It looks like a poached egg – we can’t make that. Lord Nuffield, re Morris Minor, attributed
This is the story of an American dream. It was a dream of happy families on wheels. The Ford Motor Company brought it from Detroit to Dagenham. Then sold it to Britain. From the 1950s onwards Ford revolutionised the cars we drove. Ford’s Dagenham Dream, BBC 2018
Its most popular dream car of all time – the Cortina – sold around 5,000,000 in Britain alone. ibid.
They opened a giant factory in Dagenham in 1931 – offering jobs to 30,000 workers. Dagenham was the biggest factory in Europe. ibid.
The new time and motion world of the moving assembly line. The worker was a small cog in a giant machine. ibid.
Henry Ford’s regimented time and motion system for making cars alienated much of his workforce. ibid.
By the late ’50s around 1 in every 3 cars sold in Britain was made in Dagenham. ibid.
Almost all car makers used sexual fantasies to sell their cars and Ford was no exception. ibid.
In 1968 Dagenham’s women workers decided they’d had enough and walked out. ibid.
First launched in 1969 the Ford Capri became one of the most emblematic cars of the ’70s ... ‘the car you always promised yourself’. ibid.
Those who stayed on the assembly line too long could be driven crazy by the repetitive tasks they had to perform. ibid.
One day in four had been lost to strikes and stoppages. ibid.
Dagenham began shedding thousands of jobs. ibid.
All Ford cars are now imported. ibid.
Ford of Britain can produce 3,100 cars a day. Made in Dagenham 2010 starring Bob Hoskins & Miranda Richardson & Sally Hawkins & Geraldine James & Rosamund Pike & Andrea Riseborough & Jaime Winstone & Daniel Mays & Richard Schiff & Phil Cornwell et al, director Nigel Cole, Ford advert
Now occupy more than seven square miles. ibid.
‘Those for industrial action hands up.’ ibid. Albert
‘Machinists threatening strike action – they couldn’t believe it.’ ibid.
‘That is not unskilled work.’ ibid. Rita convenor
‘Everybody out.’ ibid.
‘26,000 strikes in the United Kingdom.’ ibid. Barbara Castle
‘Because they can. They’re allowed to pay women a lower wage than men. All over the country women are getting less because they’re women.’ ibid. Albert
‘It’s a glimpse innit of what it could be.’ ibid. woman
‘This strike is about one thing and one thing only – fairness.’ ibid.
‘In six months’ time your union won’t exist. Industry cannot afford to pay women the same rates as men ... It will collapse under the weight of the extra wages.’ ibid. Ford boss
Ford Women Fight On ... Tide Turns Against Dagenham Women. ibid. newspaper headline
‘Rights is not privileges.’ ibid. Rita
‘It was a matter of principle. You had to stand up and do what was right otherwise you wouldn’t be able to look yourself in the mirror ... When did we in this country decide to stop fighting? ... We are the working classes, the men and the women ... Equal pay for women is right.’ ibid. Rita at conference
‘What’s worth fighting for?’ ibid. Rita to Barbara Castle
‘The government is in full support of the creation of an Equal Pay Act.’ ibid. Barbara Castle
‘Nobody expected us to come out on strike.’ ibid. striker
In 1996 electric cars began to appear on roads all over California. They were quiet and fast, produced no exhaust and ran without gasoline. Ten years later these futuristic cars were almost entirely gone. What happened? Who Killed the Electric Car? 2006
This wasn’t the first time the electric car was killed. One hundred years ago there were more electrics on the road then there were gas cars. ibid.
The Impact Prototype became the EV1 – the first modern electric production car from a major US car company in nearly a century. ibid.
Oil companies also paid for editorials in national publications. ibid.
GM quietly closed its EV1 assembly line. ibid.
The car makers found a powerful new ally – the federal Government. ibid.
While hydrogen fuel cells offered an exciting alternative some time in the future, what would happen to the technology of today? What would happen to the electric car? ibid.
California killed its electric car mandate – 24th April 2003. ibid.
Drivers held protests to save the electric car. ibid.
After the discovery of the crushed EV1s in Arizona, electric car drivers took action. ibid.
A better battery already existed. ibid.
Even as car companies made electric cars they fought them at every step ... Why would car companies campaign so hard against their own creation? ibid.
A fuel cell car powered by hydrogen made with electricity uses three to four times more energy than a car powered by batteries. ibid.
Hydrogen is a much tougher alternative fuel than any other alternative fuel we’ve ever pursued. Dr Joseph J Romm, author The Hype About Hydrogen
If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1,000 MPG. Bill Gates
When Henry Ford made cheap, reliable cars people said, ‘Nah, what’s wrong with a horse?’ That was a huge bet he made, and it worked. Elon Musk
Yeah, well I think anyone who likes fast cars will love the Tesla. And it has fantastic handling by the way. I mean this car will crush a Porsche on the track, just crush it. So if you like fast cars, you’ll love this car. And then oh, by the way, it happens to be electric and it’s twice the efficiency of a Prius. Elon Musk
Perhaps people, and kids especially, are spoiled today, because all the kids today have cars, it seems. When I was young you were lucky to have a bike. James Cagney
I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered. George Best, variations
I’ve exercised with women so thin that buzzards followed them to their cars. Erma Bombeck
By the end of the 1950s, American cars were so reliable that their reliability went without saying even in car ads. Thousands of them bear testimony to this today, still running on the roads of Cuba though fuelled with nationalized Venezuelan gasoline and maintained with spit and haywire. P J O’Rourke
I know I’m not supposed to like muscle cars, but I like muscle cars. Joe Biden
People get really nuts around cars. They get angry at cars, they get angry at their car, they get angry at people driving in cars; there’s something really comical about that, about automobiles. Matt Dillon
The years I raced in were fantastic. There was so much change in the cars. We went from treaded tyres to no wings right through to slicks to enormous wings. Jackie Stewart
Cars mean nothing to me. I’m not a car guy. Penn Jillette
Every thirty seconds somewhere in America thieves break into a car. Joy-riders steal for cheap rides. Professionals steal to order for organised crime groups to smuggle overseas. Now thieves take larger vehicles for Mexican drug gangs. Drugs Inc s2e8 aka Underworld Inc: Grand Theft Auto, National Geographic 2012
Vehicle theft continues to plague America. Every year thieves steal one million cars. ibid.
Chop-Shops are the driving force behind most of the car crime in America. ibid.
The Eastern Connection: Lithuania. ibid.