10 Surprising Facts You Never Knew About The Ford Motor Company

The Ford Motor Company is one of the most well-known car company's in the world of motoring, having created some classic vehicles during its history, with some becoming incredibly iconic.

The company is one of the most trusted and well known in the world of motoring and because of that it has gained an incredible reputation while having a very deep and rich history.

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Because Ford has been around for so long, it is often a staple that is taken for granted, but with so many people loving the company, people still know so little about it, so within this piece, we will take a look at 10 facts and trivia you don't know.

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10 The Birth Of A Monster

You might think it is impossible for the Ford Motor Company to have had any involvement in Monster Trucks, but that is not the case, as they were actually directly involved in the first-ever Monster Truck.

The legendary Big Foot, which was the name of the first Monster Truck to be built, actually used a Ford vehicle as the base of the beastly truck, which shows just how popular that the company became.

A Ford vehicle was likely used for the first truck because of the car's brilliant reliability, with Ford's being well known to not break down, making it a reliable option.

9 The First Sale

While the Ford Motor Company is certainly not counting and worrying about each and every sale at this point, the first sale is certainly an important one for any company, and Ford's came in 1903.

The very first Ford car was sold to Dr. Pfennig in 1903, with the Model A being purchased for a grand total of $850, which may seem like nothing for a brand new Ford today, but it was certainly a lot of money back then, over 100 years ago.

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The Model A has a 2-cylinder engine and managed a maximum speed of just 30 mph back then, which might not be anywhere near good enough today, but again, was fine for 1903.

8 An Empire State Of Mind

Back in 1965, Ford wanted to make a statement and the company decided to place a Ford Mustang onto the observation deck of the Empire State Building, knowing full well it would gain plenty of headlines.

Of course, getting the car to that point was a much trickier process than people realized, and the Mustang had to be separated into four separate pieces, with the resident elevators being used to transport them up to the deck.

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Once the pieces reached that point, the car was then rebuilt and left there, getting photographed by helicopter, with the car being kept for five months until it was disassembled and brought back down.

7 The Classic Logo

When people think about car logos, one of the first that springs to mind is the classic Ford one, with the signature blue oval logo being one of the most recognizable brand logos in the entire world.

However, the logo that is so recognizable wasn't actually the original one that the company went with, as that wasn't introduced until four years after the company had already been in production.

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The reason for the change isn't well documented, but the logo that is now so famous certainly does have a much sleeker design, and the decision is one that worked out well for the company.

6 Family Business

Henry Ford is one of the most well-known men in all of America, with his decision to launch the company being one that changed the motoring world forever, as he helped build an empire.

The Ford Motor Company has gone on to become a huge, worldwide success, but the company has always managed to stick to its roots of being a family-owned business, which is one of the reasons it is so well trusted.

Ever since Henry Ford retired from his CEO position with the company, all CEOs after him have been direct relatives, with Ford maintaining the family-orientated aspect.

5 Airplanes

When you think of the Ford Motoring Company the first thought is immediate to cars, which makes sense considering they are a car manufacturer, but that isn't the only mode of transport that the company has dabbled in.

During World War I, Ford started the Ford Airplane Company, hoping to branch out from just creating cars, however, the company didn't last very long as it shut down in 1933 due to poor sales.

Despite the fact the company didn't take off (pun very much intended), the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission did recognize Ford in 2002 as a pioneer of aviation.

4 Ostrich Feathers

You might be thinking, what on earth does an Ostrich have to do with the Ford Motor Company, and the answer is, quite a lot more than you would think, with the feathers from the bird being crucial.

For some reason, Ford used Ostrich feathers during the early years of manufacturing, with the feathers being used to buffer all the new cars before they ever left the factory to be sold to the public.

Why the Ostrich feathers were picked in particular isn't very clear, but as time went on the company quickly began phasing out this practice.

3 Jim Morrison

Jim Morrison is one of the most legendary and well-known singers in the history of music, with the rock and roll star being the lead singer of the iconic band, The Doors, who went on to become of of the all-time greatest bands in history.

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When you think about rockstars, you often picture them owning plenty of cars, driving around and showing off, as many do today, but when it comes to Morrison that simply wasn't the case.

In fact, Morrison only ever owned one car in his life, but that one car happened to be a Ford, with the 1967 Shelby GT 500 being the car of choice for him.

2 World War I

When the tragedy of World War I struck the world, everything changed, and everyone had to be all hands on deck in order to help the fight, whether they were physically in the army or not.

Henry Ford recognized this and he quickly played his part, with this being the first war that utilized motorized vehicles, with the Ford Motor Company lending its services as much as possible.

The Ford Model T was used in different ways during the way, being fitted out as ambulances, delivery trucks, and even artillery transportation as Henry Ford did his bit for his country.

1 Creating A Village

Henry Ford managed to create and achieve an incredible amount during his lifetime, but one thing he did that many don't know about was the "utopian"-type village that he attempted to create in Brazil.

In 1928, Ford set out on a non-car related journey, with his idea being to create a large rubber plantation the size of a small village that would have different purposes, creating jobs for local people, all while creating fresh rubber for his factories.

However, setting this up became much harder than he anticipated and it never came to be, with the land now being abandoned and uninhabited to this day, providing more of a negative situation than anything else.

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