History of the brand Firestone
Akron in Ohio. Indeed here, in the city later on called the world’s capital of rubber industry, in 1900 one of the pioneering makes in tyre industry was born. Firestone? Yes, the name sounds dangerous and dignified. The company owes it to its founder – Harvey S. Firestone.
A meeting with Ford
The heart of the American motor industry is Detroit, the city where the giants of the industry – Ford, General Motors, Chrysler – are based. Everyone knows too that the Mecca for lovers of fast cars is Modena in Italy, where Ferrari, Maserati and De Tomaso operate, with Lamborghini just next door. In the same way, the tyre capital of the world can be said to be Akron, Ohio. It was here in the Great Lakes Region that the power of such firms as BFGoodrich and Goodyear developed. Not long after them, the Firestone brand began its story.
Its founder was born on 20 December 1868 on a farm in Columbiana County, Ohio. The Firestone family’s holding had been started at the end of the 18th century by Harvey’s great-grandfather, Nicholas, who had received part of his land as a gift from President Thomas Jefferson. In 1895 Harvey, then working for Columbus Buggy Works, met Henry Ford, with whom he soon began a collaboration that would last for many years. When he built his first cars, Ford used bicycle tyres. Firestone advised him to try out pneumatic tyres, which were used in ...
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