Special Thanks to Geoff Polites, David Flint and Ford - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

laminge · 10-08-2001, 18:27

Geoff and David

Thanks again for allowing a small group of misfits to have a glimps of Ford!

I for one was blown away at the size of the factories, the size of those stamping machines and the amount of organising it takes to get a car from A to Z.

May a lightning bolt strike me down if I ever complain again!

David, thanks for lunch, lucky there was enough there for my 4 return trips, but everyone agrees those cigars are a shocker!!!

I just cannot thank you enough for allowing us in the door and taking the time to meet us.

Gary Miotello
Laminge

MADXF · 10-08-2001, 19:41

Here, here.

I am stunned to see that such a large company still has (makes) time to see it adoring public.
We are not special, we just love the blue oval and to be given the opportunities we were, is no less than amazing.
I am still coming to grips with it.
Who would have thought that Geoff and other members of the board were actually looking forward to meeting us.

many, many thanks, it was great.

Paul Maxwell
aka: (\/)ADXF

FM · 10-08-2001, 20:18

Ditto here.. Dead set brilliant.
To let a bunch of joe schmoes like us into the factory's is something I'll never forget for sure. Personally I had fat time for the whole week. Scary to think the amount of investment that goes into making cars for such a little return... :eek:

Aussie Falcon · 10-08-2001, 22:10

This is my first post back from the trip. Thanks to all who were involved. In particular Felicity and the Discovery centre crew, Geoff, David, Bruce, Nethead and all the rest of the Ford/Tickford people.

The two factory tours were interesting. I'm still amazed at how the just in time manufacturing works. I think the tourguide said they keep three hours worth of materials in the factory at one time. From the outside it looks like highly organised chaos. Thanks for the surprise at the end of the Broady tour.

The Tickford tour was my favourite. Watching the Mustang line go through the LHD conversion was superb. We practically brought the whole place to a standstill as we went through each section and talked to the engine builders, LPG fitters etc. I'm eternally happy they allowed us the privilege. Going through these three factories has greatly increased my respect for Ford and its employees.

The proving grounds trip was a great surprise. I kinda guessed we would go there as it was the only logical place but Felicity kept it a secret right up until we were ready to get on the bus. I still can't believe the bus screamed around the high speed bowl. Even though it stuck to the lower section it had a rather scary inward lean. We even had a couple of cars overtake us on the outside. It was fascinating watching them go through the testing processes.

As for the FF guys, thanks for all the fun. The pub nights were hilarious at times. Did anyone explain the Mr sparkles incident? Laminge that is one awesome car you have. Thanks for letting me have the honour of sitting in the passenger seat. And Pete my cruise was set at 115+ the whole time. How do you explain me beating you by 5 minutes in the observation run? ;-) While I was dissapointed Ford missed out at Bathurst, I have no doubt Ford are on to a winner.

LunaticSVT · 10-08-2001, 22:11

I think that i can say this for all here. Thank you, I wanted to say thank you on behalf of the FordForums members and staff. It is not every day that big corporations such as Ford and Tickford would do such a thing for a group of enthusiasts. I only wish i had the chance to fly on down there to partake in this hospitality and the excitement that was had for the Australian contigency of this site.

Let us know if there is anything that we the staff and members of FordForums.com can do for you or for any other member of the Ford Au staff and tickford staff at anytime. Once again thank you for putting on a good show and feed for the guys.

Many thanks,

John Oliver aka lunaticss

FordForums.com owner.

puts99 · 10-08-2001, 22:18

Yeah good stuff Geoff & David, it is thatnks to us that Ford are starting to a do a ' U turn '

Can someone please go into more detail about the proving grounds and the oval track...???

XR_Strider_GuY · 10-08-2001, 22:51

A Big Thankyou to Geoff David and the Ford/Tickford crew. I'm still stoked that you guys were keen on meeting us.
In particular i was very very amazed that Geoff logs onto Ford Forums to see what we've posted.

Well Done Guys.

Discovery · 10-09-2001, 00:30

I must also thank a bunch of people here. I am so glad you decided to go ahead and let me run with what seemed to be an impossible task, taking a public group through operations at such a sensitive time.

From Ford Geelong: Lorraine (tour train and parking for Friday), Terry (Brian's talk and Sundays Bathurst event), Brian (for the wonderful talk on racing history) :thumbup:

From the Ford Discovery Centre: all staff (for making up for my absence), Space Lord (for the Geelong info pack) and Adrian (for showing us through the archives and sharing your knowledge) :thumbup:

From Ford Broadmeadows: Geoff (for your enthusiasm and for meeting with the group and giving them a big surprise), Sheila (for helping me on many occasions with trip details, and for your enthusiasm), Bruce (for listening to what the FF members had to say about marketing), Net Head (for your enthusiasm and the opportunities you have offered FF members through this site), Jenni, L&D (for being my trusty contact at the plant to get final ok on the tour going ahead), Jamal, L&D (You are truly an asset to Ford Jamal thanks for the tour intro), Clare, Communications (you helped out with so much from info, to cars for me to borrow, to goodies to give away and finally volunteering on Bathurst Sunday at the FDC) :thumbup:

From Tickford: David (for throwing the bbq lunch and making us feel most welcome) and Tony (who even agreed to be an honorary girl in the Go Kart racing, then took time off to join us for the Fox and Proving Grounds visits) :thumbup:

From the Proving Ground: Anthony (for the surprise email which let me know we had the ok to visit), David (for the great commentry) and the drivers (for showing us the cars being put throgh their paces) :thumbup:

From Ford Forums: John (for hosting this wonderful site which allowed us to meet), VenomS (for the fantastic t-shirts), Ford Man (for the nametags, advice and assistance both before and during the event), Laminge (for the ride on day one and for the advice pre event and for organising my big surprise) and Aussie Falcon (for bringing along all the nametag holders for us) :thumbup:

FM · 10-09-2001, 00:32

Quote:

Originally posted by priteshpatel99
Can someone please go into more detail about the proving grounds and the oval track...???

Think 35-40 seater bus going around the middle bowl at around 100 clicks with Barra's flying past you like you're standing still.. Nasty lean on the bus but the guy driving the Blue Barra made it all worth while.. Crikey did it move!!! :D

MADXF · 10-09-2001, 00:51

I preferred the sound of the white one.

the lean on the bus was pretty hairy hey.

well worth it.