Country Tire Automotive Firestone Summer and Winter Tires
FIRESTONE®A LITTLE HISTORY
Firestone was
originally based in Akron, Ohio, also the hometown of its archrival, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, and
another two mid-sized competitors, General Tire and
Rubber and BF Goodrich.
Founded on August 3, 1900, the company initiated operations with 12
employees. Together, Firestone and Goodyear were the largest suppliers of
automotive tires in North America for over 75 years. In 1906 Henry Ford chose
Firestone for Model Toriginal equipment tires.
In 1918, Firestone
Tire and Rubber Company of Canada was incorporated in Hamilton, Ontario and in
1922, the first Canadian-made tire rolled off the line on September 15.[5] During the '20s, Firestone produced the
Oldfield tire, named for racing driver Barney Oldfield.
In 1926, the company
opened one of the world's biggest rubber plantations in Liberia, West Africa,
spanning more than 1 million acres. 1926 was also the year that the company
opened its first Firestone Complete Auto Care store (Firestone Complete Auto
Care is a division of Firestone that offers automotive maintenance and repair).
In 1927, Henry Ford and
tire maven Harvey Firestone took a trip to Los
Angeles to select locations for their new factories. Friends say Ford wanted to
be near the ocean and picked Long Beach and suggested Firestone go to South Gate, California. The tiny community
southeast of Downtown was mostly agriculture at the time and Firestone found 40
acres of beanfield to house his new manufacturing plant. Architects Curlett and
Beelman created a spectacular four-story Italianate complex, with its own power
plant and gorgeous polychrome murals by Gladding McBean depicting the tire and
rubber-making process. A year after the plant opened in 1928 it doubled in
size. By 1954, when they added the Corporal guided missile to their offerings,
the plant was nearly a million square feet. The town grew around Firestone,
they named the main boulevard through town after Harvey, and Los Angeles became
the number one tire market in the country. By the mid-70’s Ford and GM had
massive layoffs as Firestone and other manufacturers opened new plants in
non-union locales like Wilson, North Carolina. After much downsizing the end
came in 1980 when 1,300 workers were laid off and the plant closed. East Los Angeles College has proposed
a new satellite campus at the site.
In 1928 the company built a factory in Brentford, England, a longtime Art Deco landmark
on a major route into the city. This closed in 1979.
In 1936 the company
opened a plant in Memphis, Tennessee. With a work force
exceeding 3,000 employees, the Memphis plant was the largest tire manufacturer
in the company’s worldwide operation. On July 1, 1963, the company celebrated
the production of 100 million tires in Memphis. The plant was closed in
1982.
During World War II the
company was called on by the U.S. Government to
make artillery shells, aluminum kegs for food transport and rubberized military
products. Firestone ranked 55th among United States corporations in the value
of World War II military production contracts.[9] In the 1940s, Firestone was given a
defense contract to produce plastic helmet liners. While outproduced by Westinghouse Electric they still made
a fair amount for the M1 Helmet.
In 1951, Firestone was
given the defense contract for the MGM-5 Corporal missile.
Firestone was given a total of US$6,888,796
for the first 200 Missiles. This missile was known as the "Embryo of the
Army" and was a surface-to-surface guided missile which could deliver a
high-explosive warhead up to 75 nautical miles (139 km). It was later
modified to be able to carry a nuclear payload for use in the event of Cold War hostilities
in Eastern Europe. This missile was replaced in 1962 by the MGM-29 Sergeant system.
In 1961, Firestone
acquired the Dayton Tire division from the Dayco Corporation.
In
late 1979, Firestone brought in John Nevin, the ex-head of Zenith Electronics, as president to save the hemorrhaging company from total collapse. It
was more than a billion dollars in debt at the time, and losing 250 million
dollars a year. Nevin closed nine of the company's seventeen manufacturing
plants, including six in one day. He moved the company from its ancestral home
in Akron to Chicago. He spun off non-tire related businesses, including the
Firestone Country Club. It was considered a deliberate plan to boost the stock
price, and it paid off. In 1988 after discussions with Pirelli, Nevin
negotiated the sale of the company to the Japanese company Bridgestone. Bridgestone Corporation Japan was able to buy the
company for much less than it had been worth a decade and a half
earlier. The combined Bridgestone / Firestone North American operations
are now based in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2008 the companies celebrated a 20-year anniversary of the merger,
and changed the tire division name to Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations,
LLC. In 2012, Bridgestone Americas opened a $100 million technical center in
Akron.
Apart from tires,
several companies and divisions operate with the Firestone brand in its name.
These companies include Firestone Building Products, LLC,
Firestone Industrial Products, LLC, Firestone Complete Auto Care, Firestone
Natural Rubber Company and Firestone Specialty Products. Firestone Building
Products and Firestone Industrial Products are headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana and operate in
23 U.S. states and ten countries, with 11,000 employees worldwide. The company
reports annual sales of more than $2.5 billion.
In 1972 Firestone
received a ten-year import "concession" by the Kenyan government to
secure Firestone's investment in a domestic tire plant, which gave it a virtual
monopoly.[15] This included both general price and foreign exchange controls. When the
ten-year period came to an end in 1979, Firestone retaliated by increasing
production, making entry less attractive. Headquarters eventually canceled
expansion and failed negotiations lead to no further investments.
The 1911 Indianapolis 500 auto race was won by a car running Firestone tires. Firestone-shod
cars won all editions of the race from 1920 to 1966. The company also provided
tires to Formula One from 1950 to
1974. As a consequence of the 1973 Indianapolis 500, 1973 United States Grand Prix and 1974 Austrian Grand Prix tragedies, Firestone retired from American
open-wheel racing and Formula One after 1974. The manufacturer returned in 1995
to the CART series with technical assistance from Bridgestone. Goodyear retired
after 1999, thereby leaving Firestone as the single supplier of the IndyCar Series as of 2013.
