Cars You Should Know: Ford

Henry Ford successfully built his first vehicle—the Quadricycle—in 1896. It was a four horse-power engine atop four bicycle wheels, a gearshift with two forward gears and no reverse, and a tiller in place of a steering wheel. A few years later in July of 1903, with 12 investors and 1,000 shares, The Ford Motor Company launched with the Model A. By October, Ford had turned a profit. Seems they were on to something. And ten years after that, Ford invented the first moving assembly line, changing the way cars were built forever.

Today, Ford remains one of the largest vehicle companies in the world with over 2 million cars and trucks sold in 2024—the best year they’ve had since 2019. Their recent growth has been supported in part by the introduction of EVs, including the F-150 Lightning, their new electric truck. It was the best-selling electric truck in the United States in 2022 and won Motortrend’s coveted Truck of the Year award in 2023.

Ford has been owned by the same family for over 100 years and as a Michigan headquartered-company—same state as Hagerty—we certainly see a lot of proud Ford owners in our book of business.

Below are the top 4 models we see from Ford, as well as this month’s Forgotten Classic.

Mustang | Launched at the World’s Fair in 1964, the Ford Mustang was predicted to sell 100,000 units in the first year… instead it sold 22,000 on the first day. The Mustang ushered in a whole new type of vehicle genre: the pony cars. Today, it remains a favorite model in the United States, and certainly with Hagerty clients, coming in at #2 on our most-quoted list for 2024.

F-Series Pickups | Ford’s F-Series dates back to the company’s first postwar pickups in 1948, but the F-150—the best-known and best-selling Ford pickup—didn’t arrive until 1975. The F-series trucks continued to evolve in design and capabilities throughout the years, right up to 2021’s all-electric F-150 Lightning. The base F-150 continues to be America’s—and Hagerty clients’—most popular pickup year after year.

Bronco | Officially dubbed the world’s first “sports-utility vehicle,” the Ford Bronco launched in 1966 and, according to an internal Ford memo, would be the “1966 G.O.A.T.” Though some may argue the Bronco is indeed the “greatest of all time,” in this case G.O.A.T. meant “goes over all terrain.” The Bronco was an instant hit and continued to be until it’s final production years of 1992-96. Then in 2021, it had a long-awaited comeback—and was greeted with glee. (And, of course, there was one Bronco that will forever stand out in America’s history: A certain white Bronco involved in a slow-speed car chase.)

GT | Ford launched the first-generation GT for the 2005 and 2006 model years, inspired by the GT40 of the 1960s. The later model was launched with over 4,000 units built and an MSRP starting at $139,995. These beauties kept ramping up in terms of popularity and recent auction results are downright staggering. In 2024, almost 78% of the 95 first-gen Ford GTs offered at auction in 2024 sold: The average price was more than $457,000. And in the same year, 38 second-gen Ford GTs offered at auction sold for an average price of $965,000. Cha-ching.

Forgotten Classic: Ranchero | Debuting in 1957, the Ford Ranchero beat the (arguably more well-known) Chevrolet El Camino to market by 2 years. Early advertisements boasted that the Ranchero was “More than a Car, More than a Truck!” Though it went through seven generations from 1957-79, the Ranchero never gained as much popularity as the El Camino (which went on to sell until 1987). The Auto Intelligence team here at Hagerty says that with the popularity of the new Ford Maverick, enthusiasts might be increasingly tempted to look back at other similar small Ford trucks like the Ranchero.

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