http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2012/05/ford_to_close_cleveland_engine.html
I was contacted (Robert found me on the 351cleveland.net forum), interviewed and got a mention/quoted about halfway down in the article.
"Bob Entwistle, an electrical engineer in New Jersey, said he owned a 1970 Mercury Cougar with a 351 Cleveland when he was in high school in the late 1970s.
“Everybody else ran Chevys because they were so accessible. And I would race them and make them sad,” Entwistle said.
He loved the engine so much that he’s putting one in a 1969 Cougar that he’s restoring, even though that car originally came with a much different engine."
I’m thrilled!
Regards,
Bob
That’s pretty cool you got a nice quote in there, Bob.
The adjoining foundry/casting plant has already been torn down.
Article was wrong on several points - one glaring error was 351C made from 69-72. Tell that to my 2 Q-code 351C-4V '73 Cougars! The short-deck Cleveland was made through 1974!!! The follow-on 351M/400 continued through '79 in passenger cars and a bit longer in trucks. Yes, the Cleveland Casting plant (and Engine Plant no 2) made 302s, but one of the most-produced engines at this plant was the 300-I6! In fact, when Ford announced the discontinuation of the 300-I6, UPS placed an order for thousands of crate engines as replacements for their Big Brown Trucks that kept that line running for another full month!
The printed story appears today on the front page of The Plain Dealer, our local newspaper here, and continues on page A8. Pictures and all…
Sorry to see another American manufacturing plant close.
Would love to get a copy of the article in print for my scrapbook.