From the Model T to the ute, Falcon, Territory and now Ranger, Ford has been part of the Australian automotive landscape for as long as anyone can remember. One hundred years, to be precise, with the company officially starting operations on March 31, 1925 in Geelong, Victoria.
The company is marking this momentous occasion with a week of celebrations, which will culminate with a special ‘History in the Making’ event in Melbourne on Friday and then an All Ford Day at Geelong on Sunday – which is tipped to be the biggest ever, for obvious reasons.
“This is a significant milestone for the Ford Australia team, our Dealers and Ford fans around the country,” said Andrew Birkic, current president and CEO of Ford Australia and New Zealand. “Just about every family in Australia has a Ford story and we love how Ford vehicles are such a part of the cultural landscape of the country.”
Ford Australia has announced that its extensive archives, that date back to those earliest days, are now available online to the public via the Ford Heritage Vault website. The site includes all of the blue oval’s history but Ford Australia has recently gone through the process of digitising its history for posterity.
For those unfamiliar with the earliest days of Ford Australia, the process began in 1923 when Ford executives from the US visited Australia to see if conditions were right to start selling cars here. Geelong was chosen as the base of operations, as it featured both a deep seaport and railway lines, so a Model T assembly line was built in the Dalgety Wool Store.
By 1934 Ford had expanded its Australian operations and developed what would become a staple of our culture – the ute. The company continued to expand and by the 1960s produced the Falcon, which would become one of the most popular cars in the country for decades. Since the end of local production in 2016, Ford Australia has remained a popular brand for Australian new car buyers with its Ranger ute and Everest SUV.
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