Did the Stimulus Work? And Other Lessons of History: Ford Motor Company (F) and More

The success of this electrical starter prompted Kettering to found Delco, which was soon absorbed by eventual Cadillac parent General Motors Company (NYSE:GM). Kettering became the vice president of GM’s research subsidiary in 1920 and held the position for the next 27 years. Kettering’s groundbreaking work on electrical ignitions and starters has made starting your car as easy and harmless as turning a key — or, in today’s newest cars, pressing a button.

A record-breaking Bug
On Feb. 17, 1972, the 15,007,034th Volkswagen AG (ADR) (PINK:VLKAY) Beetle rolled off its assembly line. That number set a new record for auto production that had been held by Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)‘s Model T since 1927. Like the Model T, the Beetle was a symbol of inexpensive reliability, freedom on four wheels for the masses. Also like the Model T, the Beetle became an iconic symbol of its era, the Everycar for the times that were a-changin’, as Bob Dylan had so eloquently put it. While the Beetle could never hope to match the Model T’s ubiquity (the vast majority of cars in the 1910s were Ford models), it’s survived in the public consciousness even longer. You might even see an original Beetle motoring down the highway every now and then, more than 50 years after they became popular.

The Model T’s production totals were eventually revised upwards to the 16.5 million range, but Volkswagen kept cranking out the stubby, stout original-model Beetles until 2003, with a final production total of 21.5 million cars. That makes the Beetle, which was first built in 1938, the longest-running and most-manufactured single vehicle design in automotive history.

The article Did the Stimulus Work? And Other Lessons of History originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Alex Planes.

Fool contributor Alex Planes holds no financial position in any company mentioned here. Add him on Google+ or follow him on Twitter @TMFBiggles for more insight into markets, history, and technology.The Motley Fool recommends Ford, General Motors and Vodafone Group (NASDAQ:VOD) (LSE:VOD) and owns shares of Ford.

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