Читать книгу The Fall of Detroit - Dmitry Nazarov - Страница 3

Henry Ford

The Ford wasn’t the first of Henry’s companies. He gathered 12 investors, and DAC was the first car company he founded.

Do you remember that famous legend where Ford, in his barn, put together some wagon with some engine, that was before he opened DAC.

Ford had many ideas, but he didn’t have any money. He was just a regular mechanic. And with this wagon, he convinced 12 investors, the mayor of the town included, to invest 86,000 dollars in him.

If we talk about modern money, it’s 2.6 million usd. A significant amount of money, for sure.

And the focus of the DAC activities was a vehicle for delivery men. It was heavy, slow, uncomfortable, hard to build.

That idea was void from the start.

There were only 12 of them ever produced, the money was wasted.

Ford who was very pleased regardless, left the company and founded his own Ford company in 1903. A year later, in 1904, he founded the Ford Piquette Plant that was the first full-fledged car factory in Detroit. Ford is the first element in our diagram.

It’s the first foundation of Detroit’s future.

The next moment was in 1904. A fellow named William Krapo Durant bought a huge chunk of Buick shares.