Words: John Gunnell

Photos: Courtesy of Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is putting more than 5,000 curated Ford and Lincoln photographs and product brochures online for media and car enthusiasts. The “factory photos” and showroom brochures can be downloaded cost free. Ford says it will enlarge this resource even further as time goes on.

The searchable collection can be accessed by using the link https://fordheritagevault.com. The materials posted there span Ford’s production history from the company’s founding in 1903 to its centennial in 2003. They include both black-and-white and color images for most, but not all, years. The images are not to be used for advertising or promotion without specific permission.

Ford says that these historical assets can be used for “personal and editorial use.” The automaker claims that this is the American-based auto industry’s most comprehensive online database.

On your computer, clicking the link given above brings you to a profile photo of a white Gen 1 Mustang ragtop with a search box. You can type in descriptions such as “1932 Ford Coupe” or “1955 Ford Thunderbird” and an array of photos of that year, make and model will appear with an additional “click to open” box. When you click this box a larger, high-resolution image of the vehicle will pop up. This can be downloaded to your device or simply dragged onto your computer’s home screen.

The eight accompanying images from the archive were downloaded in about five minutes with no hassles. Ford enthusiasts should appreciate this resource that can be used to fill scrapbooks, create garage decorations or in hundreds of other ways. Ford hopes that other car enthusiasts will use the archives and become FoMoCo fans.