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Originally Posted by BRENT in 10-uh-C
Is that a totally accurate statement? Budd was responsible for the design-work and stamping process of many bodies such as Coupe, Roadster, Phaetons, Tudors, etc.
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Ford Motors started on building the Rouge plant after the share holders were all bought out by the end of 1920 since they didn't want to help pay for it. By the time the production started for the model A, they had complete foundry and machine shop operations in full swing and the steel rolling mill & forging plant was making steel. They supplied steel to any contractor that didn't give what they felt was a good price so I'd say it is a pretty correct statement. The Dearborn engineering lab building was built after World War I so that is where all the "New Car" engineering was happening. Ford built all the Tudor sedans in house with all the steel, huge presses, and assembly jigs that they needed already set up in the Rouge. Most cowls for Tudors & coupes were the same and used the gas tank on the outside in 28 & 29. Fordors and the Cabriolet cowls were made by subcontractors so the tanks were hidden underneath. Ford was well on the way to building everything they needed in house but it took about 10 more years before they were completely there. Ford even had their own glass plant at the Rouge but they had one in Pennsylvania too. Ford contracted nearly all low production bodies to outside producers. They still didn't have the capability yet to produce everything that was cranking out of the assembly plants in the model A era. The older Highland park plant was still being used for a few more years after the Rouge was in full production.
Ford Motors had the largest machine shop in the world in 1928 and it was still growing.
Charlie Sorensen detailed a lot of information in his book. He was pretty proud of the company he helped to build during the 40-years he was there. A lot of the other core employees were too. The people Henry Ford hired had a lot to do with making things work better and make more profits. The difference between Henry Ford and a lot of other manufacturers is that he would drop the price on a product as they got the capability to make more and more. This just helped increase sales and profits. Most everything they built up in manufacturing was paid for by profits so everything was paid for as they needed it. Ford only used outside money when he had to and that was not very often.
Check out the Coachbuilt web site. It has a lot of info about Budd, Briggs, And Murray as well as a lot of others.