A Melbourne Signwave franchise has wrapped a 2015 Ford Falcon in solidarity with hundreds of Ford production workers who will lose their jobs when their plant closes.
The wrapped Falcon features photographs of 384 factory staff who assembled Ford Falcon and Territory cars at the Broadmeadows plant, which will close in 2016.
The Ford Falcon Art Car wrapped by Signwave Campbellfield is part of the car maker’s ‘Outside the Oval’ art and design fundraising exhibition, with proceeds from sales going to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).
The employees built their last Ford Falcon GT in October and will roll the last Falcon ute and sedan off the production line in two years’ time.
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Senior Ford clay modeller Peter Watson spent four months planning the project, photographing the staff and creating the graphics.
“I wanted to show the faces behind the Falcon and I thought it would be a fitting celebration piece to all the personnel who literally bolt the car together on the production line,” he says.
“We thought it would be great to document in a visual form the employees across the company and also show our commitment to JDRF.”
Watson measured each car panel and made paper templates to ensure the imagery fitted the car accurately.
Franchise owner Paul Jones says the job involved meticulous planning.
“It took us a day and a half of installation. It was important that the final product do justice to every worker who volunteered to be part of the project which meant ensuring no image was distorted or cut off,” he says.
Signwave Australia Linda general manager Sultmann, and part of the team who bought the master license for the Australian company from its US parent last year, says the job is a great example of the franchise’s consultative approach.
“Paul Jones and his team went the extra mile to ensure everything went to plan according to Peter Watson’s vision,” she says.
“We commend Ford Australia for its innovative way of using graphics to showcase its cars, honour its employees and foster the culture within its own organisation.”
Ford plans to exhibit the Falcon Art car at other events in the coming months.
This year’s exhibition included more than 30 works created by the company’s design team, with sculpture, 2D paintings and digital art made from a range of materials including ceramic, foam, acrylic on canvas and clay.
The exhibit also included the first public unveiling of the 2014 Falcon XR8 sedan.
Last year’s event raised more than $25,000 for juvenile diabetes research.
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