Wednesday, January 25, 2012

25 January 2012 - Riverglen Holiday Park, Geelong, Victoria


It took until nearly midday before the cloud burned off, but even then the temperature never went anywhere near thirty degrees. But by then we had been out and were home again for lunch.

We visited the Ford Discovery Centre this morning and given that I had left Chris to enjoy the motor museum in Birdwood preferring to wait in the landcruiser with my book, you may well wonder why I bothered with this one here in Geelong. Forever the optimist and understanding that the Ford factory here has been an integral part of Geelong’s history and social development, I had a different expectation to Chris. While I have to agree that this museum is nirvana for car fanatics or more specifically, Ford fans, I did actually enjoy over an hour here.

In 1923, a bigwig from Ford Canada came to Australia and drove his Model T from Brisbane to Melbourne, visiting most of the areas that had Ford agents, also doing side trips to Tasmania and South Australia. He reported back to his peers in Canada describing the distributors, the countryside, roads and economic conditions, finally recommending that Ford commence manufacturing in Geelong and other places in Australia. And so it was, with this Hubert French becoming the first Managing Director of Ford Australia. The first Model T rolled off the Geelong assembly line on 1 July 1925.

Ford’s development sparked a whole raft of development; a new wharf and railway siding, water supply and sewerage systems were improved, and new supplier companies such as Repco, Pilkingtons and Hendersons came to the area. This led to further employment and Geelong became a thriving industrial centre.

During the Second World War, with most of the men absent at the front, the Geelong women donned overalls and stepped in to take what had been male jobs, but instead of Ford cars, defence vehicles rolled off the line. When the men returned, those who were of a mind too, took their jobs back and the women retired meekly to their kitchens.

Today it is the Falcon range that is produced here in Australia, and the factory still employs about 6,000 people. The production has adjusted with the times; today the Geelong factory is an engine manufacturing and stamping plant, while Falcons are assembled at Broadmeadows in northern Melbourne closer to the port and a larger pool of workers. In fact this has been the case since 1959 which I guess is a fair while ago.

I was intrigued by several facts about the whole Ford business:

While Henry Ford invented his first motorised vehicle back in 1896, and subsequently started the Detroit Automobile Company and the Henry Ford Company, both those businesses fell flat on their faces for lack of capital. It was not until he started motor racing and raised money through that means, thus raising enough capital to start the Ford Motor Company, that success became a reality.

In 1908, Henry Ford unveiled his Model T, or Tin Lizzie. It could run on any fuel, even having been known to run on whisky at a pinch. It was simple, reliable, easy to drive and always black in America. Between 1908 and 1927 more than fifteen million Model Ts were sold. By the mid 1920s, half the cars in the world were Model Ts. One would have to acknowledge therefore that the Ford Motor Company was enormously successful, even if you are a Holden fan.

I am neither a Holden nor a Ford fanatic, simply a person who was surprised to have my attention held in what is mainly a male domain.

I was also quite taken by the floor dedicated to design and testing of vehicles. Did you know that they made the prototypes from clay? Amazingly realistic too. So there you go; there is my promotion of Geelong’s not-for-profit Ford Discovery Centre. Check it out!

After lunch, we drove our Toyota to the Kmart Tyre & Service centre just a couple of kilometres up the road, and left it there to be re-shod, while we walked down to the Barwon River. We sat for about quarter of an hour watching young people rowing on the river, many of whom I believe to be staying here at this caravan park. There is obviously some sort of regatta or summer school going on, or maybe it is all a big build up for Australia Day tomorrow?

We walked for an hour downstream and back, through groves of casuarinas, past the local golf club, enjoying the peace of the reserve, then returned in time to collect the vehicle with its shiny new black shoes.




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