Ford390 FE History. Ford built the 390 from 1961โ1971, and it was a part of their FE line of V8 engines. The FE stood for โFord-Engine,โ and not โFord-Edselโ or โFord-Engineering.โ. The first FE engines came out in 1958, and the 390 โ the biggest of them all โ came out in 1961 for the first time in Fords. The following year Sub2TiN.