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With the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. upon us, we’re taking a break from our regular programming to offer a feast full of our favorite Throwback Thursday snippets. We’ll be back next week with our regularly scheduled programming. Have a safe and happy holiday!
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Company founder Henry Ford was partial to his workspace at the Ford Engineering Lab.
Henry Ford’s favorite building
The Ford Engineering Lab had a milestone year in 2024, reopening a century after it first opened its doors as a one-stop shop for automotive research and design. In the decades that followed, the Albert Kahn-designed building was home to numerous advances, including the Model A, the flathead V8 engine, and the 1949 Ford, which is widely credited with turning around the company’s fortunes following World War II. Click here to read more about the Ford Engineering Lab and its significance to the company.
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The Eddie Bauer brand became synonymous with Ford SUVs of the 1990s.
Making Ford SUVs a luxury item
Ford has had countless partnerships, but the company’s relationship with Eddie Bauer is easily one of the most memorable for consumers. Over the course of more than 25 years, Eddie Bauer-edition Ford SUVs such as Explorer and Expedition came to be known for their unique luxury interiors and exterior styling cues, as well as the badging featuring the clothier’s script logo. Click here to read more about the longtime relationship between Ford and Eddie Bauer that helped make Ford SUVs a luxury item.
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The 2004 Bronco concept hinted at what would come with the SUV’s return, although several years earlier.
Bronco gets a boost
The Ford Bronco had barely left the automotive scene before Ford resurrected the iconic SUV in 2004 with a nitrous-oxide-boosted concept vehicle. The Bronco, of course, would not return to production until 2020, but the one-off gave a small taste of what was to come by capturing the “original, authentic spirit” of the Bronco. It went on to achieve cult status as the production Bronco remained on hiatus and was even featured in video games and movies. Click here to read more about the 2004 Bronco concept.
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A 2004 concept vehicle could have been a Lincoln counterpart to the rebooted Thunderbird roadster.
A luxury T-Bird?
The rebooted Ford Thunderbird of the early 2000s was a hit, and another 2004 concept car could have created a Lincoln counterpart. The Lincoln Mark X, the brand’s first two-door convertible concept, was based on the same rear-wheel-drive Thunderbird architecture. The two-seat luxury convertible roadster was said to blend design elegance with driving athleticism. In fact, the car was deemed so special by its creators that it wore the coveted “Mark” name, which has been used to signify truly special vehicles. Click here to read more about the Mark X concept.
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Ford did not spend long at its Piquette Ave. plant in Detroit, but its few years there were foundational to the young company.
Where the Model T was born
While Ford spent just a few short years at the Piquette Avenue Plant in Detroit in the early 1900s, two of the company’s most significant transformations – the creation of the Model T and the advent of the moving assembly line – both took shape there. Ford Motor Company was just starting to come into its own as the company departed its original space in a converted wagon factory for its first purpose-built manufacturing plant in 1905. The company, of course, would outgrow its new home, too, with the incredible success of the Model T. Click here to read more about the Piquette Ave. plant and its role in shaping Ford.
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Henry Ford had ambitious plans for a hotel and shopping center near Michigan Central Station in the 1920s.
Bonus backtracking
It has been a huge year for Michigan Central Station and its namesake innovation campus in Corktown. The grand reopening of the former train depot came about 100 years after company founder Henry Ford had begun amassing a swath of properties across from Michigan Central Station with the intent to build a hotel and a shopping center. He ultimately abandoned the plans in the mid-1940s, but the experiment became the foundation for today’s property management arm, Ford Land. Click here to read more about Ford’s missed connection with Michigan Central from the 1920s.
Love Ford history? Access http://fordarchivesonline.com with your CDSID to search your favorite topics. Or visit http://fordheritagevault.com , where no CDSID is needed, to browse and download product history.
Tell us about your favorite Throwback Thursday article of the year and topics you think we should cover in future installments in the comments section!
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