The cars that made America.

[prpmmp]

Man!! Tough crowd!! They don,t call it the Boob tube for nothing!! Pete

[woodiewagon46]

I agree, way too many errors. I don't think the History Channel had anyone fact checking their script.

[Bob/Pa]

WOW..I'm surprised they didn't try to drag it out to 5 or 6 episodes. Boring at best.

[stangblue]

A lot of inaccuracies with the documentary. They are really trying to vilify Henry, not that he was a saint. He did put the Industrial Revolution on pace. Henry was very hard on Edsel trying to toughen him up through Harry Bennett as the henchman for the company. The Dearborn Press, his newspaper, was anti semantic and that has not been forgiven to this day. However, he was a pacifist and regretted all wars the US became involved in. Henry Ford and his automobile changed the world we live in. I am Grateful!

[fordwife]

Nothing has been said [yet] about the development of the V-8.
strange!

[Seth Swoboda]

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I DVR'ed it. I watched the first episode last night. It's pretty elementary. I think they developed this series so that a millennial could understand the basics. There are lots of inaccuracies and oddities. Oddities for example; they have a right hand drive Model A in the first episode. Also, the steam locomotives they show are all European type engines. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt that they are trying to appeal to an international audience. The series is O.K. The History channel really lacks substance and history throughout most of it's programming therefore I don't expect much out of them. Kind of like tuning into network T.V. I find myself saying "who watches this garbage?" Turn it off and go back to my family or Fords.

[4t8v8]

Wife wanted to watch American Ninja Warriors. Really enjoyed it.

[Vic Piano]

Like every other loosely historically based program they air, they are appealing to a general audience... While that should not give them, or the actual program producers a pass on content accuracy, it is clearly not their primary concern.

[rbone]

Interesting show, but I turned it off when they skipped from the start of the great depression to WW2. To me, Mr. Ford's 2nd most notable technical achievement was the single block casting V8 that we all love. Of course, 1st is the assembly line bringing cars prices down to levels that most people could afford.

[GB SISSON]

I also lasted 15 minutes, then went upstairs and read my book about Marconi and his wireless. I was reminded of how I was all excited to watch 'Harley and the Davidsons', which I also switched off.

[hardtimes]

Originally Posted by blucar

A lot of creative writing for sure. Walter P. was in fact a mechanical whiz, youngest head of the railroads mechanical repair shops. However, Buick/Mr Nash did not hire Walter P away from the railroad, he had retired from his position with the RR in his early forties.
Walter P. did take the presidents' position at Buick following Billy Durant's departure.
Of course anyone that knows much automotive history will pick out the little nuances of fact vs fiction.. Still good entertainment last night.

X2
I believe that's called 'poetic license'. Fancy words for ignoring / changing facts/truth to fit narrative.
Still plenty worthwhile , IMO, to get overview HOW America industrial revolution came about.

[waldo]

When Henry introduced the new 1928 Model A it was really new. It was a 1931 slant windshield Model A. Series is full of crap like that.

[blucar]

Watched the third segment of the show last night. Just like the earlier two there was a lot of creative (poetic license) writing, dialog. It is a well known fact that H. Ford was not a nice man, but then good guys finish last.
In the early days of Ford Motor, H. Ford was the man for the job, yes he was tough, ruthless, etc., the ultimate dictator, even to his family. One brief scene was correct when Henry's wife, took him to task and threatened to take the company apart if he did not leave Edsel along, and let him run the Company.
Of course most of us know, or should know that the Model A was designed by Edsel, copied from the Lincoln that Ford had recently purchased.
Ford handed the opportunity for Chrysler, Plymouth to prosper on a silver platter when Ford had to abruptly cease production of the "T" in 1927, because Ford had not done any product development. As I recall production at Ford was shut down for almost six months.