0:00:02 > 0:00:04This is the story of an American dream.
0:00:04 > 0:00:05Good to see you again.
0:00:05 > 0:00:09We were just driving by so we thought we'd drop in and say hello.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11It was a dream of happy families on wheels.
0:00:11 > 0:00:15The Ford Motor Company brought it from Detroit to Dagenham,
0:00:15 > 0:00:16then sold it to Britain.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19I'd sure like to shake hands with the man who designed it. Where is he?
0:00:19 > 0:00:22Right now, he's working on a dream car for you folks.
0:00:22 > 0:00:23A dream car!
0:00:23 > 0:00:26Wow, is it going to look like a rocket?
0:00:26 > 0:00:30From the 1950s onwards, Ford revolutionised the cars we drove.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34They produced dream cars for the average British family.
0:00:34 > 0:00:39The Anglia was, to me, the epitome of style,
0:00:39 > 0:00:43because of the grace of the cut on it.
0:00:43 > 0:00:49In the '60s and '70s, Ford sold dreams to boy racers, too.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52When the Capri came out, you just looked at and go, "My God,
0:00:52 > 0:00:55"that is just... I haven't seen a car like that before."
0:00:55 > 0:00:57You know, not one that I could afford.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59That was the power with Ford.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01They would offer a dream that was accessible.
0:01:03 > 0:01:07But this dream came at a price. The mass production of motor cars
0:01:07 > 0:01:10required an army of assembly line workers,
0:01:10 > 0:01:14who did jobs that were infamous for their soul destroying monotony.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16What you do is little tricks.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19I would have imaginary football matches
0:01:19 > 0:01:21where I might be playing in the FA Cup,
0:01:21 > 0:01:23or designing something in my head.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25Anything just to get yourself out of it.
0:01:25 > 0:01:30At its peak, Dagenham was producing more than 3,000 cars every day.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34Its most popular dream car of all time,
0:01:34 > 0:01:38the Cortina, sold around five million in Britain alone.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42But the assembly line workers had a love-hate relationship
0:01:42 > 0:01:46with the cars they made and for some, the dream became a nightmare.
0:01:46 > 0:01:51This is the story of the rise and fall of Ford's Dagenham dream.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57The great invention of Henry Ford
0:01:57 > 0:02:00was the moving assembly line, which mass produced the Model T.
0:02:00 > 0:02:05It would turn the Detroit-based Ford Motor Company
0:02:05 > 0:02:08into a global power and transform the car industry.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12# Speeding along the rolling highway... #
0:02:12 > 0:02:14As part of Ford's worldwide expansion,
0:02:14 > 0:02:15they opened a giant factory
0:02:15 > 0:02:20in Dagenham, in 1931. Offering jobs to 30,000 workers,
0:02:20 > 0:02:24Dagenham was the biggest factory in Europe and it breathed new life
0:02:24 > 0:02:27and hope into an economy crippled by depression.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31Promotional films made by the Ford film unit
0:02:31 > 0:02:34gave expression to the dream of putting Britain on wheels
0:02:34 > 0:02:37and selling a Ford car to every family.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41This included their own car workers, who, from the beginning,
0:02:41 > 0:02:44were paid above average wages in the hope that car and home ownership
0:02:44 > 0:02:47would encourage work, discipline and loyalty.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53They were all part of what the company called the Ford family.
0:02:55 > 0:03:00In the hungry '30s, Ford soon brought new prosperity to Dagenham.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04One of my mates, his father was out of work and he got a job there
0:03:04 > 0:03:07and his money was half-a-crown an hour.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09Unheard of.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12Unheard of. Half-a-crown an hour.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15He become sort of the millionaire of the street.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19Dagenham, built on the Thames marshes, east of London,
0:03:19 > 0:03:21became a boom town.
0:03:21 > 0:03:26Everyone wanted to work at Ford's, including schoolboy Harry Coleman.
0:03:26 > 0:03:28They wanted a tea boy,
0:03:28 > 0:03:32and the man who lived next door to me was a blacksmith
0:03:32 > 0:03:35and he got a job as a blacksmith
0:03:35 > 0:03:39and he said to my mum, "How old is your boy?"
0:03:39 > 0:03:41And my mum said, "Oh, 13."
0:03:41 > 0:03:45"Oh," he said, "Pity, because we want a tea boy he said,
0:03:45 > 0:03:49"and I could have took him down there if he'd have been 14."
0:03:49 > 0:03:53My mum said, "He is 14! He is 14!"
0:03:53 > 0:03:57And with that, the next day I'm down to Ford's,
0:03:57 > 0:04:00making a bucketful of tea for the men.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03Harry entered the new time and motion world
0:04:03 > 0:04:06of the moving assembly line.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09The worker was a small cog in a giant machine.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13Production was broken down into repetitive time jobs
0:04:13 > 0:04:16and the pace of work was kept up by foremen.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19You had to be a big man to be a foreman.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22The simple reason is you had to discipline.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26That's why they always picked these big people,
0:04:26 > 0:04:29because when he said, "I want you to do that,"
0:04:29 > 0:04:31either speed up or something like that,
0:04:31 > 0:04:34if you're talking to a big bloke you'd think twice,
0:04:34 > 0:04:36"Oh, all right, I'll do it."
0:04:36 > 0:04:39But if you're a little bloke...
0:04:39 > 0:04:41tell him to sod off.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45During the Second World War, there was a new spirit of unity,
0:04:45 > 0:04:49with Dagenham playing a heroic role in the war production drive.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53PERIOD NEWSREEL: Britain's workers, like Britain's factories,
0:04:53 > 0:04:56have switched over from peace to war to protect the things of peace.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00And if carrying on with the job and keeping up the output of war materials
0:05:00 > 0:05:03is going to bring us nearer that next big switchover,
0:05:03 > 0:05:06the switchover to peace, then watch our smoke.
0:05:07 > 0:05:12Ford supplied the British Army with around a quarter of a million military vehicles and trucks,
0:05:12 > 0:05:18along with 130,000 Fordson tractors that helped feed the nation at war.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23The war seemed to prove Ford's loyalty and value to Britain.
0:05:23 > 0:05:28Suspicion of its American ownership turned to admiration and in 1948,
0:05:28 > 0:05:33Ford cashed in by introducing a revolutionary idea to Dagenham.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36PERIOD NEWSREEL: This is where a new idea moved in.
0:05:36 > 0:05:41At Ford of Dagenham, all plans for car production were recast in 1948
0:05:41 > 0:05:43and a new criterion of the road was set.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45Five-star motoring.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49Ford's five-star motoring aimed to produce cars for the British market
0:05:49 > 0:05:56that were sleek, stylish and speedy. Scaled-down versions of American dream cars.
0:05:57 > 0:06:02They designed saloon cars as well as smaller cars like the new Anglia and Prefect.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06One of the Dagenham designers was Charles Thompson.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08We used to spend all day
0:06:08 > 0:06:12talking about cars, sketching and drawing and getting paid for it.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15It seemed...and I know this is an exaggeration...
0:06:15 > 0:06:19it seemed we'd sketch and draw all day long until somebody said,
0:06:19 > 0:06:21"Stop, we'll make that", type of thing.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Everything you drew, after a while,
0:06:26 > 0:06:28if your chief liked what you were doing,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31was translated into three-dimensions
0:06:31 > 0:06:35and this was clay modelling.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38Shaping a smooth line along the fender of the car,
0:06:38 > 0:06:43you'd spend days and weeks just getting it to look right.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48Ford's Dagenham plant was geared up to produce the new models.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51It was to be a breakthrough in British car production.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54The starting point in the whole process
0:06:54 > 0:06:58was the Thames Foundry, the largest foundry in Europe.
0:06:59 > 0:07:04Dennis O'Flynn began work there in 1953.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07My first day there I thought was going to be my last day.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12I'd suddenly find myself walking in black sand,
0:07:12 > 0:07:16molten metal all over the blooming place, unbelievable noise.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18One of the jobs of the foundry men
0:07:18 > 0:07:21was casting the moulds for the car engines.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24This was one of the most dangerous jobs
0:07:24 > 0:07:26in the entire car-making process.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30It was here, in these swelteringly hot conditions
0:07:30 > 0:07:32that the Ford assembly line began.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36The length of the line and the speed of the line
0:07:36 > 0:07:40allowed the casting to get reasonably solid,
0:07:40 > 0:07:41from the time it was cast.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44And then there was what they called the shake-out
0:07:44 > 0:07:48and there was two blokes there pulling the moulds off.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53The sort of system they had in the shake-out
0:07:53 > 0:07:56was so physically demanding and so hot
0:07:56 > 0:07:59that they could only work half an hour at a time.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02Same team, no extra men for that.
0:08:02 > 0:08:07They'd split up and they'd do half an hour on and half an hour off.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13Ford wanted to promote a reverential image of the new car-making at Dagenham,
0:08:13 > 0:08:18so in 1953, they commissioned a symphony to celebrate their achievement.
0:08:18 > 0:08:23I don't know if any of you have ever visited a great engineering factory.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25It's quite an experience.
0:08:25 > 0:08:32I visited one recently and I was greatly impressed with the common purpose of those who worked there.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36There seemed a striking parallel between their skill with the machines
0:08:36 > 0:08:39and the skill of musicians playing their instruments.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42ORCHESTRAL MUSIC
0:08:42 > 0:08:47But despite the orchestral metaphor of working together in perfect harmony,
0:08:47 > 0:08:51the reality of work on the assembly line proved to be very different.
0:08:51 > 0:08:57- Henry Ford's regimented time and motion system for making cars alienated much of his workforce.
0:08:57 > 0:09:04If you wanted to go to the toilet, they told you when you could go to the toilet, not mother nature.
0:09:04 > 0:09:10Somebody would be standing there timing you and if you were two, if you were three minutes,
0:09:10 > 0:09:14the foreman'll come up and say, "You've been away a long time".
0:09:14 > 0:09:18He'd put his arm around you and your cards were marked.
0:09:18 > 0:09:25And there were occasions when you'd have a security bloke overhead on the balcony watching you.
0:09:27 > 0:09:33Ford's orchestral film culminated in the gleaming cars rolling off the assembly line.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36This was the great reward for Ford car workers.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39Their families could buy one at a 20% discount.
0:09:39 > 0:09:44However, for some who worked on the assembly lines, the day-to-day
0:09:44 > 0:09:49pressures of making cars dented the dream of car ownership.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51If you've worked there, there's no glamour in them,
0:09:51 > 0:09:54cos you're seeing them all day long
0:09:54 > 0:09:58and working with them, it knocked the glamour out of it, I think.
0:09:58 > 0:10:02I've got one and that's it.
0:10:02 > 0:10:07You don't go round patting it every half an hour and dusting it.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11Well, most people didn't, anyhow.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13It's just a convenience.
0:10:13 > 0:10:18Nevertheless, for most people it was a dream come true.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21PERIOD ADVERT: Beautiful to look at, fast to move with...
0:10:21 > 0:10:25The affordable dream of five-star motoring paid off.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31MUSIC: "All I Have To Do Is Dream" by The Everly Brothers
0:10:31 > 0:10:34By the late '50s, around one in every three cars sold in Britain
0:10:34 > 0:10:36was made at Dagenham.
0:10:36 > 0:10:41Ford were tuned in to the aspirations of a new younger generation.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43Like Derek Forster.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46New Year's Day, 1957.
0:10:46 > 0:10:51That was when I became the proud owner of a Ford Prefect
0:10:51 > 0:10:53and it was the deluxe version.
0:10:53 > 0:10:58I could have been driving a Cadillac for all I knew.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02And I was very fortunate because my parents had bought me that car
0:11:02 > 0:11:05prior to my 17th birthday in the March.
0:11:05 > 0:11:10This was a time when car ownership was still a novelty that could set curtains twitching.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13I parked at the front door.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17I would pretty much guarantee, if my memory serves me right,
0:11:17 > 0:11:19we were the only car in the street.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22So you can imagine, it was... It made you feel good.
0:11:22 > 0:11:24# Dream
0:11:24 > 0:11:27# Dream, dream, dream
0:11:27 > 0:11:29# Dream... #
0:11:29 > 0:11:32The love affair between men and their proud new possession
0:11:32 > 0:11:35was blossoming in streets all over Britain.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38It was my pride and joy.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42I think I polished everything, but the exhaust. I think I polished that, as well.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45The exhaust pipe, the engine was cleaner than the outside.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47And the pulling power of a smart new car
0:11:47 > 0:11:52promised in adverts for Ford's five-star range, seemed indisputable.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56It was certainly 17-year-old Derek's Ford Prefect,
0:11:56 > 0:12:01rather than him, that most impressed his first girlfriend, Sylvia.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03To my way of thinking,
0:12:03 > 0:12:06it was as big as any American Cadillac
0:12:06 > 0:12:09that I'd seen on the pictures.
0:12:09 > 0:12:14I had no idea what it was, what type it was,
0:12:14 > 0:12:16but it was just beautiful.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22A new courtship ritual emerged in the '50s.
0:12:22 > 0:12:28A public display in which young couples showed off this very latest status symbol.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30To teenagers like Derek and Sylvia,
0:12:30 > 0:12:34their Ford Prefect was sex on wheels.
0:12:34 > 0:12:39I really expected the people walking past would be thinking,
0:12:39 > 0:12:42"Who is THAT, in that car?"
0:12:42 > 0:12:47I mean, when I look, in retrospect, and see it in old family photographs,
0:12:47 > 0:12:52where Derek is standing with his arm on the top of the car
0:12:52 > 0:12:57and his head and shoulders taller than that, how little it was!
0:12:57 > 0:13:02I didn't realise! We possibly used a shoehorn to get inside it!
0:13:07 > 0:13:10Derek and Sylvia fell in love and became a couple.
0:13:10 > 0:13:15Every spare moment they had, they spent together in their Ford Prefect,
0:13:15 > 0:13:17often making for local beauty spots,
0:13:17 > 0:13:20but there was to be no hanky-panky in this courtship.
0:13:20 > 0:13:25If you drove five or six, maybe stretch it ten miles, you'd gone some.
0:13:25 > 0:13:32So you used to identify the lay-bys in a radius of about...ten miles.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36And we'd go with a flask and perhaps a sandwich or a little cake
0:13:36 > 0:13:40or something like that and sit and pass the time in the car
0:13:40 > 0:13:42and if it'd been raining
0:13:42 > 0:13:45and the car had got slightly mud-splattered, or whatever,
0:13:45 > 0:13:50I would drop Sylvia off at home, six o'clockish, half past six,
0:13:50 > 0:13:56drive home, put the car in the garage, wash the car, leather it off
0:13:56 > 0:14:02and then polish it so that it was gleaming and as new as if it was in the showroom.
0:14:02 > 0:14:08My, dare I admit this?, priorities were to my Ford Prefect!
0:14:08 > 0:14:10It won the day every time!
0:14:12 > 0:14:13In 1962,
0:14:13 > 0:14:18a hit BBC police series inspired even more of the young generation
0:14:18 > 0:14:21to dream of driving Ford's new range of cars.
0:14:21 > 0:14:27The scriptwriters of Z Cars wanted their fictional cops to drive Ford Zephyrs and Zodiacs,
0:14:27 > 0:14:30imitating the real Lancashire Constabulary.
0:14:30 > 0:14:34It was the first of many cop shows to use Ford cars
0:14:34 > 0:14:38and it made a deep impression on young farmer's son, Edwin Tipper.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40I saw these lovely cars,
0:14:40 > 0:14:44very American looking, very glitzy, tail fins on...
0:14:44 > 0:14:46and lovely sounding engine.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52And I thought I'd got to get one of these some way or other to the farm
0:14:52 > 0:14:54and the only way to do it was, of course,
0:14:54 > 0:14:57get the glossy brochure and keep at my poor old dad,
0:14:57 > 0:15:00who at that time was running a Mark One Ford Consul.
0:15:01 > 0:15:07Edwin's pester-power paid off and life on the farm would never be quite the same again.
0:15:07 > 0:15:12It was the beginning of a lifelong love affair with the family car, which he still drives to this day.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18On the farm, I hadn't got many luxury items in those days
0:15:18 > 0:15:22and I think it was just a little bit to make my life light up.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26I think, really, that's why I wanted one of these cars so desperately.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28# Heartbeat
0:15:28 > 0:15:33# Why do you miss When my baby kisses me? #
0:15:33 > 0:15:36As a boy, Edwin was put in charge of looking after the car.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38He kept it spotless, inside and out,
0:15:38 > 0:15:42but when the car first arrived, he was only 13,
0:15:42 > 0:15:46so his next mission was to persuade his dad to let him drive it.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48Dad was a bit reluctant.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52He was very cautious over his vehicles, you might say, really.
0:15:52 > 0:15:54He'd spent a lot of money on it, but however, yes,
0:15:54 > 0:15:57I was fortunate enough to be allowed to have a drive round the yard
0:15:57 > 0:16:00and change the gears, first gear, second gear.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04I could even hit top on the bit of concrete around the back there.
0:16:04 > 0:16:10Edwin spent four years practising driving around the farmyard, so by the time he was 17
0:16:10 > 0:16:14and took his test, he was quite an experienced driver.
0:16:14 > 0:16:15When I passed my test...
0:16:15 > 0:16:20Great day. It meant that I could come home and I could get behind the wheel of the Zodiac
0:16:20 > 0:16:25and my father was really a little bit reluctant, I think, to let me off alone with it,
0:16:25 > 0:16:29even though I'd looked after the thing for quite a few years, already.
0:16:29 > 0:16:35So, the first trip was to visit the grandparents down in the village and driving down the road, got the wheel,
0:16:35 > 0:16:41I was in charge, on my own and absolutely magnificent.
0:16:41 > 0:16:42I really enjoyed that.
0:16:46 > 0:16:51After they married, Derek and Sylvia traded in their beloved Prefect for the new Anglia.
0:16:51 > 0:16:56One of the next generation of small cars produced by Ford at Dagenham.
0:16:56 > 0:17:01The Anglia was, to me, the epitome of style
0:17:01 > 0:17:05because of the grace of the cut on it.
0:17:05 > 0:17:10I mean, I had never known what style was in a vehicle.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13It was metal on wheels that you drove.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16But impressed as I was with the Prefect...
0:17:17 > 0:17:20..the Anglia was just, "Wow!".
0:17:20 > 0:17:24MUSIC: "You Can't Hurry Love" by The Supremes
0:17:24 > 0:17:29Derek and Sylvia's love for their new Anglia grew as strong as it was for their Prefect.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32Their car remained at the heart of their relationship.
0:17:32 > 0:17:38The only difference was there was now a new addition to the family.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41While Sylvia was sat in the car with the baby and looking after the baby,
0:17:41 > 0:17:46I'd jump out the car with a wash leather or a polisher
0:17:46 > 0:17:51and start polishing the vehicle, so the Anglia really followed on from the Prefect
0:17:51 > 0:17:53and I think it would be fair to say
0:17:53 > 0:17:55it was looked after every bit as well.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59Yet, despite the popularity of Ford's latest models
0:17:59 > 0:18:04like the new Anglia, the American-owned company still had an image problem.
0:18:04 > 0:18:09Their cars were perceived to be cheap, flashy and unreliable compared to a truly British-made car.
0:18:09 > 0:18:16I'll always remember a neighbour of mine coming up to me one day when I'd bought my first car
0:18:16 > 0:18:21which was a 100E Anglia and saying, "Oh, you've bought a Ford, one of those tin things."
0:18:21 > 0:18:24I said, "What do you mean, a tin thing?" He said, "Yes!".
0:18:24 > 0:18:28He walked up to the bonnet, bumped it up and said it's made out of tin.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31It just summarised the general feeling.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35You know, British cars are made out of steel, handmade,
0:18:35 > 0:18:39whereas American cars were all tinny, mass-produced things.
0:18:41 > 0:18:46To improve their image, Ford targeted one of the fastest growing new spectator sports,
0:18:46 > 0:18:50motor racing, as a way to give even more glamour to their brand.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54By racing for Britain, Ford hoped to promote their national credentials
0:18:54 > 0:18:58and provide the ultimate guarantee of the performance of their cars.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01They teemed up with racing car specialist Lotus
0:19:01 > 0:19:09and by the mid-'60s, the Ford Lotus Formula One team had become a force to be reckoned with in motor racing.
0:19:10 > 0:19:16The man who masterminded the reinvention of Ford's image was public relations boss Walter Hayes.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19His next step was to move into saloon car rallying.
0:19:19 > 0:19:25In a male-dominated racing world, he realised the publicity value of signing up a pretty young woman.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29Anita Taylor, from a well-known racing family.
0:19:30 > 0:19:37I had a phone call from Ford, from the competitions' manager, at the time.
0:19:37 > 0:19:42And they invited me to go down to Dagenham to meet the boss.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44And that was Walter Hayes.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48At that time, he was a director of Ford
0:19:48 > 0:19:51and he was very forward-thinking.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55MUSIC: "This Wheel's On Fire" by Julie Driscoll & Brian Auger
0:19:57 > 0:20:00Anita won her first race driving for Ford
0:20:00 > 0:20:04and, right from the start, attracted much publicity.
0:20:04 > 0:20:09She was determined to prove that she could drive with as much skill and courage as any man.
0:20:11 > 0:20:16The first corner in any race is frightening.
0:20:16 > 0:20:21There's cars all around you and you want to get to the corner first.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26I love the feeling of speed.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30The satisfaction of doing a good lap...
0:20:30 > 0:20:35against the men, being, getting fastest lap was...exhilarating.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38# Wheel's on fire... #
0:20:38 > 0:20:41Excitement and danger went hand-in-hand.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44This was Anita's first big crash.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47I didn't remember a great deal because it happened so quickly.
0:20:47 > 0:20:53Everything was going round very quickly and I thought, "Oh, dear, this is it, I've had it."
0:20:53 > 0:20:56Came to a halt...
0:20:56 > 0:21:00and couldn't believe that I was still...
0:21:00 > 0:21:03I thought, "OK". I was feeling my legs, my arms.
0:21:03 > 0:21:08I felt fine. I was absolutely amazed that I hadn't been badly injured.
0:21:09 > 0:21:10The only thing that bothered me,
0:21:10 > 0:21:13as a female, was...
0:21:13 > 0:21:18I didn't want my teeth knocking out or my face scarring.
0:21:18 > 0:21:20Typical female!
0:21:21 > 0:21:27In the early '60s, Ford planned to develop the ultimate new family car to sell across Europe
0:21:27 > 0:21:34and a race began between the design team at Dagenham and the rival Ford of Germany plant in Cologne.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36Dagenham beat off the competition,
0:21:36 > 0:21:38but before the car could be signed off,
0:21:38 > 0:21:42it needed final approval from American bosses in Detroit.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47We had got right to the end, everything was going fine.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50Management in Britain had approved everything
0:21:50 > 0:21:52and tooling had even started
0:21:52 > 0:21:56and the tail lamps were what we used to refer to, retrospectfully,
0:21:56 > 0:21:57as the Chinese eye variety,
0:21:57 > 0:22:03where the flouting down the side of the body turned round the corner of the back and went down in a slope
0:22:03 > 0:22:06and across the back and up again on the other side.
0:22:06 > 0:22:11American management came over for the final signing off and...
0:22:11 > 0:22:17told us that the new fangled way of tail lamps in American cars were
0:22:17 > 0:22:21what we used to refer to as dustbin tail lamps, circular tail lamps
0:22:21 > 0:22:27and I was given the job to change the tail lamps to the circular one, which you now see down there.
0:22:28 > 0:22:34The car was the Ford Cortina and now there was another race to get it off the production line.
0:22:34 > 0:22:39This began at the new foundry at Dagenham, which was geared up for a huge production drive.
0:22:39 > 0:22:45But the work remained hazardous which meant accidents happened all the time.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48One young lad, he came to work with us,
0:22:48 > 0:22:51pulled his flask in one night and it slipped off the roller
0:22:51 > 0:22:53and removed his finger.
0:22:55 > 0:22:57Whipped him down to the medical.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01That was a memorable night for me because about two hours before,
0:23:01 > 0:23:05I had become a shop steward, so this was my first accident.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08When we got down to the medical,
0:23:08 > 0:23:12the...medical bloke said, "Have you got the finger?"
0:23:12 > 0:23:14So, we went back to try and find a finger
0:23:14 > 0:23:19and somebody said, "Oh, I saw so and so going down there with the finger giving it to the cat."
0:23:21 > 0:23:26The grim humour of the men who endured these harsh working conditions turned to anger, however,
0:23:26 > 0:23:32when the management increased production targets and speeded up the assembly line.
0:23:32 > 0:23:36The speed of the conveyor in the new foundry was 18-foot a minute
0:23:36 > 0:23:42and then one day, this very genial superintendent came along...
0:23:42 > 0:23:46he'd have been somebody's favourite grandfather, in appearance,
0:23:46 > 0:23:53and he said, "From Monday night, we'll be speeding up the conveyor belt to 21-foot a minute."
0:23:53 > 0:23:59I said, cautiously, frankly, because I wasn't sure how much support I'd be getting from the rest of the men
0:23:59 > 0:24:02and I was a shop steward at the time and I said, "Get stuffed."
0:24:04 > 0:24:07Dennis had the full support of his fellow workers,
0:24:07 > 0:24:12so when the management refused to back down and insisted on the new line speed,
0:24:12 > 0:24:14they all started to go slow.
0:24:14 > 0:24:19We carried on for six weeks until eventually the company conceded.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22They were not going to win this particular battle.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25They reverted to the 18 foot.
0:24:25 > 0:24:31That's when the company realised that they had not only lost the battle of the speed up,
0:24:31 > 0:24:36they'd lost the goodwill of at least 108 very good workers.
0:24:36 > 0:24:41One of the new bosses who would have to deal with some of these issues
0:24:41 > 0:24:45was about to arrive at Dagenham, fresh-faced from university.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47Ian Gibson.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50The first thing that struck me was you turn off the main road
0:24:50 > 0:24:54and you're in the Ford site and you kept on going down this road
0:24:54 > 0:24:58in the bus and you kept on going down the road in the bus
0:24:58 > 0:25:01and you see a thing that says "Dagenham Engine Plant".
0:25:01 > 0:25:04You get inside it and the offices are at the other end of it
0:25:04 > 0:25:06and you find yourself walking through a factory,
0:25:06 > 0:25:10which, at the time, was the biggest factory I'd ever seen in my life
0:25:10 > 0:25:13and it was a machining plant for making engines.
0:25:13 > 0:25:20So the air is full of that peculiar mixture of... machining fluid and fine metal grit,
0:25:20 > 0:25:23walking down through this haze and there's enough haze
0:25:23 > 0:25:27you can't see the far end of the building that you're inside
0:25:27 > 0:25:30and you're beginning to think, "What am I gonna do in a place like this?"
0:25:30 > 0:25:32But at the same time, it was excitement
0:25:32 > 0:25:37because production processes and that many people working and machines are going,
0:25:37 > 0:25:41have a rhythm and a pace of their own that sort of enters the blood.
0:25:42 > 0:25:49The Cortina was a big hit and in its first year, Ford sold a quarter of a million of them.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52The Dagenham plant worked round the clock to satisfy demand.
0:25:52 > 0:25:57A pressure that led to constant disputes over pay and conditions.
0:25:57 > 0:26:02The negotiations were again that both management and unions always had to be seen to win.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05Shop steward Dennis O'Flynn's main adversary
0:26:05 > 0:26:08was American boss Tru Hayford.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11On one occasion, he and I had a confrontation over something.
0:26:11 > 0:26:16We had this eyeball-to-eyeball, in every sense of the word,
0:26:16 > 0:26:20and he backed off, went down to his office.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22I followed him into his office.
0:26:22 > 0:26:27We finished our discussion there, came out the office, started to walk down the corridor
0:26:27 > 0:26:31and he came to his door and he shouted out after me,
0:26:31 > 0:26:33"And let that be a clear understanding!"
0:26:33 > 0:26:36I turned and ran back, kicked his door in.
0:26:36 > 0:26:42"Look," he said, "for God's sake, allow me to save face somehow, will you?"
0:26:42 > 0:26:47That was it. He was a human, but you couldn't help but like the guy.
0:26:48 > 0:26:54The brash American cars of the '60s set the tone for the American managers at Dagenham.
0:26:54 > 0:27:00They brought a new style and pizzazz that made a deep impression on the young Ian Gibson,
0:27:00 > 0:27:04working his way up the Ford management ladder.
0:27:04 > 0:27:09Working for Ford in the UK was really carrying a bit of the US culture around with you.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13As a member of management, you normally called your bosses by their
0:27:13 > 0:27:16first name and they normally called you by your first name.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19In that part of the '60s, in most of the UK,
0:27:19 > 0:27:24it was all, "Mr this," or "Mrs that", or, "Miss so and so".
0:27:24 > 0:27:27But it was Ian and Julia and Fred, you know?
0:27:27 > 0:27:29That's the way Ford worked.
0:27:29 > 0:27:36But despite the relaxed management style, there was huge ambition and no room for failure.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40That's very compact, Keith. What power do you think it will put out?
0:27:40 > 0:27:43That sort of Americanism in thinking...
0:27:43 > 0:27:47sat pretty well within Ford because it'd grown up that way.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49It would have been uncomfortable elsewhere.
0:27:49 > 0:27:54And you've got some real characters. You know, you'd get the guy, who'd come over, who was the Texan,
0:27:54 > 0:27:59who still wore the cowboy boots, black, underneath his suit and he'd sit there in the office,
0:27:59 > 0:28:02put his feet up on the desk and you'd see a pair of cowboy boots arrive.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04I bet that didn't happen in Cowley.
0:28:04 > 0:28:10Each successive Cortina model proved more popular than the last.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12Marketing played a vital role in the success
0:28:12 > 0:28:17and Ford had one of the most imaginative marketing teams in Britain.
0:28:17 > 0:28:22They used constant media exposure to create a sporty image for their cars.
0:28:22 > 0:28:26One of the architects of Ford's media campaigns was Barry Reynolds.
0:28:26 > 0:28:32The public perception of this new range of cars was
0:28:32 > 0:28:38that all Ford cars are really fast, all Ford cars are really sporty,
0:28:38 > 0:28:43but also, we recognise that for specific models...
0:28:43 > 0:28:45the real route to follow...
0:28:45 > 0:28:50to demonstrate its strength and its quality, durability, speed...
0:28:50 > 0:28:52rallying was the route to go.
0:28:53 > 0:29:00The rallying success of the Lotus Cortina brought a halo to the entire Cortina range.
0:29:01 > 0:29:07With the Cortina, the time was right to go and do endurance rally.
0:29:07 > 0:29:10We went off and we won safari rally in East Africa.
0:29:10 > 0:29:15Touring cars, we went off with the Cortina and won various championships around Europe.
0:29:15 > 0:29:18For Clark, a Wentworth-winning first-in-class
0:29:18 > 0:29:21and his team-mates making it a fine two and three, as well.
0:29:23 > 0:29:28The big thing about rallying is that it goes all over the world
0:29:28 > 0:29:35and you can visibly display your car competing in the snow of Sweden,
0:29:35 > 0:29:37in the extreme heat of the Acropolis in Greece,
0:29:37 > 0:29:42in the rough tracks of Argentina or East African safari.
0:29:42 > 0:29:47Images of those cars in those real rare environments says everything.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50If your car's running there and competing and finishing,
0:29:50 > 0:29:54it's gotta be strong, it's gotta be reliable, it's gotta be durable.
0:29:55 > 0:30:02The stylish, sporty Cortina became the car of choice for middle managers and sales reps,
0:30:02 > 0:30:07who in modern Britain, were spending much more time driving long distances on business.
0:30:07 > 0:30:12Many were rewarded with a new Cortina company car each year.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15Sales rep Derek Forster couldn't believe his luck.
0:30:15 > 0:30:21It just felt good in the car. Ford had that edge in those days.
0:30:21 > 0:30:22More people had cars,
0:30:22 > 0:30:25but they certainly didn't change them every 12 months,
0:30:25 > 0:30:28so if you're a company car guy
0:30:28 > 0:30:30and you're in that fortunate position,
0:30:30 > 0:30:33then you've got the look of the neighbours
0:30:33 > 0:30:36because you had the latest Ford model, the latest colour perhaps
0:30:36 > 0:30:40and, of course, a new registration to get heads turning.
0:30:41 > 0:30:46With each promotion, Derek was able to upgrade his model of Cortina
0:30:46 > 0:30:48until he finally got to the top of the range.
0:30:48 > 0:30:54I had a regular latest model, latest registration, latest colour
0:30:54 > 0:30:57until one of the significant steps I got,
0:30:57 > 0:31:01I remember well, was the Cortina GT.
0:31:01 > 0:31:05That was, again, a pride and joy era. Had three of those models.
0:31:05 > 0:31:10A white one, a yellow one and I think it was a purple one.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13Which, you know, they were terrific cars.
0:31:13 > 0:31:20Ford was now confident enough to make a film that parodied all the old prejudice against them.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23This is a Ford.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26What exactly do you mean by, "bad workmanship"?
0:31:26 > 0:31:30I mean, they're so tinny, aren't they? I mean, look.
0:31:30 > 0:31:32You know, I mean...
0:31:37 > 0:31:40You see, and that was just with a sledge hammer.
0:31:45 > 0:31:51Ford made their cars even more glamorous by using the American practice of product placement.
0:31:51 > 0:31:55Then, perfectly within the law. With The Sweeney, they hit solid gold.
0:31:55 > 0:32:00I was very conscious that the Ford perks had to be shown in a positive light.
0:32:00 > 0:32:05And I knew that when I put a car with a TV company I had no control over that.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08So from the very start, I made up some rules.
0:32:08 > 0:32:14By supplying free cars, Ford were able to script the car's role.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17The good guys had to drive Ford cars
0:32:17 > 0:32:22and...the good-looking girls had to drive the Ford cars.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26So, in one of the most popular cop shows of all time,
0:32:26 > 0:32:30Ford cast their cars as heroes and rivals as villains.
0:32:30 > 0:32:34I also used to supply them, not just the cars for the specific characters,
0:32:34 > 0:32:37but there were always a couple of other cars that they would have
0:32:37 > 0:32:40and usually the baddies would drive those.
0:32:43 > 0:32:48But anybody that watched Sweeney regularly, soon got to recognise
0:32:48 > 0:32:52that whenever the baddies were in an old Mark 2 Jag...
0:32:52 > 0:32:54it was going to roll.
0:33:00 > 0:33:03None of the Fords ever crashed.
0:33:10 > 0:33:15Television was also creating new motor sports like rally cross racing
0:33:15 > 0:33:20and Ford were quick to realise they could use its heroes to promote their cars.
0:33:24 > 0:33:26- That was great. Hello, Barry. - Hello, Peter.
0:33:26 > 0:33:31They signed up the big rising star, daredevil driver Barry Lee.
0:33:32 > 0:33:36Barry was every boy racer's dream.
0:33:36 > 0:33:40Art of throttle control. Very important.
0:33:40 > 0:33:43Look for the grit, see where it is and don't accelerate,
0:33:43 > 0:33:45don't spin your wheels too quick or too slow,
0:33:45 > 0:33:47but just look for that grit and feel it.
0:33:47 > 0:33:53I always used to race with a hard seat, OK, so I was very good at what we call getting out the box.
0:33:53 > 0:33:58You can see that Lee has got the latest style of all enveloping crash helmets.
0:33:58 > 0:34:04When rally cross won a regular slot on Grandstand, Barry had a bigger stage to play on.
0:34:04 > 0:34:06It was an opportunity he wasn't going to miss.
0:34:06 > 0:34:12Barry Lee has put up a tremendously fast time in winning that race.
0:34:12 > 0:34:16As soon as I'd finished whatever race it is, whatever position I was in,
0:34:16 > 0:34:18and this is why, I think, Ford used to love me,
0:34:18 > 0:34:22I'd get a camera thrust into me, whatever time, cos they wanted to hear what I said,
0:34:22 > 0:34:26because everybody else'd go, "I had a good race", but I'd say,
0:34:26 > 0:34:30"Yeah, I had a fantastic race but didn't you see him trying to take me out? But I won!",
0:34:30 > 0:34:32Or whatever. That's the name of the game.
0:34:33 > 0:34:41In each race, Barry felt duty bound to perform every trick in the stuntman's book.
0:34:41 > 0:34:44Whatever Ford he drove was given instant street cred.
0:34:44 > 0:34:48He soon became one of motor sport's greatest showmen.
0:34:49 > 0:34:55I was a showman. I was Leapy Lee. They nicknamed me Leapy Lee, because when I used to go over the bumps,
0:34:55 > 0:35:00my car used to bounce up and down, so they used to call me Leapy Lee, so I worked on that, I had that.
0:35:00 > 0:35:04Barry's image was pure rock and roll and to live up to it,
0:35:04 > 0:35:08his exhibitionism became even more outrageous.
0:35:08 > 0:35:13You don't want to make a mug of yourself, so when you're out there you've put all this flash image on,
0:35:13 > 0:35:16you know, "I'm Barry Lee and I've got everything and tattoos,"
0:35:16 > 0:35:21which I haven't, but I'm only exaggerating there, but I had the golden suits,
0:35:21 > 0:35:25I had the wild crash helmets, I had my long hair so I looked like a bird half the bloody time.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28But that was the image you had to create.
0:35:28 > 0:35:29Whether Ford liked that or not,
0:35:29 > 0:35:32they had to like it cos I was winning races.
0:35:33 > 0:35:37In the late '60s and '70s, Barry Lee became a legend.
0:35:37 > 0:35:42Each year, he won almost every trophy going in rally cross and hotrod racing.
0:35:42 > 0:35:47He was the darling of the motor press, always grabbing the headlines and the front covers.
0:35:47 > 0:35:49But once, even he thought he'd gone too far.
0:35:51 > 0:35:59And Barry Lee takes the chequered flag and wins in the Ford Escort...
0:35:59 > 0:36:05And they put the brand new Escort there on the green and she comes out and we do a nice photo shoot.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08Then they said, "Would you mind taking your gold overalls off,
0:36:08 > 0:36:11"and could Nicola put your gold overalls on?"
0:36:11 > 0:36:14I said, "I don't mind." So, she's at the front of the car
0:36:14 > 0:36:16and I'm thinking, "Will Ford really mind that?"
0:36:16 > 0:36:20So I'm in my Marks and Spencer's underpants, which are the striped ones,
0:36:20 > 0:36:25I'm standing there with my legs apart, shivering like this, in my underclothes,
0:36:25 > 0:36:28because the story is she's just nicked my overall.
0:36:28 > 0:36:34I didn't realise, she's back to me but on her overalls she's got her boobies nearly sticking out.
0:36:34 > 0:36:39Now, if I'd had known that I would have died because Ford don't want to be part of that exercise.
0:36:39 > 0:36:45It not only was wrong, a week later when it arrived in the magazine, I was thinking where is it...
0:36:45 > 0:36:48I missed the front page. It's the front cover of the magazine.
0:36:48 > 0:36:52There's me standing there in Marks and Spencer's overalls
0:36:52 > 0:36:55and this Nicola, the model, with all her boobs hanging out.
0:36:55 > 0:36:59But it had Ford on it. It had everything else. Is that wrong?
0:37:00 > 0:37:04Almost all car makers used sexual fantasies to sell their cars
0:37:04 > 0:37:07and Ford was no exception.
0:37:09 > 0:37:14She doesn't care that the seats have been ergonomically designed with extra leg room in front.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17She just knows she's comfortable.
0:37:22 > 0:37:26The idea of women as sexual accessories to their cars
0:37:26 > 0:37:29was even extended to their star female driver.
0:37:29 > 0:37:35I don't like to think... that Ford hired me for my looks
0:37:35 > 0:37:39but I suppose that was part of the deal.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42She doesn't care that the wider track and new suspension
0:37:42 > 0:37:46have been designed to improve the handling and reduce vibration.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49She only knows it's a really smooth, sophisticated ride.
0:37:49 > 0:37:56I think at the time, I was so enthralled with the fact that I was racing for...
0:37:56 > 0:38:04a massive company, being sponsored by them and winning races and enjoying my career.
0:38:04 > 0:38:12It was amazing. But I didn't realise to the full extent that I was being used, really, as a model.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19I took my motor racing seriously...
0:38:19 > 0:38:26but was asked to do a lot of modelling for different things, different reasons,
0:38:26 > 0:38:28draped over cars...
0:38:28 > 0:38:36smiling all the time... and I found it quite difficult because I wasn't a model.
0:38:36 > 0:38:41Ford were using me as a typical '60s...
0:38:41 > 0:38:44chick, a sex object.
0:38:44 > 0:38:47I don't like to look at it that way
0:38:47 > 0:38:50and I didn't think of it at the time
0:38:50 > 0:38:54because I was so engrossed in succeeding in my motor racing
0:38:54 > 0:39:00but I think that was the case, that I did attract a lot of publicity.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05Women were the eye candy used in every new car launch,
0:39:05 > 0:39:10but their work in actually making the cars was invisible to the outside world.
0:39:10 > 0:39:13The upholstery of Ford's car interiors,
0:39:13 > 0:39:18the choice and style of which was always a big selling feature, was largely the work of women.
0:39:18 > 0:39:22Even though it was a skilled and demanding job,
0:39:22 > 0:39:27the women were graded as unskilled labour and paid less than men doing similar jobs.
0:39:28 > 0:39:30Then, in 1968,
0:39:30 > 0:39:35Dagenham's women workers decided they'd had enough and walked out.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38- We are on strike. - All of you?- All of us.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40All us machinists, anyway.
0:39:40 > 0:39:42So no car seat covers for Ford?
0:39:42 > 0:39:43No, not from us, anyway.
0:39:43 > 0:39:45Well, just what are you striking about?
0:39:45 > 0:39:50Grading. At the moment, we're B-Grade, which is a labourer
0:39:50 > 0:39:54and we think we should have C-Grade, which is skilled labour.
0:39:54 > 0:39:57# R-E-S-P-E-C-T Find out what it means to me... #
0:39:57 > 0:40:02Ford's women strikers demanded equal rights to men and equal pay.
0:40:02 > 0:40:09Their campaign gained national prominence and the Dagenham women won huge popular sympathy.
0:40:09 > 0:40:16They decided to lobby MPs and their cause was taken up by Labour Party minister, Barbara Castle.
0:40:16 > 0:40:22Together, their campaign helped push through the Equal Pay Act of 1970.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25It was a historic victory.
0:40:25 > 0:40:29However, at Ford's Dagenham plant, management still refused
0:40:29 > 0:40:33to recognise the sewing machinists as skilled workers.
0:40:33 > 0:40:39But the women's spirit of resistance remained as strong as ever, as Henry Ford Junior discovered.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42Henry Ford was coming down to visit.
0:40:42 > 0:40:45He wanted to see what conditions that the machinists worked in,
0:40:45 > 0:40:47so everything had to be cleaned up.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50You've got to clean this up, clean that up.
0:40:50 > 0:40:53We had a woman sat up in the front, we always called her "f-ing Eileen",
0:40:53 > 0:40:59cos wherever you went, she was, you know, you went past and you heard it.
0:40:59 > 0:41:02So this particular day, as they come in the door,
0:41:02 > 0:41:05she's on the front machine, so she made herself a hat
0:41:05 > 0:41:10and I've got to swear, she put "Bollocks" across the hat
0:41:10 > 0:41:13and she just sat there and the supervision come up,
0:41:13 > 0:41:16"Please, please, Eileen, take that hat off!"
0:41:16 > 0:41:18"No, I'm not taking it off."
0:41:18 > 0:41:21She wouldn't take it off. And he had to walk right by.
0:41:21 > 0:41:23He must have seen it, but no-one said,
0:41:23 > 0:41:25but everyone was in fits of laughter.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28I reckon Henry Ford thought, "whatever's going on in here?"
0:41:30 > 0:41:36When Dora became shop steward in 1976, the regrading issue was still on the agenda.
0:41:36 > 0:41:40Every time pay day came round on Thursdays at Dagenham,
0:41:40 > 0:41:44the women were reminded that their claim for recognition of their skills
0:41:44 > 0:41:46was still bottom of the agenda.
0:41:46 > 0:41:50It was a drawn-out process.
0:41:50 > 0:41:55Nearly every couple of years on the pay claim that went in
0:41:55 > 0:41:59on a pay claim, it was just thrown straight back out, cos it was women.
0:41:59 > 0:42:01I don't care what the men say,
0:42:01 > 0:42:06even the unions, it was all for the men, it weren't for the women.
0:42:08 > 0:42:14Dagenham's ultimate dream car was, without doubt, designed to appeal to men...
0:42:14 > 0:42:17and their sexual fantasies.
0:42:17 > 0:42:24First launched in 1969, the Ford Capri became one of the most emblematic cars of the '70s.
0:42:24 > 0:42:27I had been with Yvette the first time I saw it.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32The Capri's advertising slogan was, "The car you always promised yourself".
0:42:32 > 0:42:37It was a fast back coupe that looked and drove like a sports car.
0:42:37 > 0:42:41The baby boomer generation took it to their hearts.
0:42:41 > 0:42:44From the moment it was launched it was incredibly successful.
0:42:44 > 0:42:50It was the first sports coupe and set a new class within the industry.
0:42:50 > 0:42:53And it appealed to young guys.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55They loved them.
0:42:56 > 0:43:02The sexual promise of the Capri drove sales onwards and upwards.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05By 1973, it had sold a million.
0:43:05 > 0:43:09The style and speed of the Capri range was constantly enhanced,
0:43:09 > 0:43:12making it a big seller all over the world.
0:43:12 > 0:43:16But it was in Britain, that its popularity was greatest.
0:43:16 > 0:43:18And if you were a manager at Ford,
0:43:18 > 0:43:22Capris came free as one of the perks of the job.
0:43:22 > 0:43:24I had two exciting cars,
0:43:24 > 0:43:27and the first was a bog standard Capri,
0:43:27 > 0:43:31in metallic bronze, with what was called tobacco,
0:43:31 > 0:43:33i.e. dark brown vinyl roof
0:43:33 > 0:43:38and a sort of light beige...
0:43:38 > 0:43:41verging on dog poo trim colour.
0:43:41 > 0:43:47And what I can't get over now is that in 1974, that was fantastic.
0:43:47 > 0:43:52And you look at it now and you think, "Who was the man who ordered that car, Ian?"
0:43:52 > 0:43:56And the truth was at the time it was great and you really loved it.
0:43:58 > 0:44:00ADVERT: This is Ford Capri.
0:44:02 > 0:44:04As luxurious as a limousine.
0:44:08 > 0:44:10Powerful as a sports car.
0:44:13 > 0:44:18The Capri's flash image also appealed to those who couldn't afford the price tag.
0:44:18 > 0:44:21The car's main target owners were young professionals
0:44:21 > 0:44:27and the smart new family man who still fancied his chances with the ladies.
0:44:27 > 0:44:31But subliminal dream images of speed, sex and romance could also
0:44:31 > 0:44:39prove irresistible to those lower down the social scale, like aspiring Essex boy racer, Dave Harley.
0:44:41 > 0:44:42When the Capri came out,
0:44:42 > 0:44:44you just looked at it and go,
0:44:44 > 0:44:46"My God, I haven't seen a car like that before."
0:44:46 > 0:44:49You know, not one that I could afford.
0:44:49 > 0:44:55I've seen cars that are beautiful, in magazines, but they're like, you know, I'm 17, I'm just a kid.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59I can't afford... even if I could, I wouldn't be able to insure it.
0:44:59 > 0:45:04That was the power with Ford, they would offer a dream that was accessible.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07# You can go your own way... #
0:45:07 > 0:45:11When new Capri owners moved up a gear and bought the next model in the range,
0:45:11 > 0:45:15their second-hand cast-offs allowed a new class of owner onto the road.
0:45:15 > 0:45:19Waiting in the wings to snap them up were the boy racers.
0:45:19 > 0:45:20It didn't take long.
0:45:20 > 0:45:24Once the Capri was two or three years old, the boy racers had their hands on them.
0:45:24 > 0:45:28And once we got our hands on them, we made the most of them cos they were a great great car.
0:45:28 > 0:45:32I mean, they didn't just look great, they drove great.
0:45:32 > 0:45:37When I got in my Capri, I just felt the bollocks, I just thought, "I look, I'm a dude, in this car."
0:45:39 > 0:45:44# You can go your own way... #
0:45:44 > 0:45:48When you got in a Capri, they had a sports feel to them. They had a nice dash,
0:45:48 > 0:45:53they had a rev counter. Having a rev counter was a big deal because most cars didn't have them then.
0:45:53 > 0:45:55They were a car that were built around.
0:45:55 > 0:45:59You got into it and went, "Yeah, this is a car that I've dreamt of owning."
0:45:59 > 0:46:03It felt like it was my homemade car, you know?
0:46:03 > 0:46:07That car was made, produced and designed in Dagenham
0:46:07 > 0:46:12and that was the Essex boy's car of choice.
0:46:12 > 0:46:17But the making of these dream cars was a very different story.
0:46:17 > 0:46:21In fact, many Capris were not made in Dagenham, but in Germany,
0:46:21 > 0:46:26part of the new, merged Ford of Europe.
0:46:26 > 0:46:30One reason Dagenham lost out was because of its discontented labour force.
0:46:30 > 0:46:37In 1978, half the men working in the body plant that year got their cards and left.
0:46:37 > 0:46:43They were casualties of a drive towards greater cost effectiveness, necessary for survival
0:46:43 > 0:46:46in the more competitive international car market.
0:46:46 > 0:46:48- How many do you want now for 52? - Ten men.
0:46:48 > 0:46:53Replacements were hard to find.
0:46:53 > 0:46:59When Keith Dover began work on the Dagenham assembly line in 1978, there was no shortage of vacancies.
0:47:01 > 0:47:05You'd walk in slow, getting into the place to clock on.
0:47:05 > 0:47:08And everybody would be say like that...
0:47:08 > 0:47:09get some coffee.
0:47:09 > 0:47:12Everybody would be like the living dead going in to work
0:47:12 > 0:47:15and then at the end of the shift, totally different.
0:47:15 > 0:47:17Everyone couldn't get out quick enough.
0:47:17 > 0:47:22Run it round in circles, will you? As you get all this labour on there, just keep running it.
0:47:22 > 0:47:26If getting a job at Dagenham was relatively easy, keeping it
0:47:26 > 0:47:32and surviving the stresses and strains of the production line was notoriously difficult.
0:47:32 > 0:47:39On the assembly line you had no time at all. You was committed to that job and God it was so boring.
0:47:39 > 0:47:41And you'd do that over and over,
0:47:41 > 0:47:44the same job Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
0:47:44 > 0:47:49and you'd go in for eight hours, maybe if you're doing overtime, ten-hour shift.
0:47:51 > 0:47:54What you do is little tricks.
0:47:54 > 0:47:58You think I wonder how Arsenal are going to do.
0:47:58 > 0:48:01I would have imaginary football matches, where I might be playing
0:48:01 > 0:48:05within the FA Cup, or designing something in my head.
0:48:05 > 0:48:07Anything, just to get yourself out of it.
0:48:07 > 0:48:13And eventually, once you'd learnt the job, you could do all this and your mind could be totally...
0:48:13 > 0:48:15and you'd do it without thinking.
0:48:15 > 0:48:22But if you were new to that assembly line, it might look slow, but once you started, it seemed bloody fast,
0:48:22 > 0:48:25because you had to get your bit done before the next guy took over
0:48:25 > 0:48:28so he didn't really appreciate it if you weren't finished
0:48:28 > 0:48:31because if you slowed him down, then he'd be out of sync.
0:48:33 > 0:48:38More and more black and Asian workers were recruited to work on the assembly line.
0:48:38 > 0:48:43Shop steward Roger Dillon was surprised how easy it was to get a well-paid job there.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46He soon found out why.
0:48:46 > 0:48:49Basically, you were tied to the line.
0:48:49 > 0:48:53Once that line started, every second is accounted for.
0:48:53 > 0:48:58If a cycle of one car would be say, one minute 20 seconds,
0:48:58 > 0:49:04you would possibly have ten seconds to pick up a part.
0:49:04 > 0:49:06Ten seconds to walk to the car.
0:49:06 > 0:49:09Another five seconds to get your position with your tools.
0:49:09 > 0:49:13Another five seconds to do whatever.
0:49:13 > 0:49:18And they would all add up to maybe one minute five seconds.
0:49:18 > 0:49:22Then the remaining 15 seconds was allowing you to walk back up to the line,
0:49:22 > 0:49:26back to your station to pick up your parts to go to do the next car.
0:49:27 > 0:49:32Many began at Dagenham only intended to stay a short time.
0:49:32 > 0:49:36Those who stayed on the assembly line too long could be driven crazy
0:49:36 > 0:49:39by the repetitive tasks they had to perform.
0:49:39 > 0:49:43There was this guy who was an inspector, middle-aged, very mild-mannered,
0:49:43 > 0:49:50intelligent guy, then all of a sudden, it was like the scene when Basil Fawlty attacks his car.
0:49:50 > 0:49:55He goes berserk and he's got a rolled up newspaper and he's hitting this engine and he's shouting
0:49:55 > 0:49:59and he's swearing at it and I said to the guy I was working next to,
0:49:59 > 0:50:03I said, "What's going on there?" He said, "Take no notice, he always does that."
0:50:03 > 0:50:06"What do you mean?" He said, "He just loses his temper sometimes."
0:50:06 > 0:50:09I said, "Look, he's having a row with the engine.
0:50:09 > 0:50:13"He's actually arguing with it," I said "Look, he's hitting it."
0:50:13 > 0:50:17But the rest of the guys are looking at me, "What's your problem?"
0:50:21 > 0:50:24# ..They love your new car... #
0:50:24 > 0:50:29After Ford's new family car, the Fiesta, rolled off the production line in 1976,
0:50:29 > 0:50:35everyone joined in with this pantomime performance to promote the image of a happy workforce.
0:50:35 > 0:50:41Sadly, in the '70s, one day in every four had been lost to strikes and stoppages.
0:50:41 > 0:50:46# We'll check your plugs And oil your tappets, too... #
0:50:46 > 0:50:51The line worker always seemed to be angry about something and it was because of the nature of the work.
0:50:51 > 0:50:57People would store up all this anger and then when something went wrong,
0:50:57 > 0:51:03that was it, they just lost it and my job, a lot of occasions, would be to...
0:51:03 > 0:51:08get them to calm down and what would calm them down is if I actually lost it.
0:51:08 > 0:51:12If they saw me actually shouting and screaming at the supervisor
0:51:12 > 0:51:14and him screaming back, it was a bit of theatre.
0:51:14 > 0:51:20So, rather than them do something stupid and them walking out, where they could lose their jobs,
0:51:20 > 0:51:25they're quite happy to see me screaming and shouting at the supervisor.
0:51:27 > 0:51:29# Thanks again... #
0:51:29 > 0:51:34The loss of production due to constant disputes was a nightmare for Ford managers.
0:51:34 > 0:51:39Some play acted their way through the minefield of conflicting interests.
0:51:39 > 0:51:41# You'll find your prop-shaft... #
0:51:41 > 0:51:48Sometimes you'd have to appear pretty damned intractable and say, "It's thus far and no further."
0:51:48 > 0:51:50And if that's going to make you guys go home
0:51:50 > 0:51:53then recognise that you've gone home for some days
0:51:53 > 0:51:59or even some weeks, cos we ain't going to bend on this one, because of its consequences,
0:51:59 > 0:52:02and that's the sort of poker bluff, if you like,
0:52:02 > 0:52:06cos you never want anybody to go and certainly not for weeks.
0:52:06 > 0:52:10And least of all, because when people do go on strike for a long time,
0:52:10 > 0:52:16actually getting hold of them to talk them back is an extra problem, cos grudges will only have built.
0:52:16 > 0:52:21Ford's tough line on cost control and production targets meant that,
0:52:21 > 0:52:26despite all the stoppages, Dagenham and Ford in Britain remained profitable,
0:52:26 > 0:52:30at a time when the home-grown British car industry was going bust.
0:52:30 > 0:52:35But in the '70s, Ford's operations in other countries were proving much more cost effective
0:52:35 > 0:52:40and the abiding memory of this decade at Dagenham is one of loss and regret.
0:52:40 > 0:52:44Whenever possible, my middle and last part of the day
0:52:44 > 0:52:48was simply to walk to the end of whichever process it was
0:52:48 > 0:52:52and look at the cars going up the lift, or look at the cars
0:52:52 > 0:52:57going off the end of the line, cos at least you can see that despite all the frustrations
0:52:57 > 0:53:01and all the tensions of the day, something's still coming out there.
0:53:01 > 0:53:05There is nothing... probably is something sadder, but at the time,
0:53:05 > 0:53:12there didn't seem anything sadder than walking round a giant car plant, which from end to end probably has
0:53:12 > 0:53:19five days worth of production, so 4,000 vehicles in one state or another, not moving.
0:53:19 > 0:53:23And you know that what should be happening is thousands of people,
0:53:23 > 0:53:29earning their wages, turning those into cars and it sits there quiet and empty,
0:53:29 > 0:53:31cos nobody's in at work.
0:53:31 > 0:53:38And there's those thousands of, you know, on their way to birth cars and nothing happening.
0:53:38 > 0:53:40That's really very sad, indeed.
0:53:42 > 0:53:47In 1984, the Dagenham dispute that changed women's history finally came to a head.
0:53:47 > 0:53:5416 years after the sewing machinists first demanded recognition of their skills in 1968,
0:53:54 > 0:53:57they again came out on strike.
0:53:57 > 0:54:00Leading them was Dora Challingsworth.
0:54:00 > 0:54:03We said right, OK, the only way we're going to get what we want
0:54:03 > 0:54:05is to all walk out. So that was it.
0:54:05 > 0:54:10Everyone went and we was out for, I think it was about five, six weeks.
0:54:10 > 0:54:14We brought the place to a close because no-one could work without the seat covers.
0:54:14 > 0:54:16Cars can't go out without seat covers.
0:54:16 > 0:54:18After rejecting the women's claim,
0:54:18 > 0:54:24Ford agreed to independent arbitration and the women won their case.
0:54:24 > 0:54:25We was in the manager's office.
0:54:25 > 0:54:31We went up there, sat there 'till nearly 10:10, when the news come through and it was really great.
0:54:31 > 0:54:33We went down on the floor at quarter past.
0:54:33 > 0:54:35We had a meeting with the girls at 10:15
0:54:35 > 0:54:39and there was cheers and crying. It was really great.
0:54:39 > 0:54:43It was all there. We knew we was going to win in the end.
0:54:43 > 0:54:48But the day they was told, they just went absolutely mad, the women.
0:54:48 > 0:54:50I don't think anyone worked after that.
0:54:50 > 0:54:52The victory was bittersweet.
0:54:52 > 0:54:56Ford is one of the world's largest multinationals and Dagenham
0:54:56 > 0:55:01had become just one of many plants making cars in different countries.
0:55:01 > 0:55:05'Ford is the third largest company in the world.
0:55:05 > 0:55:10'It employs 480,000 people in over 100 countries.
0:55:10 > 0:55:15'And builds over five million cars, trucks and tractors every year.'
0:55:15 > 0:55:18By the '80s, the fierce international competition facing Ford
0:55:18 > 0:55:23was heightened by the huge success of Japanese car makers.
0:55:23 > 0:55:26Ford responded by shifting production to other European countries,
0:55:26 > 0:55:30like Spain, where labour was cheaper and costs were lower.
0:55:30 > 0:55:36Dagenham began shedding 1,000s of jobs and the foundry started to look vulnerable.
0:55:36 > 0:55:39We're talking about a unique foundry,
0:55:39 > 0:55:41the biggest foundry in Europe
0:55:41 > 0:55:45and it had all the required skills under one roof.
0:55:45 > 0:55:48That, in itself, made it unique.
0:55:48 > 0:55:55Such a mass of men of wide and varied skills under one roof,
0:55:55 > 0:55:56it couldn't disappear.
0:56:00 > 0:56:04In 1985, the foundry closed down.
0:56:04 > 0:56:08The rationalisation of production continued throughout the '80s.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11The reduction of the workforce was accelerated
0:56:11 > 0:56:14by the introduction of automation on the assembly line.
0:56:14 > 0:56:18The writing was on the wall for Dagenham.
0:56:19 > 0:56:25Dagenham came from an era where they were technologically no longer going to survive
0:56:25 > 0:56:30and were so riddled with a distrust between management and workforce
0:56:30 > 0:56:32that you could have written that script
0:56:32 > 0:56:35and I think many of us did, years before
0:56:35 > 0:56:39and said it's going to end up with this ceasing to happen here.
0:56:39 > 0:56:41That doesn't mean you're pleased when it does.
0:56:41 > 0:56:46The fact that you foresee something doesn't stop it being regrettable in its own way.
0:56:48 > 0:56:52The closure of the foundry, once at the heart of the whole plant,
0:56:52 > 0:56:55was the beginning of the end of car making at Dagenham.
0:56:55 > 0:56:58For some, it was a welcome relief from drudgery.
0:56:58 > 0:57:02But a proud tradition of craftsmanship would also be lost forever.
0:57:02 > 0:57:07Vivid memories remain for Dennis O'Flynn who went on one last walk
0:57:07 > 0:57:11round the foundry, just before it was demolished in the late '80s.
0:57:11 > 0:57:17All the extracting units have closed down, the air docks have finished.
0:57:17 > 0:57:20It's a dead, dead area.
0:57:20 > 0:57:22And as I walked around, particularly in
0:57:22 > 0:57:24the moulding lines and that,
0:57:24 > 0:57:28I swear I could hear the ghosts of yesterday.
0:57:30 > 0:57:34All these blokes that I work with,
0:57:34 > 0:57:38who had contributed to the improvement of working and living standards
0:57:38 > 0:57:42and wages of the Ford Motor Company, I swear, as I walked around
0:57:42 > 0:57:45there on my own that afternoon, I could hear those voices.
0:57:45 > 0:57:50The heyday of Dagenham, when it employed over 50,000
0:57:50 > 0:57:55and was the largest producer of cars in Britain, is now a distant memory.
0:57:55 > 0:57:59Car production at Dagenham was closed down in 2002.
0:57:59 > 0:58:02Today, it still has a workforce of around 2,000,
0:58:02 > 0:58:06making all the company's diesel engines for Europe.
0:58:06 > 0:58:08But all Ford cars are now imported.
0:58:08 > 0:58:12The question begs to be asked, where the hell are we going from here?
0:58:12 > 0:58:18But I don't think what we'll ever see is the likes of the Ford Motor Company
0:58:18 > 0:58:24and its magnificent contribution to the national, as well as the local economy,
0:58:24 > 0:58:27I don't think that will ever be equal again...
0:58:27 > 0:58:29tragically.
0:58:31 > 0:58:34The end of the Dagenham dream is part of the bigger story
0:58:34 > 0:58:38of the decline of car-making and manufacturing industry in Britain.
0:58:38 > 0:58:42Dagenham's finest hour was in the '60s and '70s,
0:58:42 > 0:58:47when it produced the Ford Cortina, one of Britain's most iconic cars.
0:58:47 > 0:58:51Despite shifting its car production abroad, Ford has remained
0:58:51 > 0:58:55our most popular brand, a name that will always be fondly remembered
0:58:55 > 0:58:57for the American-style dream car.
0:58:57 > 0:59:00Now long gone, that once broke the mould.
0:59:22 > 0:59:24Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:59:24 > 0:59:27E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk