Watch this old Ford film “A Car is Born”

Jeff Glucker

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Are you ready for a visual trip back in time? Of course you are, that’s basically where your mind lives anyway.

We’re doing that today with the short film “A Car is Born”. It was shot by Ford back in the day and follows the creation of a car in great detail. We’re talking about the initial sourcing of metals. Which are then turned into parts, and that eventually becomes an automobile.

Along the way, you’ll learn about car design, safety, and testing.

This is a good watch if you need to kill some time over your lunch break. Grab your hoagie and drink, pop on your headphones, and hit play.

About

Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker is the co-founder and Executive Editor of Hooniverse.com. He’s often seen getting passed as he hustles a 1991 Mitsubishi Montero up the 405 Freeway. IG: @HooniverseJeff

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6 responses to “Watch this old Ford film “A Car is Born””

  1. ptschett Avatar
    ptschett

    Minor nitpick to the channel hosting the video… 1969 for a date? …really? The overhead signs around 11:00 say “1973 Ford” which seems more right.

    Things that caught my eye:
    I wouldn’t be surprised if the first 1:30 or so starts in the MN Iron Range and ends in Duluth/Superior harbor where the pellets get dropped into the belly of a laker.
    At ~8:00 there are Mustang II styling models or prototypes in the background, both the fastback and the notchback.
    9:10ish-9:15 concept sketches remind me of the Fairmont Futura & ’78-’79 Thunderbird.
    At the end, the parking lot has plenty of ’71-’73 Mustang/Cougars. (And Mavericks. And other models. I’m a bit flabbergasted from Current Year point of view where each factory may only build a single platform. Had to have been a lot to keep straight for the line workers.)

    Reply
  2. Scoutdude Avatar
    Scoutdude

    I like the sketch of the Pinto with massive tires. It is true however that you can stuff a lot of tire under a Pinto. I had more than my share back in the day and with a little rolling and trimming I ran F60-14/235/60-14 up front and G60-14/245/60-14 out back on a couple of them. Compared to the original A 78 13 (~165/80-13) we are talking a massive increase of ~2″ in height and ~2 3/4″ in width. Oh and it was lowered about 1″ in the rear and 1.5″ in front. So at least I and a couple of people took advantage of what became of that sketch.

    Reply
  3. ptschett Avatar
    ptschett

    Minor nitpick to the channel hosting the video… 1969 for a date? …really? The overhead signs around 11:00 say “1973 Ford” which seems more right.

    Things that caught my eye:
    I wouldn’t be surprised if the first 1:30 or so starts in the MN Iron Range and ends in Duluth/Superior harbor where the pellets get dropped into the belly of a laker.
    At ~8:00 there are Mustang II styling models or prototypes in the background, both the fastback and the notchback.
    9:10ish-9:15 concept sketches remind me of the Fairmont Futura & ’78-’79 Thunderbird.
    At the end, the parking lot has plenty of ’71-’73 Mustang/Cougars. (And Mavericks. And other models. I’m a bit flabbergasted from Current Year point of view where each factory may only build a single platform. Had to have been a lot to keep straight for the line workers.)

    Reply
    1. Scoutdude Avatar
      Scoutdude

      Yeah a little later than 1969 probably 71 or 72. Back then they did usually build a single platform at a plant, though with a lot of variations. For some cars the volume was so high a single platform would be built in a number of different plants. The GM B/C cars are a good example with each brand operating their own plant with Chevy often having two. For those factories that build more than one car line they were separate assembly lines and I would guess that most workers didn’t bounce back and forth between lines any more than they move to different locations on a single line.

      Reply
  4. Scoutdude Avatar
    Scoutdude

    I like the sketch of the Pinto with massive tires. It is true however that you can stuff a lot of tire under a Pinto. I had more than my share back in the day and with a little rolling and trimming I ran F60-14/235/60-14 up front and G60-14/245/60-14 out back on a couple of them. Compared to the original A 78 13 (~165/80-13) we are talking a massive increase of ~2″ in height and ~2 3/4″ in width. Oh and it was lowered about 1″ in the rear and 1.5″ in front. So at least I and a couple of people took advantage of what became of that sketch.

    Reply
  5. Maymar Avatar
    Maymar

    Just…did John Barry do the score for this? Because I kept expecting Roger Moore to pop up in the background of half the video.

    Reply