FORD MOTOR COMPANY STYLING CENTER 1961 PROMOTIONAL FILM "THE SECRET DOOR" 88464

[@BubbaSmurft]

Nice to see the Batmobile being put through its paces.

[@manwithoutausername]

All those concept cars and models, quite the pieces of art!

[@davidcampbell1899]

That Lincoln Futura was a concept car and was the original Batmobile in 1966 TV show.

[@rickprusak9326]

Starting in 2020, this design center in this video is being torn down. The secret door is no more. It's being replaced by something more elaborate and just as tightly secured. If your anywhere near Greenfield Village, just park in the parking lot, and look across the street, and see the new styling center go up.

[@bostedtap8399]

Great to see some proven techniques, old but a few used today. Thanks for sharing.

[@baronoflivonia.3512]

My Grand Dad had a 61 T Bird too, and worked a little way further at Engineering. This was right before Mustang planning. And my cousin worked at Design Center on Rotunda making prototypes until 08. Me, I drive a Dodge & Chevy.

[@alext9067]

Ford always had the best taillights. While I was working for a Pontiac dealer, someone brought in a '70s Torino. When it went on the lift, we all gathered around. It was highly superior to the junk we had come accustomed to. Ford is a stand-up company. The only one that didn't go begging to Congress for distress money. I'm sorry to see them suffering and ready to leave the US market.

[@sylviafrank8302]

Alex T .. Henry Ford was one of the greatest Americans in the history of our country.

[@drpoundsign]

@@sylviafrank8302 A NAZI!!

[@OHUQTU]

@@drpoundsign - he was a Hitler/NAZI sympathizer and Jew hater, as were many in the USA in the 1930's. He was never a NAZI

[@21stcenturyfossil7]

Ford sold millions of cars with a design flaw in their automatic transmissions which allowed the transmission to sometimes shift itself from park to reverse. Under the rules of the time, Ford would be required to recall and repair those cars. That would cost billions and really hurt Ford's profits. So, Ford whined and cajoled the Feds, who knuckled under and allowed Ford to simply mail a warning decal, to be attached by the owner. I knew a guy from a transmission repair shop who was really hot about this settlement. He said the notch in the gearshift quadrant was both shallower and closer to the reverse notch than on GM or Chrysler products. At the shop, idling Fords would occasionally shift themselves into reverse as the door was slammed. He said he almost was hit by one of those driverless, reversing Fords. Soon after, the shop banned letting Fords idle without a driver. More people were killed by the reversing Ford automatic transmissions than the exploding Pintos. But, thanks to Ford's friends in the Federal Government, it all was set right with a mail in sticker, not a recall.

[@MidKid61]

@@21stcenturyfossil7 I had a 1972 Maverick where it did jump into reverse on it's own after I put it in park. It sounds like a simple fix to the problem. Fords did have a closer notch than GM, Chrysler or AMC products.

[@zchris87v80]

How far we have strayed. Instead of a new model evey year, we drive white/black/gray/silver crossover SUVs. Little boxes, and they all look just the same.

[@fromthesidelines]

"KEYHOLE" was originally syndicated in the 1961-'62 season (distributed by Ziv-United Artists), and lasted 39 episodes. The original version of this episode was initially syndicated in early 1962.

[@andrewsmactips]

The future isn't what it used to be.

[@kc4cvh]

Each manufacturer had their own details, but Detroit products followed the same general trends. There was the Inverted Bathtub Era (1938 -1955), the Rocketship Era (1955 -1963) followed by the Domed Slab or Aircraft Carrier Era (1963 - ? I think the Caprice Classic and Crown Victoria were the last of these). This remains true today, the most produced body style is the mid-size SUV, available in ten different marques and none really distinguishable from the others.

[@zchris87v80]

Amen. Can’t tell a BMW from a Hyundai these days. That’s why my most recent purchase is a 1964 Comet Caliente convertible.

[@michaelplunkett8059]

And ony 3 colors, black, white gray.

[@danilvinyukov2060]

19:36 Considering that star trek first aired in 1966 and this is from 1961 you can see where the designers of the enterprise got their ideas from.

[@Mariazellerbahn]

Strange how they are testing the Futura long after they originally had it built. It was painted red for the film "It Started With A Kiss" in 1959 so it was already more than four years old by then.

[@muckerwood]

11:48 Batmobile

[@Raiderzombie57]

The best batmobile with a great story

[@zchris87v80]

@@Kamina1703 and, as much as they’re hated, Gotham Garage kept the futura alive

[@whatsamattayu3257]

I grew up a child of a Ford dealer executive and eventual owner. I was able to see and eventually drive many beautiful and different Fords. It's so sad to see how far this once premier automaker has fallen in quality and customer service.

[@J_Calvin_Hobbes]

thumb 👍

[@rickprusak9326]

That old timer of a security guard watching the unwanted sketches burning up,looks like he doesn't know what he's looking at.

[@greenfuzz13]

The host of "The Secret Door", Jack Douglas, looks and sounds like Eugene Levy, from SCTV, doing his Bobby Bittmann character.

[@ThomasDeLello]

Industrial espionage is a serious concern. That Astrion never made it past the prototype stage. Buick Division always got the lion's share of R&D money from GM. The Astrion might have competed with Buick's Riviera in its day.

[@tomservo56954]

It's more likely to have become the next-generation Thunderbird...already a target for the yet to be introduced Riviera.

[@Spookieham]

They did eventually bring out radar at the front of the car but it was 45 plus years later

[@JeffreyOrnstein]

Boy, did they get the future wrong.

[@SpockvsMcCoy]

Automotive design is different nowadays because of CADD software. Also, at that time aerodynamics (exterior) and ergonomics (interior) did not have much importance in production cars...the shapes of surfaces were more limitless.

[@weskirkland5850]

12:22 Original Batmobile

[@franklinwilliams8852]

FORD!!!!! Release the "AIR ENGINE" ...NOW!!!!

[@ob1kubota465]

Tata Motors of India has actually made one.

[@rayroberson298]

@@ob1kubota465 some guy on you tube a free valve engine and you can get blue prints and information free don’t know if same thing you are talking about. Meant design wise

[@BeryJensen]

8:24 no eye protection

[@tomservo56954]

19:03...that vehicle was designed to be powered by a nuclear reactor.

[@jgrothou]

“Nucleon!”

[@lestersabados1306]

They did build a few nuclear fission cars. As Pinto had a rear bumper made of flint, the nucleon didn't age well.

[@scottkasper6378]

Every production back then had to start with blaring horns and long credits

[@cuda426hemi]

So much irony. - little Ford Jr. Jr. griping about "design is hard" - yeah - they made this film a year after that great Edsel design was finally taken back of the barn and shot; then proceed to show nothing but the worst designs possible - even the fantasy cars sucked and if it weren't for Barris modding that Futura we wouldn't even give THAT mess a 2nd glance. Last irony is that the current '61 Galaxies and Starliners in coupe form were actually really nice simple timeless designs. 🚙

[@michaelcolletti790]

If you let people into the room with cameras, via “The Secret Door” well then what’s behind “The Secret Door” is no longer a “Secret” is it? Thus, “The Secret Door” is useless.