Ford Employees Reveal Their ‘Inner Enthusiast’ At Annual PDC Car Show

DEARBORN, MI - It should be easy to tell that there are lots of real enthusiasts working at Ford Motor Company these days. With a Ford Performance vehicle lineup that includes Shelby Mustangs, the beastly F-150 Raptor and an expanding ST range that features both the Focus and Fiesta – it’s safe to say there are likely more true “car people” employed at Ford than almost any other major automaker.

Just one test drive of a new Ford, and it’s clear to see how the products being built at the Blue Oval today center on an enthusiasm for driving. Yet this enthusiast mentality often goes beyond the nine-to-five aspect of working on the cars and trucks developed in Dearborn. For instance, the group known as SVT has often put together a summer picnic as a team-building staff outing – taking the time to enjoy their personal vehicles and usually a few examples of what they happen to be working on at the moment. At one point, they even included a Ford GT supercar. See the link to our coverage of that event here: "SVT TRACK DAY PROVES STAFF OUTING IS NO PICNIC." In a similar way, Ford Racing staffers have been known to mix-it-up at local indoor kart tracks when the Michigan weather doesn’t allow for outdoor fun. That's because at Ford, a love for driving is in our fiber.

Although we might be slightly partial to high performance vehicles at Ford Performance, we can assure you that automotive enthusiasm is rampant everywhere else within the Ford Product Development community. How do we know this? Well, the annual Ford Employee Car & Truck show held on the grounds of the Ford Product Development Center (PDC) is bona-fide proof.

The show started out as a much smaller event, as Ford employees working at the PDC would simply bring their vehicles to enjoy and display during work on a summer’s day. The show has grown larger and larger each year, and now attracts upwards of 400 cars and thousands of attendees! Vehicles on display include both vintage and modern alike – trucks, cars, motorcycles, race cars, and even tractors are displayed by proud employees.

To organizers, it’s way more than just a show of product pride by employees. Dave Glickman, the event coordinator and a Ford Product Design Engineer, says it’s all about passion:

“I like meeting people in the hobby and doing what I can to educate and inspire people regarding automotive history,” Glickman told us. “It’s about the passion involved in developing and building automobiles, and the designs and emotions that make our industry so essential and relevant.”

By having a show theme each year and encouraging special categories, the PDC event always seems to attract new vehicles. For 2012, the show featured a special display of 50 station wagons. Within this display there was a timeline called “The Workhorses” exhibit which showed how Ford was involved within the wagon vehicle market throughout automotive history – all the way back to the 1900s.

As you might expect, Ford employees also love their Mustangs. Rows of the popular pony car, in various trim and power configurations, lined the front lawn of the Ford PDC building. With the wide variety of examples shown, it’s no wonder this car has managed to appeal to so many owners over the years. In addition, many other familiar and popular vehicles from throughout Ford Motor Company’s history made appearances at this year’s show.

Making the biggest surprise appearance at this year’s show was Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally, who stopped by the PDC campus to stroll among the employees’ vehicles and chat with a few of the attendees. As Glickman mentioned, “I believe Mr. Mulally’s talking to the crowd made our owners feel special.”

Yes, there’s also another example of this kind of employee automotive enthusiasm within Ford known as the “Building 1-5 Show.” Coordinator and event host Bob Weickel told us that this show is rooted as far back as the late 1960s and early ’70’s when it was called the Experimental Engine Engineering (EEE) Car Show. For 2012, the Building 1-5 Show featured 60 vehicles ranging from motorcycles all the way up to a monstrous ARMY-spec transport vehicle.

“The highlight of our show this year was the 1964 Mercury Park Lane that was the first car built for the 1964 New York World’s Fair,” Weickel said. Interestingly, the vehicle was then purchased by a Ford employee and passed down through the family before it was eventually restored in 2010 back to its original luster. This car is a sterling example of how the automotive culture at Ford is passed down through the generations of a particular Ford family – often connected via the classic vehicle that they all remember and still enjoy.

The PDC show has grown to the point where it is now drawing interest from people outside of Ford Motor Company. Ford enthusiasts from across the country wait for “inside word” on when company employees will roll out the treasures from their garages for all to see, and make special arrangements to attend year after year. You never know what you might see the next time. We can’t think of a better way to spend a Friday in July in Dearborn.