Ford Facts

The first Ford cars had Dodge engines.

Henry Ford, father of the automobile, also created the charcoal briquette industry by turning his sawmill waste into what became Kingsford charcoal.

For America's 200th birthday, all 50 states sent a covered wagon on a year-long ride across the pioneer trails in reverse, west to east. The wagon train pilgrimage covered 17,000 miles and stopped at 249 encampments before nearly 300 wagons and 5,000 riders rolled into Valley Forge together. President Ford met them there and signed the law making Valley Forge a National Historical Park.

Bigfoot is widely called the first monster truck, and it began as Bob Chandler's 1974 Ford F-250. He kept breaking it off road, and local shops did not stock the parts, so he opened a 4x4 shop. In 1981 he drove it over junk cars in a field and filmed the run, and in 1983 more than 68,000 fans packed the Pontiac Silverdome to watch Bigfoot. Bigfoot trucks still tour arenas today.