Allemagne

1957 · 62404 — Koln im Marz: Ford-Werke AG Herausgegebn von der Betriebsleitung des Presswerks 1957. 4to. 8.5 x 12 in. 99 leaves mimeographed. With 40 original silver gelatin photographs mounted and tipped-in sized from 4.5 x 6.5 up to 7 x 9.5 in. all within text and identifying captions several silver print graphs & charts. Green linen cloth covers rounded corners minor sunning to spine minor bumping to couple corners still a VG copy. Original in-house Ford-Germany photo-illustrated report documenting their construction and development of their massive pressed steel works in Cologne from 1954-1956 for the iconic Ford Taunus 15M automobile. As this preface carefully explains Ford-Germany had struggled with a variety of parts makers and small steel stamping shops following the rebuilding of their company after World War II including an ongoing cash shortage. The pressed steel parts produced by all of these smaller and larger companies and then transported to the Taunus 12M and 15M assembly factories faced increasing considerable transport costs and poor manufacturing quality and waste with the suppliers was also eating into the company profits. The Schuler presses installed in the factory were some of the largest in Europe and at the time the company had over a century experience in building sheet-metal steel pressing machines. The excellent photos depict the finished press plant factory floor steel stamping presses entire large bins of finished steel body parts including fenders trunks hoods floor pans Taunus tops wheel tubs and more. This plant under the direction of Robert Layton a native Berliner who had fled Hitler’s Nazi regime in 1938 to return to West Germany in 1950 increased Taunus 15M production from 67254 Fords in 1957 to 395498 by 1964. No copies in Worldcat or The Henry Ford; See: Ford in Deutschland Munchen Thiemig 1957; West Germany: Ford’s Autobahn to Success Time May 7 1965. Ford-Werke AG, Herausgegebn von der Betriebsleitung des Presswerks, hardcover