Here’s everything happening at Ford’s expansive Dearborn operations for 1960, as recorded in a beautiful color film.
Produced for the Ford Motor Company by Wilding Pictures, this 1960 film provides a detailed look at the automaker’s operations—especially around the Dearborn area, the company’s home base. The colossal Rouge complex was still a major part of the Ford manufacturing story in those years, with its 40,000 hourly workers and giant working steel mill, and so a good part of the filming takes place there, naturally.
Also featured is the extensive engineering and design campus on Oakwood and Village roads. (Known in more recent years as the Product Development Center or PDC, the campus is currently getting a major makeover.) At the six-minute mark, there’s a brief segment on Ford’s curious Levacar Mach 1 project, followed by a visit to the styling center to see the artists and clay modelers at work. The final segment is devoted to the Ford DIvision’s products for 1960, including the Galaxie, Thunderbird, and the company’s newest vehicle, the compact Falcon. (See our feature on the 1960 Falcon here.) As a nice bonus, the movie was filmed entirely in color, and it’s still in pretty good condition. Video below.
People love to express their hatred for the 1960 Ford, and sales that year seen to reflect the public’s dislike of the Quicksilver-inspired design. I must be in the minority because I like the styling. It first caught my eye as a teen/young adult when I spotted one in The Parent Trap. It was less fussy than the Thunderbird that Brian Keith’s character drove!
My uncle had a red 60 Starliner in the late 60’s. It was a 352 with a column shifted 3 speed. I do recall being told it had “a special police car engine”. I loved that car and 60 Ford’s have had a special place in my heart ever since.