Ford Just Dropped a Ton of New Stuff In Its Historical Archive
If you’re a hopeless automotive nerd, and since you’re reading this, you likely are, there’s nothing better than having access to automakers’ historical archives. Some offer public-facing portals with easily searchable brochures and images, and Ford’s just got a major content injection.
CEO Jim Farley tweeted about the upgrade, which includes information and images on some of the automaker’s lesser-known vehicles, such as the Spectron van, a JDM rebadged Mazda Bongo with serious 80s vibes. Farley also shared an image of a 1992 Ford Mondeo in Paris, but it’s easy to get sucked into looking at all the weird stuff in the archives.
Interested in the Ford Telstar? How about a 20-page brochure in Japanese? How about specs on a 1996 Mercury Tracer? The archives are surprisingly complete and very well organized, making it so much easier to feed the obsession.
General Motors has a similar but less robust archive that lets users view and download around 900 vehicle information kits. Interested people can also contact the archive staff for more specific information. One of the coolest things about all historical information is how much more technically detailed it is than the advertising-heavy brochures buyers get today.
For example, the brochure for the 1966 Ford Ranchero gives detailed engine specs, such as bore and stroke, compression, and axle measurements. Buyers also got steering ratios, suspension weight specs, and even clutch face measurements.
[Image: Ford Heritage Vault]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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Cool stuff. Ford definitely holds the great iron for the European markets. Even pedestrian products like the '60 Taunus wagon give off a cool Euro-American vibe https://fordheritagevault.com/scripts/mwimain.dll/144/DESCRIPTION_OPAC3/FORD_DETAIL?sessionsearch&exp=sisn%20232367
Well-organized archives? Makes it easier to sell to VW.
They should have sold the Spectron in the U.S. It would have done pretty well, and maybe prevented the Aerostar and Windstar fiascos.