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Ford's Dagenham Dream

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Factual: Cars & Motors

04/03/2009

BBC Four - Ford's Dagenham Dream

How the British fell in love with the American dream cars made at Ford in Dagenham.

Documentary telling the story of the British love affair with the American dream cars made at Ford in Dagenham in the 1960s and 70s, such as the Zephyr, the Cortina and the Capri.

Documentary which tells the story of a dream of happy families on wheels that the Ford Motor Company brought from Detroit to Dagenham, then sold to Britain. 

From the 1950s onwards Ford revolutionised the cars we drove, producing dream cars for the average British family. In the 60s and 70s Ford sold dreams to boy racers too, but it came at a price. The mass production of motor cars required an army of assembly line workers who did jobs that were infamous for their soul-destroying monotony. 

At its peak Dagenham was producing more than 3,000 cars every day and its most popular dream car, the Cortina, sold around five million in Britain alone. But the assembly line workers had a love-hate relationship with the cars they made and for some the dream became a nightmare. 

Illustrated with powerful first person testimony and rare archive, this is the story of the rise and fall of Ford's Dagenham dream.

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