts, which was not always justified.
The larger engine was eventually scrapped and Schultz and Laird-bored smallest V8 221 cu 3622 cc, which left more metal between the cylinder bores Laird designed thereafter an even smaller version 136 cubic inches displacement 2227 cc, who made his England debut in 1935 and the United States two years later, Henry Ford is committed to the new engines production in December 1931.
road tests, usually under the direction of Ray Dahlinger whose principal occupation is managing family farms Ford, that development was no less risky Far from an analytical assessment of vehicle performance, tests were primarily focused on determining whether parts would break in severe use which was of course an important consideration, especially for customers in rural areas with unpaved roads, but Ford engineers were constantly frustrated by the lack of test data Henry Ford was careless with convincing these subtleties; like the farmer he was working, he could not see wasting time or money tinkering with things that weren t broken.
Perhaps the ultimate sign Henry quirk and one of the most disconcerting was the one related by Harry Bennett After months of intense secrecy in which he threatened to shoot anyone who spoke out on V8, Henry himself has personally unveiled the prototype General Motors president Alfred P Sloan Henry ego outweighed his sense of caution or if the secret was never designed to facilitate this piece of staging not even Bennett seems to have been safe.
This is a Ford flathead V8 later, differ in the number of head bolts 24 instead of 21 for the engines before 1938 noted that the unusual distributor, driven from the camshaft and the single exhaust manifold on the side of the head Available flathead engines, the exhaust of the row of left cylinder extends forwardly to a cross pipe on the right side not shown here, which allows the use of a single pipe exhaust and muffler picture Fordflathead 2008 Herranderssvensson Anders Svensson; resized and used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3 0 Unported.
When he publicly announced the new engine in an interview with the Detroit News in early February 1932, Henry Ford surprised many observers by explaining that the V8 would not appear in a new car in average price, analysts of industry had predicted, but a new low -priced model that will soon replace the recently late model A.
In fact, some within Ford, including Edsel was Henry already pushing to introduce a standard car prices between Ford and Lincoln, but this effort would not be realized for six and a half years because of the economic depression deteriorates, which was perhaps just as well, but the truth is that Henry was simply not interested in providing such a car despite his great wealth, his main concern remained cheap cars for people of the working class and particularly farmers; even Lincoln, Ford had bought in 1922 had been primarily the domain of Edsel According to Henry, the central aim of V8 was always to outweigh Chevrolet, not to join the herd because of the middle class.
The 1932 Ford himself was publicly revealed in late March and began to appear in showrooms on April 2 Their launch has attracted widespread national attention, largely because the model A was actually production for nearly six months and Ford customers dealers were wondering anxiously what would take its place while Chevrolet had surpassed Ford in sales volume in 1931, Ford was still a lot of loyal customers and prospects eight cheap attracted great interest and thousands of advance orders.
The new cars themselves have made a strong impression For one, they were rather pretty, with a style that recalls the great Lincoln a point that we will discuss later The main attraction, of course, was the new V8 engine, but there were also other attractions that you are no longer required to manually advance the spark, second and third gears are now synchronized, and a conventional fuel tank had replaced the gravity feed tank canopy model which was both complex to manufacture and fire hazard in a crash.
The 1932 Fords were divided into two series four-cylinder model B and model V8 18, both available with a wide choice of body styles Model B, offered mainly to prevent problems with either acceptance public or the production of the new V8, used a much improved version of the model 201 familiar cu in 3285 cc four, which now makes as 50 hp 37 kilowatts model 18 was the V8, which displaced 221 cu in 3622 cc and makes an advertisement 65 hp 49 kilowatts and 130 lb-ft 176 Nm torque.
As was customary for Ford, new cars were still very affordable; in fact, the cheapest 1932 Model B Roadster was actually 20 less than the equivalent 1931 model A model costs 50 18 more than the equivalent model B, but was still aggressive pricing, costing only 15 more a 1932 Chevrolet and comparable undercutting by almost 100 Plymouth If it seems trivial now, note that Ford's price advantage over Plymouth equivalent to almost 1500 dollars adjusted for inflation modern.
This is a jump seat roadster Ford Model B 1932 Distinguished convertible a little more by its folding windshield Model B was almost identical to the outside of the model V8 18, sharing its 165 5 inches total length 4,204mm and 106- inch wheelbase of 2,692mm, but was a little lighter and cheaper 50 Photos 1932 Ford Model B 2007 Don O Brien; used with permission.
The four-cylinder model B was anemic compared to rivals Chevrolet and Plymouth, but the model 18 was another case the flathead V8 was not significantly more powerful than 194 cu in Chevy 3184 cc 60 hp with six 45 kW or 196 cu Plymouth 3213 cc 65 hp four with 49 kW and V8 Ford were up to 280 lb 127 kg lighter than a competitor, making for a much better power-to-weight the coach of Great -Bretagne found that a Ford V8 convertible could reach a top speed of nearly 80 mph 126 km h for bargains a cheap car of the time Ford was agile, too, although she was not particularly calm or smooth.
Despite its mixed acceleration model B accounted for nearly 76,000 sales in 1932, against more than 179000 V8s While the V8 was clearly the more popular of the two engines, its early production problems meant there first few to go around more, while the price premium V8 50 was quite reasonable, there was still a lot of money for the buyers of the working class in the depths of the Great depression, particularly in an engine completely new and untried.
Engine Model B was a heavily revised version of the four used in the model At Its bore and stroke are the same, but there was a new crankshaft, larger bearings, a compression ratio over a still modest 4 6 1, and a larger carburetor Although Ford announced it to 50 hp, the raw score was actually 52 hp 39 kW against only 40 hp 30 kW for model Photo Ford model B-February 2007 Don O Brien; used with permission.
If buyers are wary of the new V8, they had a reason Rushing a new engine in mass production in just 16 months would have been bold even if the process of development and testing was less erratic In a taped interview with Owen Bombard early fifties, engineer Larry Sheldrick complained that Ford had used mainly to customers to test that should have been done by the factory.
Fords 1935-1936 were the last designed by Briggs Mfg stylist Phil Wright designed the very successful 1935 model, while the car was facelifted in 1936 by Bob Koto noted small grids in the fender spats; these cover the two horns included with the level of finish DeLuxe.
The first V8 cracking problems were many Bloc was common and the piston failure has become almost routine oil consumption was often solid; without frequent camp, the total capacity of 4 Quarterfinal 3 8 liters can be consumed before the first fuel tank disappeared The fuel pump was subject to vapor lock in the summer and freezing in the winter Overheating remained a constant problem, especially the highly stressed business models.
Some, though not all, of these problems have been corrected in the first year or two of production Charlie Sorenson has developed new methods of casting which relieved the block cracking problems, while Henry Ford relented on quelques- some of its less prosperous design requirements, including the intake manifold single plan and, in 1937, water pumps high-rise in 1934, the V8 became a reasonably capable engine confidence, although Ford has continued to make changes running throughout the life of the flathead V8 usually, but not always for the better.
Teething pain did not affect the popularity of the V8, which quickly took off once the first production delays have been resolved Sales Model B dwindled rapidly after 1932 and Ford dropped entirely in March 1934, but it took less than a year to sell a million V8s In June 1940, the total had reached 7 million.
Wind wings were included on the roadster Ford DeLuxe 1936, but the side windows are not; note snaps to the side curtains not equipped here This car wears a genuine work tan Cordoba Poppy painting thin red stripes tan Cordoba, incidentally, was the only factory color available for breaks at the moment .
Ford brochures said the new V8 has set a new standard for performance in mass market cars and became even more true that Ford has begun to address problems early with greater engine reliability, engineers found more power 75 hp 56 kW 1933 85 hp 63 kW Then, for reasons that remain obscure to us, Ford claimed 90 hp 67 kW at 1936, but returned to score 85 hP l next year While Ford has never had a great advantage over Chevrolet and Plymouth rated power, he was still the fastest member of the three at low prices.
Ford cars have increased steadily over throughout the thirty The 1936 models were 8 inches 182 4642 mm long wheelbase of 2,845mm 112 inches 17 3 inches 438 mm longer and 280 lb 127 kg more as 32 which is one of the reasons have long hot rodders preferred 32 Ford from 1935 springs Ford transverse blades have been mounted outside of the axles, which increases the spring base in search of a smoother ride Brakes were still mechanical, Ford announced proudly feature safer than hydraulic.
Even in shares, V8 Ford were quickly adopted by customers performance-minded The infamous bank robbers John Dillinger, Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker favored fords for quick getaways, although the well-known telegram Dillinger claimed sent to Henry Ford was apparently a hoax rodders were even the most enthusiastic people had jumped up model T and model, mainly because they did not cost cheap and readily available, but the V8 provided a much better basis for a modest investment of time and money, the Ford flathead could be done to produce much more than its nominal power by the end of the thirties, there was a cottage industry increasingly churning performance parts for Ford V8s ranging from camshafts and intake manifolds to more exotic changes like Ardun dev OHV heads eloppés by Corvette engineer Zora future Arkus -Duntov Ford 136 small cubes 2227 cc V8-60, added in 1937, had fans of its own Although it was low power in stock form, it later became very popular in midget racing.
the popularity of Flathead increased after the war with the buyers want new cars, pre-war V8 Ford decent race could be had for as little as 15, part of the reason why it has become so pervasive in hot rod postwar and custom scene.
In a time later, Ford Motor Company certainly would have favored this sporty image, but Henry Ford was never interested in marketing or promotions, leaving advertising decisions for Edsel Ford announces While thirties made mention of seemly rapid pickup V8, they were just as likely to focus on practicality, urban road behavior, or a chic style.
Such as marketing, product style thirties Ford was also the area of Edsel Edsel Ford was a man very different from his father, who has become the strength and fall of two Edsel Although n ' has never been to college, Edsel grew up in circumstances much more comfortable than his father and was much better educated All who knew Edsel described as soft-spoken and reserved like his father, Edsel had great confidence in his own judgment, but he had not the character of Henry or caprice.
This is a roadster Ford DeLuxe 1936, one of 21 different Ford models offered this year was estimated at 550 Like many open cars of the time, not a few cuts, it has a folding seat for occasional rear passengers.
While the same mood Edsel has done wonders for its relations with its employees, it did little to endear him to his father Henry Ford had worked hard to give her son a better life, but he also feared that it had low and soft Edsel in response, Henry bullied relentlessly Edsel, apparently hoping it would somehow harden Some longtime Ford employee and family friends were horrified by the treatment of his son Henry and many of them thought that it contributed to the early death of Edsel others, more concerned with courting Henry's favor, tended to reject Edsel and paid him the symbolic respect despite its titular role as chairman of the company.
Edsel was highly respected for his refined tastes It sponsored Detroit mural Industry of Diego Rivera, the defense of artistic merit, even if he personally despised Marxist Rivera themes generosity of Edsel and his wife, Eleanor Clay Ford, finally made the Ford Foundation, a leading supporter of the arts world.
With its beautiful aesthetic sense, Edsel had much idea of automotive style that his father was the elder Ford attitude towards style ranged from disinterest to contempt, if the style has become one of the areas in which it has Edsel allowed considerable autonomy the only time Henry actively undermined the Edsel style decisions was the design of the model a, which Henry thought the roof was too low when the engineer Joe Galamb he raised as Henry led Henry decided it looked awful and leave Edsel have his way.
Despite the modest price Ford 1936, its cars of that era had an abundance of interesting little details like rear lights mounted on rod and integrated stage perfectly for rumble passenger twin taillights were standard on DeLuxe models but not on standard-trim cars.
Ford Motor Company did not have an internal design studio until mid thirties for Lincoln, Edsel commissioned coachbuilders like Dietrich Brunn LeBaron and in the design of body, sometimes based on its detailed suggestions, although considered Edsel and as chief engineer Harry Lincoln Crecelius in turn licensed some of these models that factory customs with production cycles up to 100 cars Many early thirties Ford, meanwhile, were designed by Briggs Manufacturing Company and refined by engineer Joe Ford Galamb body to the direction of Edsel.
As for the 1932 Ford, some accounts suggest that it was developed by Galamb based on recent Lincoln organisms indices; it certainly looks like it Others say the 32 Ford was designed by Ralph Roberts and his team at Briggs, as some sources claim was based on a rejected design Plymouth If the latter is true, we suspect Edsel did not know this subject; while he was happy to borrow Lincoln indices, it was not for stealing other manufacturers design elements in all cases, the 32 Ford was an effective and pleasing design that became the basis of many future custom cars.
In January 1931, Ford hired designer Bob Gregorie Then only 22, Gregorie had worked for Brewster, Dietrich and GM Color Art section Although technically reported Harry Crecelius, Gregorie really worked for Edsel Ford, who put almost immediately to work designing the 1932 Y model for the British subsidiary of Ford design Gregorie entered production with minimal changes and Edsel designer Clare Kramer then ordered to scale upwards for 1933 and 1934 American Ford Michael Lamm argues persuasively that it was a strong influence on traction Before Citroen launched in March 1934.
Although the 1935 and 1936 restyled Ford were designed by Briggs, Edsel was very satisfied with the work of Gregorie, which also included an elegant speedster boattail for personal use Edsel During the holidays in Florida in January 1935, Edsel called Gregorie and him asked to set up an in-house design studio style two fords and Lincolns in a year, the young studio had about a dozen employees, recruited from either Ford or Briggs most were modelers and designers ; for a while, Gregorie was the only stylist.
First Gregorie had many problems with the technical staff, which was almost as dismissive style as Henry Ford was, but Edsel finally convinced Charlie Sorenson leaving gregorie and only his people after that Sorenson has become much more useful, the establishment of an independent studio for the use of the design team.
Stylists call the area between the front fender and the hood of the bridge elegant chrome-ringed vents add a touch racy and help maintain freshness V8 flathead hot weather.
Although Ford's design studio has never been as big or as powerful as the art of Harley Earl Color GM, Gregorie and his group have created a number of memorable models and the most famous are the influential Lincoln Zephyr and Lincoln Continental original began as another car for Edsel staff, but even the fords workaday this period are very interesting, demonstrating the competence of Gregorie and Edsel discerning eyes.
All these works were held with little or no participation of Henry Ford himself Bob Gregorie said later the historian Dave Crippen Henry found a frustrating style; it held little interest for him.
Ford interiors are not fancy, even in the DeLuxe balance, but the banjo moddish style wheel option, even on cars DeLuxe adds a sporty touch DeLuxe car had full instrumentation and an odometer, and notes the shift lever ground course with a non-stock change button 1940, Ford dropped it in favor of the handle of the column then in fashion.
Even with the V8, it took until 1934 Ford to pull even with Chevrolet for sale and until 1935 to regain the number one location Although Ford has remained the most sold car plate America until 1938 the margin was often narrow and Ford didn t regain the top slot again after the war.
Ironically, Ford large commercial forces during this period were in the Henry Ford areas hadn t be considered, such as performance or didn t care about, like the style V8 was his last great success; Ford had lost touch with the market, he ordered once.
Henry grew more obstinate as he approached his 75th birthday in 1938 and there were signs that his stubbornness may have been a sign of dementia Although he finally consented to the use of hydraulic brakes, he wasted years on a five-cylinder engine aborted rather than les six Edsel still insisted they needed Edsel finally ordered Larry Sheldrick to design a six-cylinder engine, but the elder Ford insisted on developing a design head-cam in competition, perhaps always looking for something that would reaffirm its engineering prowess the OHC engine failure and was Sheldrick s six entered production, replacing the smaller V8 for 1941 Henry saw this as a betrayal by Sheldrick and probably contributed to the Sheldrick firing in 1943, although the most immediate provocation was the discovery of Henry Sheld rick and Edsel had been discussing postwar drawing with the grand-son of Henry, Henry Ford II, without the permission of Henry.
This 1940 Ford DeLuxe break shows its frontal styling, an awkward lifting of the beautiful 39 with new headlights Ford practical sealed beam at that time was to use the previous year DeLuxe style as standard the following year, which 1940 standard cars left looking a little better than their more expensive peers over that period, Ford has been the industry leader in the breaks, but they were still considered commercial vehicles sold in modest numbers frontal styling is shared with the sedan, though the body to the back cover is of course quite different.
Towards the end of his life, Henry Ford became increasingly dependent Chief Harry Bennett safety, which had been the strong man arms and Ford union buster since 1917 Bennett fueled paranoia of his boss for himself, taking him to protect the old man of all enemies, real or imagined a category that conveniently included someone who threatened the power of Henry Bennett or the position has given enormous latitude Bennett, even Edsel, whose health was poorer.
While in his 40s, Edsel had suffered for years from recurring stomach ulcers and in 1942 was diagnosed with cancer of the stomach His condition deteriorated rapidly, exacerbated by a fit of undulant fever, was contracted after drinking unpasteurized milk from a farm family he died on 26 May 1943 at the age of 49 at his death, his father took over the role of the president, the position Edsel had held at least name since 1919. a week later, he named Harry Bennett to the board.
Although Henry Ford haï Franklin Roosevelt and had little enthusiasm for the war, the Ford Motor Company was one of the largest contractors in wartime America time executive William Ford Big Bill Knudsen, who led advisory of the national Defense Commission of the Roosevelt administration had focused on with Edsel and was uncomfortable about the ramifications of the death of Edsel and more possible dementia Henry, he was almost 80 years S ' he died or was incapacitated, it was possible that Ford Motor Company would collapse, which would be strategically disastrous, or control fall to Harry Bennett, Knudsen not considered an acceptable alternative.
Eleanor Clay Ford, Edsel's widow, and Clara Ford, Henry's wife, did not like this idea that Knudsen made in August 1943, they organized for Henry Ford II, the eldest son of Edsel be released from the Navy in December, young Henry Ford officially became a vice president.
The intention was to Henry Ford II, while 26 years to become an apprentice to his grandfather Harry Bennett and Charlie Sorenson had other ideas and made every effort to close the young Henry on attacking and belittling the constantly how they had his father young Henry had allies, including the head of sales John Davis, but the grandfather Henry offered little help now and then, the elder Henry's confidence in Bennett was unshakable although Bennett managed to turn it against Sorenson, who was forced to retire in 1944 Henry's frail physical health didn t help; he suffered a stroke in early 1945.
According to author David Halberstam, it was Eleanor and Clara who finally broke the deadlock, with Henry with an ultimatum If he would not resign and let his son take-little real control of society, Eleanor would sell all she and Ford Edsel stock, representing approximately 45 of the total company shares and allow foreigners to take a hand Although it is little question Eleanor and Clara were appalled by the situation, Henry Ford II himself even denied that story; He argued that it was he and a small group of allies, including Davis and John Bugas, who convinced Henry that his eldest day was done.
Anyway, the result was the same Henry Ford reluctantly announced his resignation on September 21, and Henry Ford II, while 27 years, became president Bennett was the next to go, followed by several of his henchmen with their output, young Henry began the difficult task of reconstruction and reorganization.
Henry Ford died April 7, 1947 If left her little son a ruined business, losing a terrific amount of money each month and in this organizational chaos that comes to assess the extent of the financial crisis is a Recognizing the major business beyond its capacity, Henry Ford II hired former Bendix executive Ernest R Breech as its executive vice president and de facto regent Ford then hired a host of former GM executives and designers and a group of young ex-military officers known as light Whiz Kids of which we spoke in our article on the Ford Falcon They spent the next decade put the company on a more orthodox basis, financially responsible, Conservative course.
Bob Gregorie did not last long at Ford after the death of his boss; he was fired at the end of 1943 In 1944, he returned at the request of Henry Ford II, but they never developed the same kind of pleasant working relationship Gregorie had with Edsel Henry Ford and Ernie Breech were uncomfortable with gregorie postwar drawings and housing was short, he resigned in December 1946 and moved to Florida, where he became a yacht designer; Ford's latest designs were the 1949 Mercury and Lincoln.
The small V8-60 disappeared in 1940 after American Fords, but continued to be used by Ford European subsidiaries In 1954, Ford sold its French operation to Simca, which continued to make and use the 136 cu in 2227 cc V8 until 1960.
The V8 flathead more, enlarged to 239 cu in 3910 cc Ford Mercury and post-war, remained the pillar of Ford and in the 1950s From 1948, there was also a 337 cu strengthened in 5518 DC version used in heavy trucks and 1949-1951 Lincolns US production of flathead ended in 1953, although Ford Ford Australia and Canada have continued to produce for another year as the small V8, Ford licensed then the engine Simca head flat, which built fleshed-up versions for military trucks to the early 1990s.
This dented and rusty specimen is a sedan Ford Mainline 1953 Tudor, one of the last US fords to carry the familiar V8 flathead The latest six-cylinder has similar performance and better fuel economy, but many buyers preferred the V8, which now claims 110 hp 256 cu Mercurys 82 kilowatts in 4194 cc version of the 125 hp flathead 93 kW but this version was not available in Fords, at least as equipment for factory.
Even today, it remains a thriving business in the regions Flathead hop-up Ford, but Ford after OHV V8s never developed the same faithful in 1955, the new Chevy V8 captured the imagination of the crowd hot rodder, a Ford didn t really market recover until 5 0 L Fox Mustangs nearly 30 years later.
The reign of Henry Ford II, who retired in 1980 and died in 1987, was in many ways the diametrical opposite of the days of his grandfather under Henry II, Ford emphasized all Henri Ier had disdained values such as marketing and financial controls; the company became financially responsible for a fault result, however, was the loss of most of the strengths of the previous era to new capacity of the entire company in product development, Ford rarely innovated the style Its specialized or engineering models, like the Thunderbird and Mustang was attractive, but the style of bread and butter products Ford was generally staid Ford was good with small details, such as keys and double-sided smart hatchbacks two ways to station wagons, but there was no great leaps as the flathead V8 in technology, Ford invented more he refined; he no longer leads, he followed.
The tragedy Henry Ford I and we are inclined to look at it as a kind of Greek tragedy is that, in some respects, he was a genius, he was just a human model by many cruel and sometimes sadistic stories, anti Semite and a tyrant, but many of his ideas on manufacturing and transportation at low cost have been legitimately revolutionary problem was that he was not the kind of genius, he thought he was; it was not Thomas Edison more he became convinced that he was, the more he blinded to his real talent Cost is important, it undermined his own son, did almost the same thing to his grand-son, and came dangerously close to ruining the company he had worked so hard to build.
It is tempting to wonder what would have happened if Henry Ford had cultivated his personal and his son as allies rather than treating them like servants and if he has not retreated into paranoid, insular self-justifying Some his wild ideas may well have worked even if he does not know how to work the course, the fortunes of the Ford Motor company would have been very different and perhaps the US company would have taken another course as well instead , Detroit and finally the rest of the business community decided it had enough engineers and stubborn nonconformist entrepreneurs to build the automotive industry, retreating to the comforting predictability and easier to manage accounting ambitions and men finances.
While we can admire t Henry Ford man, we are inclined to think that the world needs visionaries, people who are willing to swim against the tide and create new paradigms Unfortunately, the modern world has little place and less patience for those dreamers, and we believe that the excesses and irrationality people like Henry Ford had something to do with what his achievements were undoubtedly great, but the shadow of his failures made proven long indeed.
Our sources on the life of Henry Ford and the development of Ford vehicles included cars of Consumer Guide editors, cars that have never existed Prototypes Skokie, IL International Publications, 1981 Encyclopedia of American cars more than 65 years of automotive history Lincolnwood, IL international publications, 1996; Harry Bennett Paul Marcus, we never called Henry Fawcett Publications, New York, 1951; Douglas Brinkley, Wheels for Henry Ford World, his company, and a Century of Progress New York Viking Press, 2003; Arch Brown comparisonReport 1931 Chevrolet, Ford and Plymouth, Special Interest Autos 77 September-October 1983 reproduced in the book of Hemmings Fords driveReports prewar Special Interest Autos magazine eds Terry and Richard Ehrlich Lentinello Bennington, VT Hemmings Motor News, 2001; Dominant Rivalries, Special Interest Autos 174 November-December 1999, reprinted in ibid, pp 52-67; 1932 Ford Model B Model A Son, Special Interest Autos 130 July-August 1992, reprinted in ibid, pp 30-35; 1941 Lincoln Continental Ford Edsel Legacy, Special Interest Autos 122 March-April 1991, reprinted in the book Hemmings Lincolns driveReports special magazine Autos interest under the direction of Terry Ehrich and Richard Lentinello Bennington, VT Hemmings Motor News, 2002, pp 28-35; and SIA comparisonReport 1941 Chevrolet, Ford and Plymouth, Special Interest Autos 69 May-June 1982, reproduced in the book of Hemmings pp 108-115 Prewar Fords; Arch Brown, Richard Langworth, and the Auto Editors of Consumer Guide, great cars of the 20th century Lincolnwood, IL Publications International, Ltd. 1998; David R Crippen T Reminiscences Eugene Gregorie, February 4, 1985 Automotive Design Oral History Project, 1673 membership, Benson Ford Research Center, edu transcription, accessed October 25, 2009; James M Flammang, David L Lewis, and the Auto Editors of Consumer Guide, Ford Chronicle A form Pictorial History 1893 Lincolnwood, IL Publications International, 1992; Ken Gross, 1939 Henry Ford Woody Wagon Lumber Lovable, Special Interest Autos 63 May-June 1981, reproduced in the book Hemmings pp 92-99 prewar Fords and Ford 1940 The Liberator, Cars Special Interest 33 March- April 1976 reprinted in ibid, pp 100-103; David Halberstam, The Reckoning New York, William Morrow and Company, 1986; Maurice Hendry Standard Cadillac World Full Story fourth Princeton, NJ Automobile Quarterly, 1990; Dave Holls and Michael Lamm, an automotive style century 100 years of American Car Design Stockton, CA Lamm Morada Publishing Co Inc 1997; Tim Howley, SIA comparisonReport The new and the old Ford 1952 Six vs V-8, Cars Special Interest 143 September-October 1994, reprinted in Hemmings Motor News Book of Postwar pp 28-38 Ford, and 1953 Ford Flathead The Final , Special interest Autos 56 March-April 1980 reprinted in ibid, pp 40-47; Lee Iacocca, Iacocca autobiography New York Bantam Books, 1984; John Katz, Fabulous Flathead, Special Interest Autos 178 July-August 2000, reproduced in the book of Hemmings pp 86-92 prewar Fords; Beverly Rae Kimes, ed Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 Second Edition Iola, WI Krause Publications, Inc. 1989; Michael Lamm, Henry Ford mechanical Last Triumph which was based in part on interviews taped with engineers Gene Farkas, Fred Thoms and Larry Sheldrick, led by Owen Bombard Ford Archive between 1951 and 1958, Cars Special Interest 21 March-April 1974 reproduced in the book Hemmings pp 36-43 prewar fords; Model A The birth of car interest, Ford Special Interim Cars 18 August to October, 1973 reprinted in ibid pp 12-21; 1932 Pontiac V-8, special interest Cars October 13-November 1972 reprinted in Hemmings Motor News Book of Pontiacs driveReports special magazine Autos interest under the direction of Terry Ehrich and Richard Lentinello Bennington, VT Hemmings Motor News, 2001, pp 4-10; and two-alikes Ford Citroen, Cars Special Focus # 9 January to March 1972 reproduced in the book Hemmings pp 44-51 prewar Fords; Michael Lamm and David L Lewis, The First Mercury How it came to be, Cars Special Interest 23 July-August 1974, reproduced in the book of Hemmings mercuries driveReports special magazine Autos interest under the direction of Terry and Ehrlich Richard Lentinello Bennington, VT Hemmings motor News, 2002, pp 4-11; David L Lewis Ford Postwar Light Car, Cars particular interest 13 October-November 1972 pp 22-27, 57; Don MacDonald, Wild, Wild Getwaway Cars Motor Trend Vol 18, No 10 October 1966 pp 72-74; 1949 Ford driveReport, Cars Special Focus # 5 May-June 1971, reprinted in Hemmings Motor News Book of Postwar Fords driveReports of Special Interest Autos magazine eds Terry Ehrich and Richard Lentinello Bennington, VT Hemmings Motor News, 2000, pp 10-16 ; George Mattar, Buyer's Guide Collector 1932 1934 Fords, classic car Hemmings of September 12, 2005, pp 82 87; Paul McLaughlin, beauty, comfort and safety The story of the 1935 Ford Automobile Collection Vol 19, No. 5 February 2003, p 40 51; Flatheads History SF, SF Flatheads, d accessed October 26, 2009; Charles Sorensen, my forty years with Ford in New York W W Norton, 1956; The life cycle of the Ford Flathead V8 1932-1953, 35Pickup, May 2002, com, accessed October 26, 2009; Nikola Tesla, Tesla said Edison was an empiricist, New York time October 19, 1931, com, accessed October 26, 2009; Josiah work 1935 Ford Model 48 The sleeper Among Flatheads, Cars Special Interest 114 November-December 1989, reproduced in the book Hemmings pp 68-75 Prewar Fords.
Excellent article, although I quibble a bit about your Ford invented more line, it refined; he no longer leads, he followed.
So they took a course with no preservatives doubt in the mechanical sense, they were quite adept at creating new classes or pony cars niches cut through luxury, staff etc as GM followed slavishly in the lock not to.
A real contempt for book learning and mathematical knowledge.
Ford and Edison and Steve Jobs among hundreds of other innovators were dyslexic Just look at the list of inventors who were dyslexic.
It gives the kind of mental vision in the left field to innovate but also makes reading slow and advanced mathematical impossible.
While we can admire t Henry Ford You are kidding you aren t.
Then you go on to say Ford and its excesses are to blame for some imaginary lack of tolerance for modern visionaries.
The whole story is written with such a lack of respect for a man you do not know and have never met, but who fulfilled several orders of magnitude in its life time compared to yourself.
A 1937 ford canada made in aluminum engine head 21 stud that was purchased for a project that has never been to sell more than 1,000 visits to the add-in 2 days God bless Henry and all his great ideas to everyone in the seat of a car was affordable to henry ford greenfield Village as everyone pilots kid should go see what's saved to share with everyone in the world after reading this, I think I will hold on to this great automotive history.
Weren t whiz kids overrated I remember seeing a documentary on Ford production after the war, saying they were credited with more success they deserved much of their analysis and marketing didn t really improve sales or efficiency that much improved car sales as much as they did because of the war after years of economic boom.
It is not really a simple question Keep in mind that the Whiz Kids were not working the show, especially during the first five years or so So while they have influenced particularly McNamara, who grew quite quickly to considerable financial power station, as it is evaluating role of colonels and majors play in a military campaign it is important, but you must enter a lot of granular detail to identify a part of the reconstruction of post-war would happened anyway once Ernie Breech and company arrived; Breech was certainly not going to tolerate the kind of chaos accountant Ford had been in a real assessment of the lasting impact of the Whiz Kids is a strong subject for a thesis project in a management graduate business or program accounting, really.
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