Concept Cars in the Ford Heritage Vault

I’m a sucker for old advertising and marketing literature. I suppose one of the many reasons why I’m so drawn to Questar telescopes, for instance, is because of the company’s long-running magazine advertising campaign in Sky and Telescope and other publications.

It’s no different with classic cars. I’ve lost many hours of my life browsing oldcarbrochures.com, a website dedicated to presenting a huge virtual collection of automotive marketing booklets. It seems every conceivable make and model from the U.S. and abroad are represented there.

So it was with much delight this morning when I came across this USA Today article appearing on the Apple News app. It covered the addition of 100 concept car images to the Ford Heritage Vault.

The interface for the archive’s website is a bit klutzy—I can’t find any way to browse the collection, and it looks like the only option is to use the website’s search feature—but the Apple News app article I saw featured some irresistible specimens from the 1950s and 60s.

In a word, these images are awesome. Oh my goodness are they awesome!

For instance, check out the 1958 Ford Nucleon, a concept for a nuclear-powered car (no problem there in the event of a collision).

Or the 1961 Ford Gyron. How on earth would that thing stay upright?

Or the 1962 Ford Seattle-ite XXI, a concept vehicle created, it seems, for the Seattle World's Fair that year.

Or the 1964 Ford Aurora, a concept station wagon with an L-shaped couch. A couch! Pure gold.

Imagine being “that guy” that drives around town in any one of these cars. I’d love to be “that guy.” I sometimes joke with my wife about being “that guy” that drives around town in, say, a 1984 Pontiac Fiero (if you can find one that runs, that is). But I think being “that guy” with anything approaching these Ford concept cars would be way better.

I really hope the web folks at the Ford Heritage Vault implement a way to browse their collection rather than limiting users to their advanced search form. I have no doubt there are a vast number of other similar images to enjoy.