What the hell does FE stand for?

[Edley Rondinone]

NONE of the above!

Way back in late 1956, one of the engineers in Ford's engine works had some plans for Ford's new engine series to debut in the 1958 model year.

This was in a time where engineers routinely took their work home with them in their briefcases, with little thought to having the companies' secrets stolen while in their possessions.

This engineer stopped in to the telegram office in town , to send a telegram across country to his relatives out west; he was announcing his engagement to his long-time girlfriend.

There was a line at the telegram office, and the engineer was going over the engine spec sheet while he waited his turn.

(Remember, telegrams were VERY expensive, and the shorter the message, the cheaper the message!)

When the telegram operator gave him the telegram request form, the engineer wrote "Finally Engaged" on the form, with
the "F" and the "E" in larger, bolder letters.

What the engineer didnt realize is that he was writing the telegram form on top of the engine spec sheets, carbon paper and all!

As luck would have it, the larger, bolder "F" "E" were imprinted on the second engine spec sheet thru the carbon paper, right next to the title of the spec sheet: "1958 engine series".

When the engineer's secretary got her copy of the spec sheet, across the top of the sheet were the words:

1958 engine series "F E"

She was a conscientious secretary; she deleted the excess spaces between the "F" and the "E", and she final-typed out the line: "1958 engine series FE", on the spec sheet for dissemination throughout the Ford Company.



And THAT'S how the FE got its designation!