Wednesday, May 11, 2011

The first Ford exported from North America, went to South Africa

In September 1903 Mr Arthur Youldon of Johannesburg, an importer, was in New York where he saw Henry Ford demonstrate his new car. He immediately placed his order with
Henry Ford, who informed him that it would be the first Ford to be sold outside North America. The Ford Motor Company was founded earlier that year, on 16 June 1903.

The car only arrived in February 1904 in Port Elizabeth from where it had to be transported by train to Johannesburg. This car survived to this day and can be viewed at the Franschhoek Motor Museum in the Cape, which has a large display covering 100 years of motoring in SA

During July 1923 Mr Holmes and Mr H.F.A. Stockelbach visited the Ford factory
in Canada to investigate the possibility of starting an assembly plant in South Africa.

Due to preferential tax and duty applicable to Commonwealth Countries, it was
advantages to source the kits from the Canadian Ford factory rather than the USA.

This was realised in February 1924, when an old wool packing shed in Port
Elizabeth was used to start the assembly of the Ford Model Ts.

Info from http://www.dyna.co.za/cars.htm

1 comment:

  1. is very similar to that of 1911

    http://fosilesmecanicos.blogspot.com/2009/03/anasagasti-1911.html

    ReplyDelete