With fewer than 50 days to its 100th birthday, Ford Motor Company’s 100-millionth V-8 engine rolled off the Essex Engine Plant's (EEP) manufacturing line here today, marking a milestone more than 70 years after Ford’s first mass-produced V-8 was built in 1932.
This week also marks the beginning of production of Ford’s new 5.4-liter, 3-valve Tritonä V-8 that will power the all-new 2004 Ford F-150 pickup when it starts production this summer. The milestone 100-millionth V-8 engine will be installed in the first Ford F-150 built this year at Ford’s Norfolk (Virginia) Assembly Plant.
“We have a century of experience delivering great engines to our customers,” said Dave Szczupak, vice president, Powertrain Operations, Ford Motor Company. “This is an historic milestone for Ford and the auto industry. It’s fitting for this milestone to fall in our centennial year and fewer than 50 days before our company’s birthday on June 16. It is also fitting that our new 3-valve Triton V-8 is the special engine that marks this occasion for us.”
Henry Ford revolutionized the auto industry with the moving assembly line in 1914 and again when he introduced the industry’s first affordable, mass-produced V-8 engine in 1932. The engine featured an innovative “flathead” configuration – a side-valve engine made possible by industry-first engine block casting techniques developed by Ford engineers.
The new overhead-cam 5.4-liter, 3-valve Triton engine – now in production at Ford’s Essex Engine Plant in Windsor, Ontario – incorporates technologies that make it the company’s most advanced V-8 engine ever. In a striking similarity to its ancestor, the original Flathead V-8, Ford today uses an innovative new flexible manufacturing method to manufacture the all-new 3-valve cylinder head.
The new 5.4-liter, 3-valve Triton V-8 will give the all-new 2004 Ford F-150 300-peak horsepower and 365-foot-pounds of peak torque – significant improvements over the previous award-winning 5.4-liter Triton.
Ford V-8 Plants
It is also fitting that the 100-millionth V-8 engine is produced in Windsor, which has a long history of Ford engine production. Since 1932, Ford of Canada has produced 22.4 million V-8 engines – most of them at the Windsor Engine Plant, sister of the Essex Engine Plant located a few miles away.
“Our Windsor operations continue to make a strong contribution to the success of the Ford Motor Company. Today, Windsor is the source of about half of Ford V-8s, as well as many V-6 and V-10 engines – all of which power some of the most popular Ford and Lincoln vehicles,” said Alain Batty, president & CEO, Ford of Canada.
In addition, Ford’s Romeo (Mich.) Engine plant currently builds more than 40 percent of Ford’s V-8 engines, nearly 7-million V-8 engines since the plant was converted to V-8 production in 1990, while Ford’s engine plant in Lima, Ohio, builds V-8 engines for the Ford Thunderbird and Lincoln LS.
Ford’s well-known Cleveland Engine plants No. 1 and No. 2 built more than 28 million V-8 engines between the late 1950s and 2000 – engines like the powerful Boss 302, the famed Cleveland 351 and the famous 5.0-liter Mustang engine, which ceased production in 2000.
Ford’s Dearborn (Mich.) Engine and Fuel Tank Plant, in the historic Rouge manufacturing complex, also produced millions of V-8 engines from the 1950s to the 1970s, including the legendary 427 cubic-inch motor.
This week also marks the beginning of production of Ford’s new 5.4-liter, 3-valve Tritonä V-8 that will power the all-new 2004 Ford F-150 pickup when it starts production this summer. The milestone 100-millionth V-8 engine will be installed in the first Ford F-150 built this year at Ford’s Norfolk (Virginia) Assembly Plant.
“We have a century of experience delivering great engines to our customers,” said Dave Szczupak, vice president, Powertrain Operations, Ford Motor Company. “This is an historic milestone for Ford and the auto industry. It’s fitting for this milestone to fall in our centennial year and fewer than 50 days before our company’s birthday on June 16. It is also fitting that our new 3-valve Triton V-8 is the special engine that marks this occasion for us.”
Henry Ford revolutionized the auto industry with the moving assembly line in 1914 and again when he introduced the industry’s first affordable, mass-produced V-8 engine in 1932. The engine featured an innovative “flathead” configuration – a side-valve engine made possible by industry-first engine block casting techniques developed by Ford engineers.
The new overhead-cam 5.4-liter, 3-valve Triton engine – now in production at Ford’s Essex Engine Plant in Windsor, Ontario – incorporates technologies that make it the company’s most advanced V-8 engine ever. In a striking similarity to its ancestor, the original Flathead V-8, Ford today uses an innovative new flexible manufacturing method to manufacture the all-new 3-valve cylinder head.
The new 5.4-liter, 3-valve Triton V-8 will give the all-new 2004 Ford F-150 300-peak horsepower and 365-foot-pounds of peak torque – significant improvements over the previous award-winning 5.4-liter Triton.
Ford V-8 Plants
It is also fitting that the 100-millionth V-8 engine is produced in Windsor, which has a long history of Ford engine production. Since 1932, Ford of Canada has produced 22.4 million V-8 engines – most of them at the Windsor Engine Plant, sister of the Essex Engine Plant located a few miles away.
“Our Windsor operations continue to make a strong contribution to the success of the Ford Motor Company. Today, Windsor is the source of about half of Ford V-8s, as well as many V-6 and V-10 engines – all of which power some of the most popular Ford and Lincoln vehicles,” said Alain Batty, president & CEO, Ford of Canada.
In addition, Ford’s Romeo (Mich.) Engine plant currently builds more than 40 percent of Ford’s V-8 engines, nearly 7-million V-8 engines since the plant was converted to V-8 production in 1990, while Ford’s engine plant in Lima, Ohio, builds V-8 engines for the Ford Thunderbird and Lincoln LS.
Ford’s well-known Cleveland Engine plants No. 1 and No. 2 built more than 28 million V-8 engines between the late 1950s and 2000 – engines like the powerful Boss 302, the famed Cleveland 351 and the famous 5.0-liter Mustang engine, which ceased production in 2000.
Ford’s Dearborn (Mich.) Engine and Fuel Tank Plant, in the historic Rouge manufacturing complex, also produced millions of V-8 engines from the 1950s to the 1970s, including the legendary 427 cubic-inch motor.