Ford

Henry Ford established the Ford Motor Company in 1903, and five years later came the Model T that cranked up the beginning of the company’s success on the world’s first mass-production assembly line. Iconic models were launched in the ’40s (F-series pick-up), ’50s (Thunderbird) and ’60s (Mustang, Transit) on the way to starting a long period of global sales success with other famous nameplates including Cortina, Fiesta, Capri and Escort. The company has also taken on motorsport in earnest: the GT40 was created purely to defeat Ferrari at Le Mans, and duly did so from 1966 to 1969, and 1967 saw the birth of Ford’s Cosworth-developed DFV V8 that powered 12 drivers with various teams to Formula One titles between 1968 and 1982. Australians, of course, have long associated the Blue Oval badge with the Falcon – a model produced here since 1960 – and its 2004 SUV spin-off, the Territory. In 2013, however, Ford Australia announced it would end local manufacturing in October 2016 to transition into an import-only business.