‘Blue Oval’ hits Aussie century

The automobile landscape in Australia in 1925 was a far cry from the sophisticated one-million-plus vehicle market that we know today.

Australia was still very much riding on the sheep’s back as an agriculturalcommodities export market and most Australians did not own a car.

Vehicle adoption in Queensland was growing rapidly, however, notably among wealthy professionals and businesses, with a record 37,185 registrations in 1925, the same year that a Citroën tourer became the first car to travel around the Great Southern Land.

Australia was not a significant car manufacturing nation, so those lucky Australians who could afford a motor vehicle were most likely to choose imported American models from the likes of Buick, Chevrolet, Dodge, and Hudson.

Henry Ford’s Model T was capturing hearts and minds here, too, just as it had done in its US homeland, where it was first launched in 1908.

The Model T, or ‘Tin Lizzie’ as it was affectionately known, became an immediate success by offering reliable, simple motoring for a fraction of the cost of other cars at the time.

Ford began exporting the Model T soon after its introduction in 1908 and by 1909 the first examples had arrived in Australia via independent importer R.J. Durance.

By 1911 Model T production had begun in Canada and England, and in 1923 a contingent of North American Ford executives travelled to Australia in search of a base to establish local manufacturing here.

A Model T Ford.

After the visit, P. W. Grandjean, then secretary of Ford of Canada, wrote to Edsel Ford, who had taken over control of the company from his father Henry Ford just a few years earlier, suggesting that "the time is ripe to carry on a business in Australia with our own organisation.”

With its deep seaport, readily available land, access to nearby railways and good labour force, the rapidly growing Victorian city of Geelong was chosen as the base for the Blue Oval’s new Australian outpost, with operations beginning there in 1925.

On 1 July of that year Ford’s first Australian-made Model T Ford rolled off the newly created assembly line.

The Australian-made Model T was quickly given the nickname ‘Dalgety’, a reference to the Dalgety Wool Store where the first vehicles were assembled.

A simple but solid vehicle, the Model T cost around 185 pounds, or about $18,500 in today’s money.

Ford Australia’s partnership with the Geelong Football Club, one of the oldest and most enduring in Australian sport also began in 1925, the same year the Australian football club clinched its first Victorian Football League premiership.

In Queensland, as in other parts of Australia, the Model T quickly became a relatively common sight on the State’s roads, helped in no small part by the fact that Ford quickly built on its Geelong beachhead by establishing a motor vehicle assembly plant at Eagle Farm in 1926.

Entry to Ford's Geelong factory in 1950, its 25th anniversary.

The site had ready access to road, railway, and shipping facilities on the river and the factory would later play an important manufacturing role during World War II, constructing a range of products and parts for the military forces of both Australia and the United States.

Ford’s diverse local war manufacturing efforts in Brisbane included the reconditioning of aero engines at Rocklea, and the assembly of Jeeps and trucks for Australian forces.

Indeed, throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s, RACQ operated a fleet of exWorld War II Jeeps for roadside assistance duties, including a 1944 Ford Jeep that remains a key part of today’s historic fleet.

After the war, Ford’s Eagle Farm plant was kept busy building English and Canadian-sourced cars, trucks and tractors, followed by the introduction of the Ford Customline in 1955 and the six-cylinder English Zephyr in 1956.

But the big change came in 1960 when the plant was upgraded to make way for the XK Falcon, the first of seven generations of Falcons that would cement Ford Australia’s position as one of the most influential brands in Australian automotive history, and the Falcon as a truly Australian car.

Ford’s Brisbane plant continued assembling Falcons up until the XC model, after which the luxury Fairlane and LTD long-wheelbase models remained in production until 1987.

The plant then manufactured Ford’s Louisville line of heavy trucks until the factory closure in 1998.

A 1960 XK Ford Falcon.

That marked the beginning of a long period of retreat from Australian manufacturing for Ford Australia, culminating in the brand ceasing manufacturing at its Geelong engine plant and its Broadmeadows vehicle plant in 2016.

The Blue Oval’s decision to shutter its local production lines created a domino effect that resulted in Toyota and Holden following suit soon after.

But where Holden no longer exists as a brand, and Toyota’s local research and development efforts are greatly reduced, Ford Australia in its 100th year remains the largest automotive employer in Australia.

The company’s presence here remains significant, with design and development facilities in Melbourne and outside Geelong, and a sizable design and engineering workforce that, among projects, leads global development of the Ranger pickup, Australia’s best-selling vehicle in 2023 and 2024.

Ford Australia marked its centenary with a special ‘History in the Making’ event in Melbourne which showcased a selection of the company’s heritage fleet, including the first 1960 XK Falcon, the groundbreaking Lew Bandt-designed 1934 Coupe-Ute, and a selection of famous race cars including Queenslander Dick Johnson’s iconic ‘Tru-Blu’ XD Falcon.

Ford family scion and executive chair of the company Bill Ford was among the guests celebrating the occasion.

“For 100 years, Ford and Australia have grown together,” Mr Ford said.

“Australia was one of the first markets we established outside North America. It was a key moment in making Ford truly global. It has been a centre of innovation from the first truck or ute to the Falcon and Ranger, and always a pipeline of talent.”

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