May 30^th, 2000

The Broady Bunch – prolific production at Broadmeadows

AUGUST 1959 saw Ford Australia open its Broadmeadows assembly plant in Victoria.

In its first full year of operation it assembled 45,022 vehicles and was one of the world’s most diverse assembly operations.

Most assembly plants build several versions of one or perhaps two models.

But the Broadmeadows plant assembled no less than 41 different models of vehicles including seven tractor models, six types of trucks and 18 passenger models ranging from the tiny Anglia to the huge American Fairlane Ranch Wagon.

It took 16 years to produce one million vehicles, another 12 years to produce the second million and 12 more to produce the third million.

In 1985 Broadmeadows plant set a new Australian record for the number of vehicles produced in one year at one plant - 104,910.