Fordlandia - The vision of Henry Ford

(Reading time: 2 - 3 minutes)

It seems only apt that we write about Fordlandia, the day after, what would have been Henry's 150th birthday, when you think of Ford you think of inspiration, the first auto production line and the Model T, the only car that you can have in any colour as long as its black.

However hardly anyone including myself has ever heard of the legacy of Henry Ford known as Fordlandia - A 6000 sq mile town fabricated in the Amazon rainforest in 1928, The Jungle Rubber Utopia of Henry Ford's Fordlandia, an Amazon rainforest town.

The initial idea for the town was to provide the car manufacturer with rubber for car tyres, without relying on Malayan Rubber, better known as British rubber. The vision was to live and prosper in Fordlandia, through simple morals, and no alcohol. The project steamed ahead with homes being built relatively fast, next running water, electricity even swimming pools, Ford believed leisure was a major part of the economy. 

It was an interesting idea, and may have worked if the production of rubber elsewhere hadn't taken off, it would have also been more successful if the people running the show knew about cultivating rubber plants, soil quality and how to fend off predators of the plant, even moving the town wasn't enough. The final blow was with the invention of synthetic rubber making the whole town, surplus to requirement, the land was sold back, Fordlandia just wasn't to be. Today the location is peppered with disused building, of what used to be, Fordlandia: Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City.

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Escort RS Cosworth

(Reading time: 2 - 4 minutes)
Escort RS Cosworth

A rally car based on a humble hatch back, The Escort RS Cosworth and WRC first came about in the early 90's, after the the first Sierra Cosworth, the phenomenal car is basically an Escort hatchback floor pan, with stretched quarter panels, manufactured longer and with a few more additions. The engine is 2 litre twin cam turbo charged engine which runs unleaded fuel 97 ron (super unleaded) and even has a catalytic converter,

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Ford Sierra RS Cosworth

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The Sierra RS Cosworth has been in development since back in 1981, but was finally released in 1986. The car is a complete animal, it was a Sierra in shape, but so much more too. It sported a full RS body-kit, modified grille, rear spoiler and custom alloy wheels. The car became extremely successful in motorsport for Ford, both track racing and rallying.

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Ford RS Timeline

(Reading time: 3 - 5 minutes)

The timeline of the RS motorsport division of Ford, from the late 60's to late 2000.

1968 - New Ford Escort range released January - featuring the Twin-Cam model.
 
1970 - RS 1600 released Jan, Twin-Cam Escort still in production 
 
1970 - 50 lightweight Ford Capri RS 2600 AKA (plastikbombe) produced March. 
 
1970 - Production of lightweight RS2600 completed April. 
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Ford GT40

(Reading time: 5 - 10 minutes)

The GT40 gained its name, due it standing just 40 inches high from the floor. A spectacular 1-2-3 victory at LeMans in 1966 sealed its success, in staying in the No. one slot for a further 3 successive victories. It was primarily a racing car, however many of the 134 chassis were engineered to road specification for enthusiasts.

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More Articles ...

  1. Cortina
  2. Ford history
 

Northern Group of Motoring Writers NGMW

Northern Group Of Motoring Writers

Annabelle Quirk Vice Chairwoman
Ben D T Quirk Member