A little bit about Ford
Ford is the other main character from the book and he is from another planet and he almost died the first day he was on earth but luckily his new friend Arthur saved his life because he tried to shake hands with a car thinking it was another life source and they have been friends ever since. Ford knows a lot of things that other people don't because he originated from another planet he can understand other things.
I don't know if Ford is named after the car Ford Prefect or if he just has the same name but that is quite interesting I thought, to save Arthur from dying when the earth was blown up he held up a ring to the sky and at the vogon ship to make them get sucked up into the ship. He was then Reunited with one of his friends that was Zaphod beeblebrox.