Edsel Ford Edsel Ford Edsel Bryant Ford (November 6, 1893 – May 26, 1943) was the son of Clara Jane Bryant Ford and the only child of Henry Ford. He was the president of Ford Motor Company from 1919 to his death in 1943. His eldest son was Henry Ford II. He worked closely with his father, as sole heir to the business, but was keen to develop cars more exciting than the Model T ("Tin Lizzie"), in line with his personal tastes. Even as president, he had trouble persuading his father to allow any departure from this formula. Only a change
Henry Ford new company. Ford & Malcomson was reincorporated as the Ford Motor Company on June 16, 1903, with $28,000 capital. The original investors included Ford and Malcomson, the Dodge brothers, Malcomson's uncle John S. Gray, Malcolmson's secretary James Couzens, and two of Malcomson's lawyers, John W. Anderson and Horace Rackham. Ford then demonstrated a newly designed car on the ice of Lake St. Clair, driving in 39.4 seconds and setting a new land speed record at . Convinced by this success, the race driver Barney Oldfield, who named this new Ford model "999" in honor of the fastest locomotive of the