Ford Brings Centennial Party to Atlanta

Ford Motor Co executives visit 100 North American cities as part of Ford's 100th anniversary celebration.  The celebration moved to Atlanta with classic and current product displays, including a Model T replica and an all-new, 2004 model Ford F-150 pickup truck.

What a great day, Luncheon program with news media at Anthony's of Atlanta in Buckhead, followed by a ride around the neighborhood in the Bill Leland recreated Ford Model-T.

In attendance where Edsel B. Ford II, great grandson of the Founder - Henry Ford, Patricia Reid, Manager of the Atlanta Ford Assembly Plant, Mark Taylor - Georgia  Lt. Governor and Bill Leland...

Bill Leland enjoyed recreating the Ford Model-T.  "It's a testimony to the way the program affected my life," Bill Said.  "I bought the actual 1914 Model-T that we had used as a model for other new vehicles.  And, I've become an avid Model-T hobbyist since retiring form Ford in Dec, 2001."

Leland retired after 29 years with Ford.  In 1998, his work group was asked to do a feasibility study on producing a small number of new Model T's for the Ford Centennial.  Leland was assigned to the project.

Leland was a 29-year engineering veteran -- having worked in a number of manufacturing positions associated with Ford's Transmissions and Chassis division.  He began his Ford career as a process engineer at the company's Sharonville Ohio Transmission plant.

"The Model T-100 program was the most exciting and possibly the most meaningful program I ever had the opportunity to work on."

Patricia Reid, Manager of the Atlanta Assembly Plant joined Ford in 1979.  She oversees all aspects of production at Atlanta.  Previously, Reid was manager of Ford's Ontario Truck Plant in Canada.  After serving as quality control manager at the Nashville Glass Plant, she transferred to Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant in 1994 and in 1998 she was appointed commercial manufacturing manager at Kansas City Assembly Plant, prior to Managing the Ontario Truck Plant in 2000.

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As its creator memorably put it, the Model T was available in any color as long as it was black. Black paint dried the quickest, reducing production time and therefore helping to pass on unbeatable savings to customers.

By the mid-1920s more than 10 million Ford cars had been built, and the company’s reputation as the leading international manufacturer of vehicles for the masses was firmly established.

The thought of receiving more than twice your salary for a shorter working day would be an idle daydream for most people. But Henry Ford turned wishful thinking into a reality in 1914 when he decided to increase the daily wage at his Highland Park Model T plant from US $2.34 for nine hours to US $5.00 for eight. Overnight, staff turnover was slashed dramatically and the company became inundated with eager job applicants.

DID YOU KNOW ?
Henry Ford was born and raised on a farm in Dearborn, Michigan, where Ford Motor Company is based today. He was the first of six children born to William and Mary Ford.

Ford’s first car was the Model A. The company worked through the alphabet producing new models and experimental vehicles and, in 1908, Ford reached the now famous Model T.

Henry Ford pioneered the introduction of the moving assembly line after observing how meat moved down the line from butcher to butcher in a meat packing plant.

When Henry Ford doubled the pay of factory employees to US $5 a day in 1914, some business and political leaders predicted social unrest and a global recession.

More than 15 million Model T Fords were made in 19 years.

In 1945, Henry Ford II was elected president of the company at age 28. He put together a management team dubbed the ‘whiz kids’ and introduced some of the company’s most famous nameplates, including the ’49 Ford, Thunderbird, Falcon, and the Escort. -8-