Tickford timeline and Ford involvement

[fordgt40]

Just trying to understand the timeline of Tickford and its partnership with Ford. This is what I have so far if you can add or help please do so....

Founded in 1820 as Salmons and Sons in England as a coach building company

In 1943 following Ian Boswell's purchase of Salmons & Sons Limited the company changed its name to its trademark, Tickford

In late 1955 Tickford was bought by David Brown, owner of Aston Martin. The Tickford name disappeared as It be came a sub division of Aston Martin.

In 1981 Aston Martin created an engineering service subsidiary and chose the name 'Aston Martin Tickford', a service available to all vehicle makes.

In 1982 Tickford changed ownership to CH Industrials and In a partnership with Ford Europe engineered a turbo Capri and Sierra.

In 1990 During the collapse of the CHI Group, the directors of Tickford executed a buy-out and saved Tickford from going into receivership.

in 1991 Ford Australia selected Tickford as a joint-venture partner, resulting in Tickford Vehicle Engineering Pty Ltd (TVE), the high performance car division of Ford in Australia (Falcon XR6 XR8 T Series etc)

In 1999 Ford Tickford Racing enters V8 Supercars

In 2001 the whole Tickford Group in UK, Germany, Australia and USA, was acquired by Prodrive. TVE was renamed Ford Performance Vehicles

In 2002 Ford Tickford Racing becomes Prodrive owned Ford Performance Racing. The Tickford name disappeared again

In 2014 Prodrive sells FPR and all its assets (including the Tickford name) to Rod Nash and Rusty French..FPR becomes "Prodrive Racing Australia"

With the wind up of Ford Performance Vehicles in 2015, Tickford Australia is reformed by Nash and French as a Ford aligned vehicle enhancer.Although not a direct partnership like the previous incarnation..all Tickford modifications are approved and sanctioned by Ford Australia.

In 2018 with Prodrive no longer involved, Prodrive Racing Australia becomes Tickford Racing with Ford factory support.......

[Sprintey]

Hi there,
Try Gavin Farmer's excellent book 'Tickford - the joy of driving' -

it tells the backstory up to about AUII.

[Venomous1]

Nice writeup.

[Raptor]

I don’t think this is the whole story.

With the wind up of Ford Performance Vehicles in 2015, Tickford Australia is reformed by Nash and French as a Ford aligned vehicle enhancer.Although not a direct partnership like the previous incarnation..all Tickford modifications are approved and sanctioned by Ford Australia.

The Tickford name re-emerges from the old FPR but FPV (the former TVE) went on to become Premcar. FPV was bought out by a contingent of employees to become Premcar, headed by Bernie Quinn. Who were then free to do work for Ford (including the final Sprint Falcons) as well as other manufacturers, such as Nissan with their Navara N-TREK Warrior. They also provide engineering services outside of the automotive sector.

[fordgt40]

Originally Posted by Sprintey

Hi there,
Try Gavin Farmer's excellent book 'Tickford - the joy of driving' -

it tells the backstory up to about AUII.

Yes Just got a copy of that..great read about Tickford History and Partnership with Ford Australia

[fordgt40]

Originally Posted by Raptor

I don’t think this is the whole story.



The Tickford name re-emerges from the old FPR but FPV (the former TVE) went on to become Premcar. FPV was bought out by a contingent of employees to become Premcar, headed by Bernie Quinn. Who were then free to do work for Ford (including the final Sprint Falcons) as well as other manufacturers, such as Nissan with their Navara N-TREK Warrior. They also provide engineering services outside of the automotive sector.

Thanks for this Info..I checked out the Premcar website and they do claim to be part of the former TVE...I guess TVE/FPV/FPR when sold by Prodrive went a few different directions with both Premcar and the new Nash owned Tickford claiming some sort of direct decent to the original Tickford...

[tbro4123]

Just to throw a cat amongst the pigeons

https://hymanltd.com/1939-mg-tb-tick...rophead-coupe/



Terry aka Tbro

[Its About the DRIVE]

.. all Tickford modifications are approved and sanctioned by Ford Australia

Reckon most of the info (in relation to Tickford here) is right - bar this bit! Ford DO NOT support/approve/sanction any work in the marketplace by Tickford .... despite the efforts by Tickford to be aligned with the Ford Factory (Blue Oval) brand.

Other than recent work done by Rob Herrod/in collaberation with Ford (RSpec Mustang), FORD DO NOT approval any modifications (aftermarket) to their brand!

Thanks ... just what I know to be the case ....

[Ford17]

Interesting interview/article on Premcar and their combined (Tickford/FPV/Premcar) local history:

https://www.whichcar.com.au/features...-quinn-premcar

[Its About the DRIVE]

Thank you Ford17, well done - I think your link provides absolute clarity. For me the confusion (with some) seems to occur at the time of the separation of the Prodrive business. As the article says Ford took over the FPV brand and allowed it to all but disappear, the Engineering business was purchased through a Management Buyout headed by Bernie Quinn and the race team was purchased by Rusty French and Rod Nash ... that was all pretty clear and straight forward.

For me, the confusion comes about (for some people) with the Tickford name and the race teams moved into the aftermarket world! They in recent times have offered Mustang and Ranger kits ... that appeared to be pretty underwhelming in their respective markets. While they tried, there was absolutely no support/endorsement from Ford ... to the contrary Ford were quite open in their disapproval in Dealer land.

On the otherhand the Premcar business has gone from strength to strength. A read of the Whichcar story (link provided by Ford17) clearly shows and details their work. I did see recently their workforce had grown to about 185 people where in 2012 when the buyout took place they had 12 staff. I think this clearly shows how clever these guys really are - what I did learn, they built a helicopter in that passage of time ... we should be singing their praise!

For me, one of the biggest losses with the closure of the local car manufacturing industry is the potential intellectual losses from both Holden and Ford ... in this space. Out of the ashes Premcar grew bigger and stronger when everything else was heading south. The reality is, Premcar have been a stellar performer in recent years - I note their Holy Grail program. What I've seen/read is the folks who paid the big coin can not say enough good about their 'new car' You wont read media reports by motoring journalists, almost all 'as one' say it's the best Falcon ever built. Tell me when you ever/ever saw Josh Dowling show a level of excitement/love of a new car - he's a very tough marker and came close to raving about it?

To be fair and balanced, I think (while this is a Ford site) it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the great work by the team @ Walkinshaw ... for they too have preformed similar impressive feats since the closing of the Holden/HSV business. Their truck conversion business, their work with the VW on Amarok and their caravan building business. For they too (in my eyes) have done a ripper job and should also be congratulated.

I'm more than a little over some peoples lack of respect of these two great Aussie companies (employing Aussies) ... what I do know is it's far too easy to be critical when you have the safety of being anonymous behind a keyboard. I'd like to think we are smart/wise enough to identify the great work done here in Australia by Australians.

Rant over ... I do feel better about that. I feel too often the noise gets all the attention and sadly often the real facts are missed. In most cases the noise represents the minority while the majority of us are silent. I hope that might add a little balance to the discussion and be respectful to those who are generally too busy to monitor such traffic.

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by Its About the DRIVE

Thank you Ford17, well done - I think your link provides absolute clarity. For me the confusion (with some) seems to occur at the time of the separation of the Prodrive business. As the article says Ford took over the FPV brand and allowed it to all but disappear, the Engineering business was purchased through a Management Buyout headed by Bernie Quinn and the race team was purchased by Rusty French and Rod Nash ... that was all pretty clear and straight forward.

For me, the confusion comes about (for some people) with the Tickford name and the race teams moved into the aftermarket world! They in recent times have offered Mustang and Ranger kits ... that appeared to be pretty underwhelming in their respective markets. While they tried, there was absolutely no support/endorsement from Ford ... to the contrary Ford were quite open in their disapproval in Dealer land.

On the otherhand the Premcar business has gone from strength to strength. A read of the Whichcar story (link provided by Ford17) clearly shows and details their work. I did see recently their workforce had grown to about 185 people where in 2012 when the buyout took place they had 12 staff. I think this clearly shows how clever these guys really are - what I did learn, they built a helicopter in that passage of time ... we should be singing their praise!

For me, one of the biggest losses with the closure of the local car manufacturing industry is the potential intellectual losses from both Holden and Ford ... in this space. Out of the ashes Premcar grew bigger and stronger when everything else was heading south. The reality is, Premcar have been a stellar performer in recent years - I note their Holy Grail program. What I've seen/read is the folks who paid the big coin can not say enough good about their 'new car' You wont read media reports by motoring journalists, almost all 'as one' say it's the best Falcon ever built. Tell me when you ever/ever saw Josh Dowling show a level of excitement/love of a new car - he's a very tough marker and came close to raving about it?

To be fair and balanced, I think (while this is a Ford site) it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the great work by the team @ Walkinshaw ... for they too have preformed similar impressive feats since the closing of the Holden/HSV business. Their truck conversion business, their work with the VW on Amarok and their caravan building business. For they too (in my eyes) have done a ripper job and should also be congratulated.

I'm more than a little over some peoples lack of respect of these two great Aussie companies (employing Aussies) ... what I do know is it's far too easy to be critical when you have the safety of being anonymous behind a keyboard. I'd like to think we are smart/wise enough to identify the great work done here in Australia by Australians.

Rant over ... I do feel better about that. I feel too often the noise gets all the attention and sadly often the real facts are missed. In most cases the noise represents the minority while the majority of us are silent. I hope that might add a little balance to the discussion and be respectful to those who are generally too busy to monitor such traffic.

Is that you Ryan, would have thought there would be enough coin around for a PR team.

[Bossxr8]

Premcar still do a fair bit of work for Ford Australia Product Development.

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

Premcar still do a fair bit of work for Ford Australia Product Development.

Work for the boyz

Nah good on them.