Downfall of Ford in the 70’s

Interviewer: Alex Casasola

Interviewee: Vincent Sheehy

Instructor: Alex Haight

Date: February 13, 2013

Table of Contents

Interviewee Release Form 3

Interviewer Release Form 4

Statement of Purpose 5

Biography 6

Historical Contextualization 7

Interview Transcription 15

Interview Analysis 35

Appendix 39

Works Consulted 41

Statement of Purpose

The purpose of this project was to divulge into the topic of Ford Motor Company and the issues that it faced in the 1970’s through Oral History. Its purpose was to dig deeper into that facts as to why Ford was doing poorly during the 1970’s and not in others times through the use of historical resources and through an interview of someone who experienced these events.

Biography

Vincent Sheehy was born in Washington DC in 1928. Throughout his life he has lived in the Washington DC and today he resides in Virginia. After graduating from

Gonzaga High School he went to Catholic University for college and got a BA in psychology. His father offered him a job into the car business, which was the best offer available to him at the time. He started out a grease rack mechanic and did every job in the store at the Ford on Georgia Ave in the 50’s. He worked as a mechanic in the parts department and became a owner until he handed down the dealership to his kids.

He got married to his wife in 1954 and currently has 5 kids. He is interested in golf, skiing and music. When he was younger he participated in the Board of Washington

Opera. He himself interacted with the people by selling cars to them and was able to understand how they felt because of his understanding of psychology. He makes several connections from the past to the present.

The Wheels of Ford start to Slow Down

According to Author Douglas Brinkley, “Ford executives were well aware that a streak of discontent lurked underneath the booming automobile market. The popularity of cheap imports provide it… “(Brinkley 640). The imminent downfall of the American motor superpower, Ford, was inevitable in the 1970’s. Foreign competition, the oil crisis of 1973, and growing environmental awareness were revolutionizing the automobile business, and Ford Motor Company was suffering the consequences. Ford had been the dominating American automobile manufacturer since 1903, and its decline had a dramatic effect on the American automobile industry. Therefore, in order to understand the perspective of someone who participated in the decline of Ford in the 1970s, it is important to first examine the oil crisis, the changing consciousness about the environment, and the changing preferences of the American consumer.

The first records of the attempts to make a vehicle to was a wind driven vehicle made by Guido da Vigevano in 1335 and author William Bottoff states, “with earlier attempts by Italian engineers”(Bottorff). Later on Leonardo de Vinci try to create a similar invention, which was a clockwork driven tricycle similar concept to Guido da

Vigevano. Many years past until the next step forward in the creation of the car was made and this was made a Catholic priest named Father Ferdinand Verbiest who has been said to have built a steam powered vehicle for the Chinese Emperor Chien Lung in about 1678

(Bottonrf). This is however an uncertainty as Author Bottornf explains, “There is no information on the actual vehicle, merely the event” (Bottorff). Not until 1712 was the next step in the evolution of the vehicle was made by Thomas Newcomen with his invention of the first ever steam engine. Newcomen's engine had a cylinder and a piston

and was the first of this kind, and it used steam as a condensing agent to form a vacuum and with an overhead walking beam, pull on a rod to lift water. In 1765 James Watt developed the first pressurized steam engine, which proved to be much more efficient and compact that the Newcomen engine. The first vehicle to move under its own power was designed by Nicholas Joseph Cugnot and constructed by M. Brezin in 1769. Bottorff explains that, “The early steam powered vehicles were so heavy that they were only practical on a perfectly flat surface as strong as iron. A road thus made out of iron rails became the norm for the next hundred and twenty five years” Bottorff). The vehicles got bigger and heavier and more powerful and as such they were eventually capable of pulling a train of many cars filled with freight and passengers. The development of the internal combustion engine had to wait until a fuel was available to combust internally.

Gunpowder was tried but did not work out. Gunpowder carburetors are still hard to find.

The first gas powered automobile did not use gas, but instead used coal. Gas generated by heating coal in a pressure vessel or boiler. A Frenchman named Etienne Lenoir patented the first practical gas engine in Paris in 1860 and drove a car based on the design from

Paris to Joinville in 1862. In 1862, Alphonse Bear de Rochas figured out how to compress the gas in the same cylinder in which it was to burn, which is the way we still do it. This process of bringing the gas into the cylinder, compressing it, combusting the compressed mixture, then exhausting it is known as the Otto cycle, or four cycle engine.

Henry Ford had an engine running by 1893 but it was 1896 before he built his first car.

By the end of the year Ford had sold his first car, which he called a Quadracycle, for

$200 and used the money to build another one. With the financial backing of the Mayor of Detroit, William C. Maybury and other wealthy Detroiters, Ford formed the Detroit

Automobile Company in 1899. A few prototypes were built but no production cars were ever made by this company. The Detroit automobile Company was not a success and failed because it was unable to sell many models, but a handful of his original backers kept faith in him and bought Detroit Automobile Company in May of 1901. After a while

Ford failed, but not all hope was lost. Ford had its second resurrection because auto race fan Alexander Y. Malcomson, who owned Detroit’s biggest oil company. On June 16

1903 the Ford Motor Company was founded. The first car Ford Motor Company sold was the Model A for $850. There after Ford became very interest in speed and made is first race car called 999 in 1906. Cars that Ford made after the 999 were the Model C and

Model B, made the same year as 999. Then came the model K in 1905, and Model N in

1906 and finally the popular Model T in 1909. The Model T would be very popular for the next 18 years. After the Model T the next popular car was the Model A. The price of the Model A was $450, while 4.5 million were sold in the next four years. Many cars were introduced over the years featuring new styles. The Model A and B were both sold with larger engines and greater amounts of horsepower. In May of 1943 Henry Ford died of cancer.

After the death of his father Henry Ford II took over as president of Ford Motor

Company on September 21, 1945. During World War II production has slowed until the introduction of the 1949 line of cars. In 1949 the Ford Thunderbird was introduced with

5.1 liters and capabilities of 113 mph. Major restyling occurred in the late 1950's with such automobiles as the Falcon, a compact car, with the help of General Motors and

Chrysler. During the 1960's competition increased and Ford had to become innovative in order to remain one of the top manufacturers and in 1964 the Ford Mustang GT was

introduced. In 1963 The Clean Air Act was passed, which was designed to control air pollution and to enforce regulations to protect the general public. The environmental crisis made Ford Motor Company prone to criticism. In 1966 California mandated law that exhaust control devices would be placed on all new vehicles to prevent the smog that was being produced. The introduction of the Volkswagens (appendix 2) also posed a problem for Ford Motor Company because of its popularity in America. What baffled

Ford Motor Company according of to author Brinkley, “was that no extraneous bodywork, no excess horsepower, but it did appeal to those who only need a means of transportation without these attributes”(Brinkley 638). Also the VW cost less than the

American car, took up less space on the highways, and they didn’t take pollute as much as the large American cars.

New issue arose in the 1970’s for Ford Motor Company such as the environmental awareness of the masses, oil crisis of 1973, and foreign competition. In

1970 Ford Motor Company was deemed the world’s second-largest automaker with a total production of 4.86 million vehicles. The issue of environment is enforced when author Brinkley stated, “By the early 1970’s 70 percent of Americans polled said the environment was the most pressing domestic and international problem—and the automobile industry was the primary culprit” (Brinkley 639). In 1972, Ford had a new lineup of 5 new small cars, which include the Mustang II, the Pinto, Ford Maverick and

Mercury Comet and the Capri. They were selling well, but so were foreign car companies

Toyota and Nissan-Datsun. The author Brinkley states, “The growing impact of Japanese cars and implementation of safety and antipollution standard should have been the biggest problems facing companies selling cars in the United States,”(Brinkley 652). In

1973 Egyptian tanks crossed the Suez Canal and the Arab-Israeli war broke out. This war was called the Yom Kippur War. Even though Ford was far away from the war, but it devastating blows to its industry. This marked the end for cheap gasoline, and as the authors Peter Collier and David Horowitz put it, “the death of U.S. auto supremacy”

(Collier 373). The issue that arose from this was how to convince the consumer to purchase a standard car that gets 10 mpg compared to a foreign small car that gets 20 mpg. As the dealer Cal Worthington said, “Throw some figure at ‘em. Tell them that they’re three times as likely to be injured in an accident if they’re driving a subcompact”(Brinkley 657). This shows that even the dealership were struggling selling product that Ford produced. After the economic boom in mid-sixties American car once again became, “large, elaborate and expensive”(Collier 373) as described by authors

Peter Collier and David Horowitz. Since the sharp raise in oil prices Ford’s financial

Analysts had speculated that there would be a sharp fall in profits. They lost 75 percent form $240 million for the fourth quarter of 1972 to $52 million in 1973. Also the factories took a heavy blow from intellectuals, artists and environmentalists especially about Ford Motor Company’s factory River Rogue plant. In the 1920’s the river Rogue plant was regarded as a clean and efficient industry. In 1978 Novelist Joyce Carol Oates,

“summed up the Rouge’s new role as symbol of toxic blight in a poem titled

“Ford””(Brinkley 640). The Ford Maverick became the car Ford Motor Company made to combat the imports. This lead to the even smaller car called the Pinto, which was introduced on September 11, 1970, but became an issue for Ford because of the fires that occurred because of the Pinto design flaw (appendix 1). In 1972 Ford Motor Company had a nice line of 5 new cars that sold at a nice pace, but so were imports that include

Japanese Toyota and Nissan-Datsun. The major issue in 1972 wasn’t antipollution standards or the implications of safety, but it was the rate of Production the cars were made at. Overnight the preference for big American sedan and performance went out of style and the consumer look in the direction of the subcompact cars. This led to dealers’ lots and company storage to be filled with large cars. The Financial crisis played a problem for Ford because of the recession combined with inflation. The factors lead to

Ford Motor Company’s downfall and the rise of foreign competition in America.

In the Oral History of Alvin L. Alm and in this discusses his work in the EPA, what the EPA and what the EPA. This oral history is important to Ford Motor industry because of the EPA regulations was put on the auto industry through the Clean Air Act of

1963. Alm states in this Interview, ”These changes are having a large impact on industry, fundamentally different than in the early years…By the late 1970 and 1980’s, industry learned to live with regulations, although not always with great enthusiasm”(Williams).

Since these regulations were implicated on the auto industry Ford need a way to stop their loss because of the environmental issues put on the larger automobiles because of large production of pollution and their lack of safety also posed a problem. One the issue of pollution Alm states, “I think the Clean Air Act, what became the Clean Air Act amendments, was a significant contribution the agency made during my tenure there”(Williams). The Clean Air Act put regulations on industry to prevent the emission of harm gases that would affect the general publics health.

Not everyone agreed the same away about this failure of Ford. Some thought it was a complete failure while others believed it wasn’t that bad. In the Imports and the

Future of the U.S. Automobile Industry by authors Jose a. Gomez-Ibanez and David

Harrison Jr. says, “Finally, transportation costs and the current 2.9 percent tariff on imported autos will always allow U.S. manufacturers a modest but useful cost advantage…. U.S. manufacturers could afford to pay labor $2.75 per hour more than

Japanese auto makers”(Harrison 322). This statistic shows that not Ford is still able to compete with foreign competition even though the American manufactures thought they would not be able to make it in this market Though Ford Motor Company was having trouble to keep up with foreign competition, they were still able to provide more income for their workers compared to the Japanese motor companies. Firm-Level Productivity and Management Influence: A Comparison of U.S. and Japanese Automobile Producers by Marvin B. Lieberman, Lawrence J. Lau and Mark D. Williams says, “U.S. producers of vehicle size classes, as well as a general rend toward increased features”(Lau 1202).

The authors are talking about how the industry and production of the larger vehicles and added feature like more horsepower. This would be an issue for Ford because it is not in the popular demand of the consumer.

The best kind of information that is found about Ford’s loss is shown in the periodicals in the 1970’s. In an article from the Washington Post it states, “Thursdays report for the first 10 days of November showed car sales by U.S. manufacturers off 25 percent; from the same period last year, Ford’s were off 29 percent for the period and 16 percent for the year so far”(Washington Post). These losses indicated the trouble Ford is going through because of the necessity to sell their larger cars, which had become very unpopular with consumers. In the newspaper article Profits fall 95% at G.M., 65% at

Ford, from the New times states, “Slow sales (specially of the more profitable full-size

models), requiring expensive sales promotions to move cars off dealers’ lots, accounted for most of the profit decline, the companies said”(New York times). The necessity to sell the larger cars was a problem for Ford since people were buying smaller, fuel-efficient and more environmentally friendly subcompact cars. This also affect the dealers since they could no longer sell the larger cars and their lots were filled with cars that they could not get anybody to buy. These factors made Ford change their thinking of cars and their need to transition to smaller cars.

The revolution in the American automobile industry has caused the landscape of

American highways to change. Ford, the American automobile, for decades symbolized the American way of life; it had to undergo a dramatic change. Instead of the large gas guzzler, there are now a variety of different automobiles available to the American consumer, including more fuel-efficient vehicles, vehicles that cause less pollution, and a different assortment of sizes of vehicles, ranging from coupes to trucks, convertibles to hard shells. After this bump in its history, Ford has regained its competitive position among automakers. Today Ford has woven its way back into the mainstream of

American industry. Ford continues to have a major impact on the American economy and employment situation. Although the future direction of the American automobile industry is still uncertain, it is clear that Ford will continue to be the epitome of the

American automobile.

Interview Transcription

Interviewee/Narrator: Vincent Sheehy Interviewer: Alex Casasola Location: Vincent Sheehy Office, Virginia Date: December 21, 2012 This interview as reviewed and edited by Mr. Whitman

[0:00] Alex Casasola: This Alex Casasola and I am interviewing Vincent Sheehy as par of the

American Century Oral History Project. The interview took place on December 21, 2012 at Mr. Sheehy’s office.

AC: Can you tell me about your childhood?

Vincent Sheehy: You wanna go back that far.

AC: Yeah.

VS: I was born in 1928 in Washington DC. Subsequently moved to high school in

Maryland where I spent most of my years up until high school. I went to Catholic

University Gonzaga high school. Went to work for my father in the automobile business.

How much detail do you want me to go into to?

AC: So your father was the one that got into the car business?

VS: Well of course. I wanted to go to law school. He said there is no way to make money, so go ahead over to the car business, which I promptly did. Since that was the best offer I had available to me.

AC: Did your education help you in the car business?

VS: I was a major in philosophy. If you could draw connections you are a better man than I am.

AC: how did you get started in the car business?

VS; I started actually, this parts sad, I started out a grease rack mechanic I did every job in the store Anlly Ford on Georgia Ave in the 50’s. I worked as a mechanic in the parts department and finally matured into a automobile sales.

AC: What was the atmosphere of the car when you first began?

VS: it was the end of the Korean War. Cars were hard to get. People sort of lined up to get a car. People stood in line to get automobiles in those days. That was 1951.

AC: So what lead you to sell Ford?

VS: We had a Ford dealership. He had Tanly Ford on Georgia Ave. so the reason I sold

Fords was because that what my father was in.

AC: Had you ever considered selling anything else?

VS: Why would I?

[5:00]

AC: What did you think of the Clean Air Act of 1963, which brought up issues of pollution of production of automobiles specifically Ford?

VS: Well the fact that all manufactures. That when they came out with the catalytic converter. I don’t recall all the dates of these things, but I assume that the advent of the catalytic converter.

AC: What was the catalytic converter?

VS: It converted your exhaust into clean air. It was supposedly clean. I have given a tremendous amount of thought of seeing the body of the business since it was a government regulation we complied. We put the actually some people did differently.

They had a different of cleaning up the air. We went with the catalytic converter in the

United States. That it seems to work ok.

AC: What did you think of the popularity of Volts Wagon in 1967 as it competed with

Ford?

VS: Volts Wagon was competing long before that. Volts Wagon was here in the 40’s the beetle was a very hot automobile. That was designed by Adolph Hitler. It was called the

Peoples Car. That what Volkswagen named the Peoples vehicle. It was very popular and is still popular today.

AC: Did the new implications of safety in automobiles affect you?

VS: Ford had in 1956 Ford came out 56 Ford with all sorts safety equipment seatbelts, padded dashboards. The public wouldn’t buy. They simply weren’t interested in safety back then. Today I would say it is a major factor but it was certainty was not then. Ford had a lot of difficulties selling the 56 Ford.

AC: Why weren’t the people interested in the safety of the Ford?

VS: How do I know? It was 1956. They wanted good looking cars. Cars with huge fins on them. The American manufactures thought nobody could ever come into this market.

They felt the price of immersing was to high. And they thought they had to themselves.

1958 was called the Baroque Period in the automotive industry. It had huge fans on the back of Cadillac’s and Plymouths and Ford did there share too. Today the colors that sell

are black, gray and white. In those days you had purple, pink, all sorts of colors that sold.

You know we come out of the second World War there weren’t no automobiles during the war time period. People had there own idea what they want in vehicles. Nothing like you drive today.

AC: What did you think of the 1964 Ford Mustang GT?

VS: Well it was certainly a hot mobile. However they did not sell it the nearly the way they thought they were gonna. They thought older people would buy it but in fact kids wanted straight stick mustangs and the car is still going. Its still on the road today. Very popular. Very popular.

AC: Did the issue of gas ever become of issue of the Ford Mustang?

VS: O golly this reminds me of one of my stories. When I was a salesmen in Hanly Ford in the 50’s a costumer came in one day and hooped and hollering. I am going 8 miles to a gallon. The general manager said SHHH, SHHH, that guy over there is only getting 7 and he will be furious if he knew your getting 8. It wasn’t really a factor it 17 cents a gallon.

When I was coming up, so the price of gasoline makes all the difference today. People of certainty turning to smaller cars. Its been death cars like the Explorer. Its still popular but more people are going to the smaller vehicle.

AC: What do you think of the Oil Crisis of 1973, Which marked the end of cheap gasoline?

[10:00]

VS: I can’t remember. There was a number of them. There was one in 73 and one in 79.

AC: the earlier one.

VS: Well Ford came out with the 64 Mustang and that was supposed to be a fuel efficient car But there condition you could not get it up drive way. A lady complained the mustang would not get up her driveway. Ford say turn your air condition off. And then try to get it up the driveway. People were trading in Thunderbirds on small mustangs and it was scary period obviously today it doesn’t make much difference my God gasoline today is 3 dollars and 50 cents a gallon everybody is driving as you know from coming down here today like gasoline was 15 cents a gallon. It hada immediate affect but it didn’t last.

AC: And what about the one in 79?

VS: I you know I have the vague recollection of that. It was under Carter. One of my favorite presidents. He was pinching everybody to wear warming clothing. He appeared with a sweater on television to warn people to share housing. The houses much to large home to the rest of the world and he was trying to get us to share quarters and live much

more cheaply. And obviously the public couldn’t care less. There still building big homes. In fact I don’t understand it gasoline is almost 10 dollars a gallon in Europe. You find small cars but the traffic on the road is almost as bad as it is here.

AC: What do you think of Ford losing 75 percent of profits from $240 million for the fourth quarter of 1972 to $52 million in 1973?

[15:00]

VS: I don’t really on Fords ups and down. As I said earlier Detroit thought no one could come into this country at the price of emission would be too high. Whether they drop in

73 is just beyond the business for 106 years. Kind of pushing me hard kind of hard here to remember every profit year today. They are successful, very successful. The Japanese and other manufactures, Koreans, have come in and proved that they could produce cars in this country. You are not going ask about your right to work are you? Right to work and all the foreign manufactures are locating to the southern states they are not going to the old Midwest like Indiana and Michigan where the manufactures were big. I don’t know who blame on it. The manufactures paid themselves to much money. But the workers certain were very ok. Today, I’m to sure there all that well paid. The unions really had the manufactures by the throat and each manufacturer wanted to make sure they were the one’s that were struck. General Motors would of done anything to have them strike Ford. In fact, General Motors used a more expensive catalytic converter in the hopes Ford couldn’t afford it. Chrysler of course on the ground, off the ground when

it first started the business. They had competition with each other and they ignored the

Japanese. Lei Lococus in 1950, the only people that buy Japanese cars are the lunatic

French in California. He turned out to be quite wrong. They were producing quality products. We were not producing quality. Today, quality I think is good in manufacturers, all cars are good today. Hunyadi’s that absolute not worth a damn when it first came out. You couldn’t give away a used one. The Koreans with the Kia have been doing very, very well and the Japanese say of course that they had the weight of the market with Toyota for years, years.

AC: What do you think of what the dealer Cal Worthington said, “Throw some figure at

‘em. Tell them that they’re three times as likely to be injured in an accident if they’re driving a subcompact”?

VS: When did he say he got to be older than I am. That’s got to be a fairly old quote. Cal

Worthington used to be me and my dogs they way he advertised. Well he was selling big cars. So it probably true that you are more likely to be injured in small than a big one. I think that fairly obvious. I know today mothers, they got the kids seatbelt in the back and in these seats. Every mother feels that she needs to drive an excursions to keep the kids safe. Women didn’t, you know, I used to drive a station wagon, I’d just reach back of the car and slap the kids silly. We didn’t have seatbelts and weren’t worry about it. Today

it’s a major concern safety and we are killing a lot less people that way today than many years ago.

AC: Did ever run into the issue of having to many large cars in your lot?

VS: To many large cars on my lot?

AC: Yeah.

VS: I suppose so at times. Your giving yourself away, your obviously for small cars

(laughter). Your questions sort of reveal what you are thinking, but the public today is buying both kinds and they are buying the large. And I think economics has got everything to do with that. When gasoline was cheap everybody wanted to drive a four- wheel drive Ford Explorer. Women need an off the road vehicle to ride around and that what they wanted.

AC: Did it concern you that by the early 1970’s, 70 percent of Americans polled said the environment was the most pressing domestic and international problem—and the automobile was the primary culprit?

VS: No.

AC; Wait (laughter). Did it affect you at all?

VS: That the automobile was a major polluter?

AC: Yeah.

VS; I think with the catalytic converter and with various steps we’ve taken and that we addressed. At one point and the manufactures were just at each other’s throats. Today that’s not true. Today they work with each other. So I think manufactures care about the environment. They do today. When it was a major issue a battleground between the government and manufactures. EPA was the one responsible for all the environmental controls. I think the manufacture today concerns itself with clean air. What evidence do you have that’s not true?

[20:00]

AC: It said in one of my topics in my research is said Ford companies and manufactures were going against China. They thought they were being cheated because of all the regulations the government put on them.

VS: They certainly enemies at one point. I don’t think they are today. I think the manufactures have learned with the influxes of the Japanese and many other manufactures, Volts Wagon to cooperate with government.

AC: What changes did you see in the car industry the 1970’s?

VS: I am not aware of whole heck of lot in the 70’s that was sort of a lezzie fair market.

Today, I would say dealers, there 50,000 dealers selling 4 million cars a year when I came into the business. Today there 15,000 dealers selling 14 million cars a year. So it had a dramatic change in the way the business set up. Biggest thing I would I say is that business is that the cars are better and products are presented more honestly whether that’s forced on us or not I don’t know. When I first came into the business it was just lying and cheating everywhere. Car dealers had a dreadful reputation they were than congressman today that’s no longer true. Congress would have a much lower reputation than a car dealer (chucles). We did all sorts of things at the end of war terrible things.

You had government regulations, controlling the price of vehicles, dealers found a way around that. There was a committee called the Macy Committee that investigated car dealers at the end of the war. It took us a long time to get over that reputation and we selling junk we were just selling garbage. I was just talking the other night a meeting in

Spora Angosos the rear wheels were falling off Ford station wagons. And he said why can’t we print good news. The Washington Post then printed another article saying front wheels stay on Ford station wagon, but that you don’t have that kind of that stuff. Today you have recalls in fact I’m driving vehicle, the new Fusion that was just recalled. The

Korean war, people would come into the show room and the general manager said there was a lot of accessories on this car. Where are they? They were in the trunk we had to

install them. The business was known for that. It had a bad reputation. Today I don’t think it does have bad reputation and everybody know the cost of the car. All you got to do is go on a website you can find out what we pay for. We just do business and we matured and in an honest way today than we did a long time ago. I don’t think you car dealers that much (jokingly).

AC: You coming into my heart. What strategies did you take to keep your business viable?

VS: In 1980 we were a disaster. Ford had no products at all. I turned my business around in order to keep viable today I transferred it over to my children. They are the controlling stock figures. I’m just a figure head, which reminds me that when you stop dispensing money the telephone stops ringing.

Rudy Casasola: I’m in the technology business, but I’m actually in the car business now as well.

[25:00]

VS: When you stop dispensing money the telephone stops ringing. Nobody calls me and

I think I did a pretty nice job of turning it over and I haven’t suffered as a result of it. My son Vinc, my son Pual, Bran and his wife all working the business. I started out with one

store and today we have 22. I think we have adopted forward looking policies to keep it going.

AC: What did you think of the increasing popularity of Toyota and Nissan in America

During the 70’s?

VS: They filled the need. Nissan today has to many dealers. We have a number of Nissan franchises today and Toyota has just been a favorite since its day it first started in

Califronia I guess that was about in 1960 that the first Toyota’s that came into California.

They were junk too. They were all junk. The original name Nissan was Duaxson. They were absolute pieces of garbage but they weren’t as bad of pieces of garbage as Detroit was putting on the public. Go right ahead.

AC: What did you think of the Ford Maverick being called on of the “import fighters”?

VS: Obviously it failed miserably. How did you dig up all of this stuff? How many years ago we talking about? About 40 years ago.

AC: yeah.

VS: That’s what Ford thought it was going to be, but they were simply mistaken.

Obviously the foreign manufactures have gone away with United States market. Europe

restricts them somewhat in this country. They are not as hot there. On the other hand the

European cars are small. The people don’t have the money to spend and they travel as great distances.

AC: What did you think about the Ford Pinto?

VS: Do want to hear about the fires?

AC: Yeah.

VS; It was just a piece of garbage. It didn’t last long when the fires started. Ford got into serious trouble with it. Although they weren’t the only ones. There was the Corvette had some problems. The pinto fires were a serious matter. I’m driving a Fusion right now.

They had a recall on the day it came out they said stop the costumer from driving it. If the light goes on get out of the car quick. I just got my back. There was a fire danger in it.

AC: Did the Pinto Fires affect you at all?

VS: No. Of course not. How many people died in Pinto’s.

AC: 5 to 10.

VS: You about in that. 15. But it was a very hot automobile. Do you think the public cares. The public do care about 20 kids getting gunned down in New Town Connecticut.

They’re not gonna change our gun laws. This is a much more serious problem now.

Automobile death are down dramatically. Dramatically. I think were killing 30,000 people a year. I think it used to be 50.

[30:00]

AC: From another Oral History Alvin L. Alm states in this Interview, ”These changes are having a large impact on industry, fundamentally different than in the early years…By the late 1970 and 1980’s, industry learned to live with regulations, although not always with great enthusiasm” and did you think this affected you?

VS: I don’t know the guys name.

AC: Alvin L. Alm for the EPA in the 70’s.

VS: I have no quarrel with that. We had a women who headed the EPA. We called her the dragon lady and she was a real problem. She managed to get the emblem of the

Mercedes and she was probably right. She was a very unpleasant person (laughs). We didn’t have good relations between here and the manufactures. I have no quarrel with regulation.

AC: Do you agree with this statement, “Finally, transportation costs and the current 2.9 percent tariff on imported autos will always allow U.S. manufacturers a modest but useful cost advantage…. U.S. manufacturers could afford to pay labor $2.75 per hour more than Japanese automakers”?

VS: What is this?

AC: What do you think about the American auto industry paying more in comparing between Japanese and American industry?

VS: Certainly the unions members in those states unionized. They get more money. The

Japanese have lower cost then us. There’s no two ways about that. We produced cars in

Mexico because we can produce them cheaper there. What was percentage?

AC: 2.9 percent tariff on imported goods.

VS: Is that a fact?

AC: Thats a fact.

VS: Because I believe there is important on truck but I don’t think on cars. Are you averaging that out

AC: This was a fact I got from a book that stated the average tariff.

VS: Average.

AC: How is business today?

VS: It ain’t bad. We feel the affects of the recession. Automobiles 2007 had 17 million a year. This year will probably will come out with 13.5 million. They say that pent up the demand. We just go the way of the economy. As I see it today everything is sort of squeezed. I don’t go to fancy parties anymore but that probably because I’m not invited.

We used to go ellaborted in the country was spending money like it was going out of style. It’s just not fashionable today.

AC: Would you say the difference from back then and now are pretty drastic?

VS: No. No. Seasonal. I should come up with a better word then seasonal. We toned down expectations. We don’t believe in being flashy anymore. They don’t glory in having bigger homes. I just saw a great movie called the Queen of Versailles. Guy named

Seagull was the largest time share in the country. They built a home in Orlando 90,000

feet never moved into and went bust. He actually says he’ll come back, but its just the sign of the times. Your too young to remember but your father probably remembers.

Times the country was far more sporty than it is today. It not the style today.

[35:00]

AC: Is there anything you wanted to talk about that we didn’t get to?

VS: I think you covered it pretty well. But the business has matured. Its more mature business. What are you driving?

AC: I drive a BMW. His car (referring to Rudy Casasola). Not mine. His.

RC: Its my other car the Cadalliac.

VS. I have a fusion. My son drives a hybrid Nissian and pretty much into that. BMW is an expensive automobile. What can business you in? Technology?

RC: Yes sir.

VS: Who you working for?

RC: My company is called Presidio Network Solutions.

VS: I was just reading something how well big cars are doing in Washington today. That didn’t used to be the case. In Washington many years ago when the EPA was hot. Now today Washington is a big market for very expensive cars. Aston Martin. I just read an article. BMW and Cadillac. Washington is a super rich market. I know the grandson that

I started business with and they are still in it. They turned over real quickly. Washington island of economic security and Why do you think that? You only get one guess to answer? A government. The government keeps it afloat. It a very good market. Alright.

AC: Thank you for doing this.

Interview Analysis

According to interviewee Vincent Sheehy, “The American manufactures thought nobody could ever come into this market. They felt the price of immersing was to high.

And they thought they had to themselves” (Sheehy). The American Manufactures were to confident in the American market as Vincent Sheehy had stated. Vincent Sheehy told his story through oral history to show his perspective of Ford during the 1970’s. Oral history is significant to better the understanding of a topic. Oral history is the study of information through an interview of an individual about historical events using audiotapes, videotapes or transcriptions. This makes a contribution by showing the several perspectives of a topic by taking historians and that of an eyewitness of the event that occurred. Through this historians are able to have a better understanding of Ford in

1970’s. The interviewee’s perspective of Ford in the 1970’s contradicts what historians say about the topic.

This interview was about the downfall of Ford in the 1970’s where Mr. Sheehy talked about his experiences working a car dealership and selling Fords. He began the interview talking about his childhood. Then we transitioned into his introduction into the car business by his father. He talks about his rise through the ranks from a greaser to a car dealer at the family car dealership. After that his discusses the Volts Wagon competition in America and after then he talked about the safety implications put on cars and the peoples reaction to that. After that he talked about the popularity of the Ford Mustang and than talked about the Oil Crisis in 1973 and 1979. Next he talked about foreign competition and how American Manufactures that no foreign manufacture would be able to come into the market here in America. He talked about the difference in quality

between American cars and foreign cars. Afterwards he talked environmental issues and how the people really didn’t car about this. After this he discussed the changes he saw in car industry in the 1970’s. After this he talked about the foreign competitors Toyota and

Nissan. He then goes in depth about the two cars the Ford Maverick and Ford Pinto. He then he talks about EPA and its affect it had on the car business. Lastly, he talks about the difference between Ford back then and Ford now and how the Ford now has improved so much over the years.

An issue brought up by historian Douglas Brinkley was that the fall of Ford was caused by Ford’s vehicle inability to compete. He states that a major issue was that

American manufactures were unable to produce cars that were good to drive, safe for the environment and the foreign competition. Douglas Brinkley states, “The growing impact of Japanese cars and implementation of safety and antipollution standard should have been the biggest problems facing companies selling cars in the United States”(Brinkley

652). What concerned Ford was not if the car was safe or not but if it was a vehicle people will enjoy to drive unlike the foreign cars like Volkswagen, which were very simple vehicles. Those were favorable among those who only wanted a vehicle to get them place to place instead of a vehicle you could enjoy driving. According to a survey

70 percent of Americans polled that environment was the most important problem to them. According to Mr. Sheehy the people really didn’t care about these issue and as long as they have a quality car. Mr. Sheehy states, “Ford had in 1956 Ford came out 56 Ford with all sorts safety equipment seatbelts, padded dashboards. The public wouldn’t buy.

They simply weren’t interested in safety back then.” (Sheehy 4). This shows that the

people were more concerned over if the car was enjoyable to drive than its safety of the driver and passangers.

Another issue brought up was the competition between large cars versus subcompact cars and how people reacted to them. The car dealer Cal Worthington said,

“Throw some figure at ‘em. Tell them that they’re three times as likely to be injured in an accident if they’re driving a subcompact”(Brinkley 657). He wished to sell the cars that were being packed into lots because of the lack of people wanting smaller cars. The issue arose when people were buying these foreign subcompact cars such as the Volkswagen.

They were popular because VW cost less than the American car, took up less space on the highways, and they did not take pollute as much as the large American cars. Vincent

Sheehy states, “And I think economics has got everything to do with that. When gasoline was cheap everybody wanted to drive a four-wheel drive Ford Explorer” (Sheehy 9). His statement resonates the idea that because of the Oil Crisis of 1973 that people felt that the necessity to buy more fuel-efficient vehicles but once when gas was cheap those large cars were able to prosper. According to Vincent Sheehy people really didn’t care about whether or not if the cars was large or subcompact but rather cared if the car was quality.

Vincent Sheehy states that people cared more about the quality of car, for example, there were a lot more colors back then than today like pink, orange, purple, etc. and wished to have a fun luxury.

Through this project brings the deep understanding on how to interact with someone else to divulge into a topic to bring knowledge on a topic. I learned from this project to have knowledge from a topic and converse with another expert on a topic and bring his opinion as a factor into my knowledge of the topic. This project teaches you to

understand the difference between a history book and a person who has directly experienced an event and how there are many perspectives on a topic. It also shows the value of interaction among people. Its experiences that this person shared will now be apart of history and this shows that everyone is a contribution to history.

Appendix 1

The photo shows the reason for the Ford Pinto fires.

Appendix 2

This the Voltswagon Beetle of 1960-1961

Works consulted

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Brinkley, Douglas. Wheels of the World: Henry Ford, His Company and a Century of

Progress. N.p.: Penguin Group, n.d. Print.

Collier, Peter, and David Horowitz. The Fords: An American Epic. New York: Summit

Books, 1988. Print. http://www.engineering.com/content/community/library/ethics/fordpinto/images/image00

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"Ford Sees $100 Billion N. American Loss." Washington Post 16 Nov. 1979: n. pag.

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Gomez-Ibanez, Jose A., and David Harrison, Jr. The American Economic Review. N.p.:

American Economic Association, n.d. Print.

"Henry Ford Biography-Facts, Birthday, Life Story." Biography.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 3

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"Karl Benz" ["http://www.asme.org/kb/news---articles/articles/automotive/karl-benz"].

Asme.com. Asme, n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2012.

Peterson, Iver. "Profits Fall 95% at G.M., 65% at Ford." New York Times 26 Oct. 1979: n.

pag. Print.

Williams, Mark D., and Lawrence J. Lau. Management Science. N.p.: INFORMS, n.d.

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Vincent, Sheehy. Interview Transcription Downfall of Ford in the 70’s.