Ford do Brasil is a subsidiary of American automaker Ford Motor Company, founded on April 24, 1919. The operation started out importing the Ford Model T cars and the Ford Model TT trucks in kit form from the United States for assembly in Brazil. The Ford brand, however, had already been present in the Country since 1904 with both vehicles being sold in Brazil. Ford Motor do Brasil S.A., as it was its name in those days, inaugurated a full blown manufacturing operation on August 26, 1957 with the first Ford F-600 pick-up truck, very similar to the US-made F-100, leaving the production line... featuring a 272 V8 engine, 40% of its parts being Brazilian made. The remaining items were still imported from the USA, but gradually, as the number of OEM parts suppliers in Brazil grew, this number decreased significantly. On October 9, 1967, Ford took control of troubled Willys-Overland do Brasil S.A.
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