Historian swore he'd never leave Coca-Cola — then Ford called

Ford Motor Co. has hired away Coca-Cola's image historian, who will essentially sculpt Ford's story and seek to reframe how America and the world think of the iconic carmaker.

In recent weeks, Ford quietly brought aboard Ted Ryan, 54, an Atlanta native who swore after 21 years of doing what he loves that he’d never leave Coca-Cola or Georgia.

“Ford is the only brand in the world I would have left Coca-Cola to go to,” he said. “I was excited to come to Ford before I even knew about the Corktown projects because of the rich history. For more than 115 years, the company has constantly worked to innovate and create new milestones.”

It goes beyond the story of Henry Ford, who left the family farm in the 1870s near what is now Ford and Greenfield roads in Dearborn to apprentice at the Michigan Car Co., a railcar manufacturer in Detroit. Soon, of course, he would devise the first mass production of cars in America.

Ryan will collect physical and digital artifacts, help with communications, marketing, product development and weave the legacy of the company into the narrative of where it’s headed.