As the hands of time pass there are but a few among us who become legends. Leaving us a legacy is a way of giving the gift of the forever imprint on those left behind. With the recent passing Mr. Bob Rewey, at the age of 76, we now sadly grieve the loss of a great Blue Oval Hero.
Joining Ford Motor Company in 1963, Rewey amassed a career beyond what most could dream of. Leaving his mark throughout the Blue Oval, from the Expedition, to the Taurus, to the Lincoln Mark VII LSC to the iconic Mustang, Rewey ,through his thirty eight year career at Ford, devoted his life to what he loved.A hero among peers and fans alike, Rewey who retired in 2001 as Vice President of Ford Motor Company. He was a man of many talents. Born in Ohio in 1938, he earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing and later obtained a master’s in business administration as well. A mind for business, marketing, and innovation, Rewey played an important role for four decades in the continued success of Ford Motor Company. Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford himself described Rewey as a “great marketing visionary.”
Attributed with being responsible for such ideas as the offering of finance programs to enable Ford to sell more units, to truck leasing, to playing a key role in preventing the Mustang from being transformed into a front-wheel-drive vehicle in the later part of the 1980s, Rewey was undoubtedly not only a visionary but a man who innately had a talent and skill for knowing what the consumer desired.
Credited by many for saving the Mustang from extinction, Rewey would make his last official Ford public appearance at the MOCSEM’s Mustang Heros banquet earlier this year to celebrate not only 50 years of the Ford Mustang but 60 Mustang heros from past and present as well. Bestowing, us with his imprint and legacy, Bob Rewey will forever be remembered as a man of vision and will be deeply missed by all.