Much of this "documentary" was accurate and several of the "talking heads," especially Bob Casey, are well-informed and trustworthy commentators, although I have never heard of several of them, including the generic "historians."
The coverage of the Dodge brothers, whose history I know better than anyone, is seriously incomplete and flawed. One example - When the Dodge brothers sold their shares of the Ford Motor Company to Henry Ford, they received $25 million for their (10%) share of Ford stock. They were not "hoodwinked" into taking less than the true value of the shares. The documentary refers to the first Dodge Brothers car as the "Model 30," which I have never seen before. There were several "Model 30" cars in the early auto industry, including one from Hudson and another from Chalmers. In those cases, the model name refers to the engine horsepower. The first Dodge Brothers car had a 35-horsepower motor.
To my knowledge, nobody ever referred to Henry Ford II as "Hank." I cannot imagine where this came from. He was called "Henry" by his closest associates and (outside of his hearing) "the Deuce," but never "Hank."
Thirdly (I could make another dozen criticisms), I was surprised that there was no mention of Chrysler's "Forward Look" cars of the 1950s, which at least briefly made Chrysler the industry's styling leader.
The coverage of the Dodge brothers, whose history I know better than anyone, is seriously incomplete and flawed. One example - When the Dodge brothers sold their shares of the Ford Motor Company to Henry Ford, they received $25 million for their (10%) share of Ford stock. They were not "hoodwinked" into taking less than the true value of the shares. The documentary refers to the first Dodge Brothers car as the "Model 30," which I have never seen before. There were several "Model 30" cars in the early auto industry, including one from Hudson and another from Chalmers. In those cases, the model name refers to the engine horsepower. The first Dodge Brothers car had a 35-horsepower motor.
To my knowledge, nobody ever referred to Henry Ford II as "Hank." I cannot imagine where this came from. He was called "Henry" by his closest associates and (outside of his hearing) "the Deuce," but never "Hank."
Thirdly (I could make another dozen criticisms), I was surprised that there was no mention of Chrysler's "Forward Look" cars of the 1950s, which at least briefly made Chrysler the industry's styling leader.