How old does an American car need to be to be 100% made in the USA?
Audio By Carbonatix
The very first mass-produced car to roll off a moving assembly line was an American one. Now, well over a century after the first historic Fords, Oldsmobiles, and Packards, the United States continues to produce huge quantities of cars, trucks, and SUVs. But you might be disappointed if you’re looking for an American car, new or old, born of 100% US-sourced parts.
Your search for a 100% American car may disappoint if you expect every bolt, pane, and rubber bit to be US-sourced
Today, there’s no such thing as a car that is wholly American in its componentry. Even the most American-made of cars don’t exceed about 75% North American parts. That is, depending on where you get your information.
The Tesla Model 3 tops just about every list for being the most American-made, although the NHTSA gives it a 75% figure for parts and components. The American University’s Kogod School of Business, alternatively, put the Performance trim of the baby Tesla at as much as 87.5%. Close, but certainly not 100%.
But wait, decades ago, fewer American-badged cars had final assembly in places like Spain and South Africa. So, were cars closer to the 100% made-in-the-USA benchmark back then? Closer, yes. But 100%, not quite. Suffice it to say, there’s not really any such thing as a 100% US-made car, with very, very few exceptions.
Ford and the fight for rubber
Even the earliest American cars, like the Ford Model-T, got vital components like rubber from foreign sources. Ford chose the then-young Firestone tire brand to supply tires for the brand’s early automobiles. Firestone sourced much of its rubber from overseas sources, like rubber plantations in Liberia.
That said, rubber is one of the vehicle-making components that early automobile tycoons were particularly concerned with acquiring. So much so that Henry Ford started clearing mass quantities of Brazilian land to develop the ultimately unsuccessful “Fordlandia” and Belterra plantations, once home to many of the Blue Oval’s rubber-producing dreams.
In short, look as hard as you want at any classic or antique American car, and you’re bound to find some foreign componentry. It’s just the nature of building cars. Globalization is real, and the concept of a 100% American car is a casualty. But, you’re in luck; there’s no shortage of classic cars out there, with a vast majority of American parts and final assembly right here in the US of A.
