'Red' Poling Memorial Reveals How Ford Exec Kept Ford's Enthusiast Flame Burning In '80s

DEARBORN, MI - Throughout Ford Motor Company's storied racing history, there have been many memorable personalities associated with the Blue Oval. One of the most famous, Carroll Shelby, passed away this past May. Carroll's adventures were legendary and well-chronicled. Another man, however, whose auto industry exploits may seem less glamorous, also passed away that month. At a memorial for longtime Ford executive Harold A. "Red" Poling, details emerged about his career that may surprise enthusiasts: Poling deserves credit for keeping the driving spirit alive during some of the darker days for performance vehicles - the early 1980s.

Wrongly pigeonholed as little more than a bean-counting finance guy, Poling doesn't have any race wins to his credit, and he never had any supercars named after him - but he certainly left his mark on Ford, its products, and the industry. As chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Ford Motor Company from March 1990 until his retirement in January of 1994, Poling's financial smarts are well-documented. In fact, most would label him as a cost-cutting financial guru who didn't seem to care or worry much for the driving enthusiast.

But - after speaking with Red's daughter, Kathryn Poling, during the service at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, as well as with his associate and friend, Allan D. Gilmour - we have no doubt that Poling truly enjoyed motorsports, and saw Ford Racing as playing an important role for the company.

"Red felt like (racing) was an opportunity for Ford to excel," Kathryn told us, "and any advancements that were made in that arena would only improve all of the other vehicles built by Ford Motor Company." She particularly remembered attending races at Sears Point (Infineon Raceway) in Sonoma, CA, with her father.

His associate, Gilmour, supported that same view.

"Red knew that auto racing was very important to the success of Ford Motor Company," Gilmour said. "He was a big supporter of Ford Racing, year-in and year-out. Now, it was more fun when we won than when we didn't win, but he was deeply involved and thought it made a difference.

"Red didn't invent the phrase, Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday, but he understood that's what it was all about."

Gilmour went on to highlight a specific instance when Poling showed up in his office with three-time Formula One champion Jackie Stewart. Surprising Gilmour, Red asked him if he would like to go for a ride with Stewart on the test track in one of the new 5.0 Mustangs being introduced that year. Gilmour agreed, later realizing he would be relegated to the smaller, less-supportive back seat of the Mustang as "The Flying Scot" tossed the car around the handling course of the Dearborn track, right on the edge of traction.

"Somewhere during the ride," Gilmour joked, "as Red and Jackie were comfortably seated up front - I was trying to decide if I should throw up inside the car or outside the car!"

Gilmour also noted that Red regularly drove on the test track to evaluate vehicles himself. And Kathryn elaborated further on Poling's driving skills.

"Red completed the Bob Bondurant School of High-Performance Driving," she said, "because he wanted to be more effective when he went to test out the cars on the track."

Despite that "bean-counter" label, it turns out that Poling worked to acquire a hands-on understanding of the automobiles that Ford produced, and wanted to know the car behind the financials. He strived to personally experience different aspects of the Ford vehicles that both met and did not meet customer approval. That meant he would routinely drive different vehicles to personally evaluate the consumer comments the company had received.

We also discovered that Poling spent lots of time around cars at a young age. His father was a mechanic, so it's likely that he developed an interest in automobiles because of his dad's occupation. Indeed, Red often spoke about working alongside his father.

"We'd grind valves, change piston rings and clutches, and do lots of other jobs," Poling had said of his time being a mechanic's helper to his dad. "It was serious work, but to me, it was interesting."

Kathryn shed more light on her father's interest in cars.

"He started out around cars, and he was a very curious individual," she told us. "Having chosen to devote his life to the auto industry, you could bet your bottom dollar he was going to know as much as possible about it. Even though he started out as a finance guy, he wanted to be very familiar with the cars themselves."

After starting with Ford Motor Company in 1951 and holding many finance positions during the early part of his career, Poling took on a leadership role in Ford's North American operations in 1979. He was the guy who made many of the tough decisions in the early 1980s that led the company to a remarkable turnaround. These difficult product choices under his watchful eye paved the way for key nameplates like the Ford Taurus, which debuted as a game-changer in 1986 before becoming a runaway sales success, as well as the segment-creating Ford Explorer sport utility in 1990.

In addition to an impressive 43-year career with Ford, Poling served in the U.S. Navy and earned a Master's degree from Indiana University. He also received countless awards during his time at Ford, honoring his outstanding leadership. As if that weren't enough, he was even "Knighted" by the British Empire in 1993.

Reviewing all that Red Poling did during his life and after talking with those dearest to him, it is clear that Poling was a passionate, well-rounded and hard-working chairman and CEO for Ford. "Bean-counter" simply does not accurately describe the auto career of Harold A. "Red" Poling.

Photo Courtesy of Mark Muntean