Below is a timeline of Ford’s more than 100 years of vehicle production at Ford’s Louisville Assembly Plant, courtesy Ford Motor Company
Louisville Assembly Plant Timeline
1913: Louisville Ford Sales and Service Branch at 931 South Third Street begins assembly of 12 Model T's per day.
1914: Construction begun on a new plant at Third and Eastern Parkway.
Jan. 2, 1916: Production of Model T begins at new plant. An average of 53 employees produce 7000 vehicles per year.
June 1918-March 1919: Plant occupied by the U.S. Army Mechanical and Medical Corps.
April 1923: An addition increases assembly capacity from 85 to 200 vehicles per day.
Feb. 2, 1925: A new assembly plant is opened at 1400 Western Parkway. It has a capacity of 400 cars per day.
1937: A major flood of the Mississippi River closes the plant for two months when it is submerged under nine feet of water.
Feb. 15, 1942: Production of GPW 4x4 army trucks begins. Civilian car production is ceased on February 24 and civilian truck production on March 31.
Sept. 1945: Full-scale civilian production resumes.
1953: Construction begins of the Louisville Assembly Plant on Fern Valley Road at Grade Lane. The new plant is part of Ford Motor Company's $1.7 billion postwar expansion program.
April 13, 1955: The last car is assembled at the old plant. Transfer of more than 150 truckloads of tools, production equipment and office furniture begins.
April 18, 1955: The first car produced at the Louisville Assembly Plant is received by Kentucky Governor Lawrence Weatherby. The plant occupies more than 2 million square feet on a 180-acre site. It has a capacity of 880 cars and trucks per day, on two shifts.
Oct. 18, 1955: Louisville Assembly Plant is dedicated. Ford Division general manager Robert S. McNamara delivers the dedication address.
June 1957: Edsel production added.
Jan. 1958: Heavy truck production added.
Nov. 15, 1961: An expansion program to add 90,000 square feet to the Louisville Assembly Plant is announced.
July 30, 1963: A dinner is held to celebrate both the 50th anniversary of Ford assembly in Louisville and the centennial of Henry Ford's birth.
Sept. 22, 1969: The last heavy truck built at Louisville Assembly Plant is an ND-1000 diesel tractor. Medium and heavy truck production is shifted to the newly-opened Kentucky Truck Plant .
April 16, 1973: Light truck assembly added to car production at Louisville Assembly Plant.
June 12, 1981: Car assembly ceases, leaving only light truck assembly. The last car, a gold LTD, is the 3,433,660th passenger car assembled in Louisville since 1913.
September 1981: Start of a formal Employee Involvement program.
Jan. 18, 1982: Ranger production begins.
January 1983: Bronco II production begins. A total of 820,931 Bronco II's are produced before the end of production in February 1990.
April 15-19, 1983: Louisville Assembly Plant celebrates the 70th anniversary of Ford assembly in Louisville with an open house attended by over 55,000 visitors.
Aug. 22, 1984: Louisville Assembly Plant is presented with a U.S. Senate Productivity Award.
May 1985: Ford announces a new $78-million automated paint operation at Louisville Assembly Plant.
July 1985: The 1-millionth Ranger is produced.
July 14, 1987: Ford Motor Company announces a $260 million expansion to prepare for production of a new vehicle. The vehicle is later revealed as the Explorer.
April 26, 1988: The 2-millionth Ranger/Bronco II vehicle is produced at Louisville Assembly Plant.
June 13-17, 1988: Louisville Assembly Plant celebrates the 75th anniversary of Ford in Louisville.
Feb. 14, 1990: The first Ford Explorer is produced at Louisville Assembly Plant.
May 1991: Louisville Assembly Plant is awarded Ford Motor Company's prestigious Q1 award.
Aug. 22, 1991: A new UAW-Ford Education Center is dedicated at Louisville Assembly Plant.
1992: Production begins of the redesigned Ranger.
November 1992: A homologation center to modify vehicles for foreign export opens at Louisville Assembly Plant.
May 1993: Q1 award is recertified.
Aug. 27, 1993: Louisville Assembly Plant produces the 1-millionth Ford Explorer.
Nov. 29, 1994: The redesigned Ford Explorer is launched.
April 1996: Mercury Mountaineer assembly added.
May 30, 1996: 2-millionth Explorer produced.
1999: The Harbour Report names Louisville Assembly Plant most efficient truck plant.
Feb. 3, 2000: Louisville Assembly Plant hosts the launch of the Explorer Sport Trac.
Sept. 16, 2002: The 5-millionth Explorer rolls off the line.
May 14, 2003: Louisville is one of 100 cities on the Ford Centennial Tour. The two-day celebration at the Louisville Zoo includes classic and modern vehicle displays.
Dec. 9, 2010: Ford announces a plan to invest $600 million to modernize and re-tool the Louisville Assembly Plant for production of the new Escape
April 2012: Ford assembly teams prepare for all-new 2013 Escape production, training in simulated factory at Louisville plant.
June 13, 2012: Ford Motor Company, its employees, dealers and suppliers celebrate production of the all-new Ford Escape at the company’s transformed Louisville Assembly Plant, one of several U.S. manufacturing sites where Ford adds jobs to meet strong customer demand for fuel-efficient vehicles.
