The Henry Ford commissioned House Industries to develop a three-dimensional sculpture for their annual Past Forward Award. Inspired by automotive nameplates and the spirit of innovation, House Industries’ three-dimensional lettering sculpture for the Past Forward Award celebrates tradition while epitomizing the ingenuity embodied in each recipient’s work.

Presented each year at the Detroit Autorama, Past Forward is awarded to the builder who most creatively combines tradition with inventiveness while exhibiting a highly skilled technique and maintaining the whimsical “run what you brung” attitude that defines hot rodding culture. Held every year since 1953, Autorama is one of the longest running indoor automotive shows in the world.

House Industries started the project with an exhaustive series of sketches with the goal of creating a balanced lettering lockup that could then be fabricated in three dimensions. Expert sheet metal workers then cut out the lettering shape, hand formed the deep dimension and silver soldered the final assembly. At approximately 16 inches wide, five inches tall and four inches deep, the award is compact enough to hoist over a victor’s head but features enough dimensional presence to earn permanent visibility in a garage or trophy case.