THE STORY: Seven years after driving out his first Quadricycle, Henry Ford managed to get investors to set up a company which became a global brand whose "Blue Oval" still represents a marque that "put the world on wheels".
DATE OF BIRTH: 16.06.1903 NATIONALITY: American - with a touch of Irish
He invented the assembly line, thus making his Model T cheap enough for the masses. The company also built the Tri-Motor aeroplane, used by America's first commercial airline. The first European Ford, the Model Y, began production in England in 1932, also the year the company cast the first one-piece V8 engine block. In 1941 it produced the first military general purpose vehicle, though the Jeep that it spawned later became a Chrysler brand. A long-time racing connection became sexy with the GT40's Le Mans domination in the 1960s. The F-Series Pickup, introduced in 1948, is still one of the most successful vehicle lines in automotive history. Ford's association with Ireland goes back to 1917 when a tractor manufacturing line was set up in Cork.
BEST CAR: The Mustang - in the 1960s it changed the image of both the company and motoring for the young, and spawned a set of similar "pony cars" in all its competitors' ranges.
WORST CAR: The Edsel nearly bankrupted Ford in the late 1950s. Designers failed to foresee the end of the "flying tailfin" era.
WEIRDEST CAR: A real Dan Dare affair, the 1954 Ford Millennium Concept.