{"id":30327,"date":"2023-01-06T12:31:09","date_gmt":"2023-01-06T16:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=30327"},"modified":"2023-01-06T12:31:09","modified_gmt":"2023-01-06T16:31:09","slug":"how-ken-block-and-ford-motor-co-ruled-the-hooning-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/how-ken-block-and-ford-motor-co-ruled-the-hooning-world","title":{"rendered":"How Ken Block and Ford Motor Co. ruled the hooning world"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rally race driver and legendary Hoonigan Ken Block died tragically this week at 55. He likely entered the Pearly Gates sideways in a Ford Fiesta, smoke pouring from his tires.<\/p>\n

Block had a successful racing career, but it was his antics off-track for which he will be most remembered. He took \u201chooning\u201d \u2014 \u201cthe act of driving recklessly, racing, doing burnouts etc.\u201d according to the Urban Dictionary \u2014 mainstream with his wildly successful Gymkhana videos.<\/p>\n

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At the height of his fame, he teamed with Ford Motor Co. for 11 years \u2014 a partnership that raced across the globe while also thrilling millions with videos of Fiestas, Hoonicorn Mustangs and F-150 Hoonitrucks doing breathtaking stunts through the streets of cities like San Francisco and Detroit.<\/p>\n

Block lived large and on the edge and his death came suddenly on his Utah ranch after he lost control on a snowmobile. Though he and Ford had parted ways in 2021, the reaction from his old comrades was swift.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe lost a legend today in Ken Block,\u201d said\u00a0Ford in a statement<\/a>. \u201cKen inspired generations of auto enthusiasts, and in the process he came to inspire all of us at Ford as well. Ken personified the joy of driving, drifting and racing. He had a boundless imagination for creating special cars and special moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added CEO and amateur racer Jim Farley\u00a0on his Twitter feed<\/a>: \u201cThis is heartbreaking. I was lucky enough to call @kblock43 a friend. He was truly a legend and inspiration to all of us at @Ford.\u201d<\/p>\n

Block\u2019s career reached beyond the automotive world. Born in Long Beach, California, his early fascination with skateboarding led him to co-found DC Shoes apparel in 1994 \u2014 a company he sold for a reported $87 million a decade later. With money in the bank, he turned to his new love, race cars.<\/p>\n

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Rally racing\u2019s tail-out, extreme environment seemed to suit his swagger. Despite taking up the sport at 37 \u2014 many years older than his competitive set \u2014 Block instantly showed promise, winning Rookie of the Year in the 2006 Rally America National Championship driving a Subaru WRX STi.\u00a0 Two years later, his first Gymkhana video \u2014 showcasing his raw hooning skills on an open airfield \u2014 went viral, generating an healthy 14 million views (and counting), mostly in the coveted 17-to-25-year-old demographic.<\/p>\n

A star was born. Two years later, he inked a contract with Ford.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a heck of a driver. The videos speak for themselves,\u201d said Ford Performance boss Mark Rushbrook, who worked with Block for years, in an interview. \u201cI rode with him a couple of times . . . \u00a0and it just blows your mind at the speed at which his brain was able to process going down this rally road.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Rushbrook was just as impressed with Block\u2019s marketing and business mind. \u201cHe was a marketing genius. He figured out how to not just be a driver, but also how to bring all his partners together \u2014 Ford or Toyo Tires or Monster Energy \u2014 in a way that lifted all of us. He was the hub.\u201d<\/p>\n

Block and Ford built synergies across a multitude of disciplines, whether winning races, creating driver schools in Utah and New Hampshire, or preparing insane, unbridled cars for the next Gymkhana video.<\/p>\n

\u201c(It was) a very natural relationship where we were able to find things that worked for both of us,\u201d said Rushbrook. \u201cWe\u2019re a performance car company and he had a passion for performance machines and putting them out in front of people in a very spectacular way. At the beginning of every year, we\u2019d plan: what did he want to accomplish for Ken Block for Hoonigan? What did we want to accomplish for Ford?\u201d<\/p>\n

Block competed in multiple Fords. At the wheel of a Fiesta hatchback racer from 2011-15, he finished 2nd<\/sup>, 3rd<\/sup>, and 5th<\/sup>\u00a0in the U.S.-based Global Rallycross Championship. In 2016 he set his sights on the world\u2019s best, campaigning an all-new Focus RS in the international FIA World Rallycross Championship.<\/p>\n

But his most memorable cars are the unlimited hellions he drove in his highly anticipated Gymkhana videos.<\/p>\n

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In his first video with Ford in 2010, \u201cGymkhana Three, Part 2: Ultimate Playground,\u201d he tore apart the steep, 51-degree bankings of France\u2019s Linas at l’Autodrome de Linas-Montlhery in a 650-horsepower, all-wheel-drive Fiesta hitting 60 mph in just 1.9 seconds. In 2015, he went to an urban environment \u2014 the streets of San Francisco \u2014 to perform astonishing Fiesta feats like doing donuts around trolleys and jumping the city\u2019s vertical streets. Gymkhana Five has attracted a staggering 114 million views.<\/p>\n