Jack Ford

Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at ReUnion 2004.

Jack Ford arrived at Tennant Creek as a five year old in a 1932 Chevrolet truck. There was no road and they drove, moving from station to station until they found the telegraph line, turned south and found the town.
He purchased his first truck, a 1946 WF Dodge tipper for £860 and used it to pick up loads of ore from the many small mines around Tennant Creek and surrounding area.His fleet of trucks included three International AL 60s, three different types of  Leylands, six Mercedes Benz, a D-Series Ford, and two F 800 Ford semi-trailers. Jack also purchased a variety of ex-army trucks after the war.

He carted copper out of Tennant Creek to Alice Springs, and general freight from Alice Springs back to Tennant Creek and the railhead at Birdum.Jack operated his own gravel plant and carted gravel for the upgrading of the Barkly and Stuart Highways. He also operated four F600 V8 Ford trucks to cart water from the Seven Mile Bore into Tennant Creek. The trucks carried 1000 gallons of water per trip and the water was sold for six shillings per gallon. These trucks operated from 1946 until 1960 when reticulated water was connected to Tennant Creek. Jack's company, Ford Bros, was a carry business and garage which he opened in 1946 with his brother Jim.

Unfortunately Jim was tragically electrocuted not long after but Jack retained the Ford Bros name in memory of his brother. He was originally the agent for Dodge, Vanguard and the Morris Motor Company before he became the 'Ford Agent', a position he has held for 48 years. Jack also owned the Vacuum Oil Service Station for over 30 years before it became the Mobil Oil Company. He is remembered in central Australia as a true pioneer of the outback in every sense of the word.