KRIS CULMER
ON THIS DAY IN 1968
MANY HAVE LAMENTED Ford of Europe’s coming transformation. To understand the reasons why, you need to have known the firm at its amazing peak. So let’s revisit our 1968 look into its UK division.
Ford of Britain had grown quickly after establishing its Trafford plant in 1911, opening its Dagenham complex 20 years later.
In 1968, it covered 8.4 million square feet and employed more than 24,000 people, helping to produce up to 1400 cars per day.
Ford also had various sites in Aveley, Basildon, Croydon, Daventry, Doncaster, Dunton, Halewood, Langley, Leamington, Romford, Southampton, Swansea, Thurrock, Warley and Woolwich.
Exports were big business: the target was £225m (£3.2bn today), with shipments going to Australia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.
This was thanks to a modern, competitive range, the result of Ford having spent £40m (£556m now) on development in a decade.
The Escort had just replaced the Anglia beside the Cortina, Corsair, Zephyr and Zodiac at the affordable end, there were Executive versions of those last four, and in the sporting stable lived the Lotus Cortina, Escort GT and motorsport-derived GT40, soon to be joined by the Capri.
Sport was indeed important to Ford of Britain. It won in rallying, touring cars and sports cars while dominating Formula 1 with its Cosworth DFV engine.
It powered many other firms’ sports cars and was a major player in light and heavy commercial vehicles, in addition to tractors.
Get why there’s regret now?
Trouble spot enlivens racing as BARC moves to Thruxton
We were pleased to report that the British Automobile Racing Club (BARC) had found a suitable new home for its traditional Easter Monday meeting, that being Thruxton (where it’s still based) after Goodwood was closed on safety grounds.
First up were the Formula 2 heats. The first was quite dramatic, as the drivers (including Jackie Oliver, Henri Pescarolo, Guy Ligier and future FIA president Max Mosley) had several near misses as they tried to work out the line for tricky Club corner. The second was dominated by future Formula 1 champion Jochen Rindt, taking 0.5sec a lap out of such talents as Piers Courage, Brian Redman, Derek Bell and Jean-Pierre Beltoise – and again that right-left-right was trouble.
Rindt started the 54-lap final poorly but soon got past Beltoise and Courage. The top four split from the pack, Bell impressing the most with his enthusiasm and his control when that got the better of him. Rindt almost threw away victory with a trip
