Peter Robinson

THE LARGE, LEATHER-BOUND JOURNAL, STAMPED H.C. FRENCH ON THE BOTTOM RIGHT-HAND CORNER, CONTAINS SINGLE-SPACED TYPED PAGES DETAILING HUBERT FRENCH’S 1923 INVESTIGATION INTO WHY SALES OF THE MODEL T FORD WERE SLIDING IN AUSTRALIA.

The Ford Australia archive contains many such compelling documents. French, who came from Canada, writes of state distributors being “nothing more nor less than a bunch of easy-living, luxuryloving and opulent Directors, whose only thought is to squeeze more profits out of the business without a vestige of thought of the future welfare of the Ford Motor Company”. So he created Ford Australia, with company-owned assembly and body building operations in each state.

Unless the federal government steps in, French’s documents, letters and priceless reports, which form such a crucial part of Ford Australia’s archive, will soon be sent to The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn.

Ford says this is not related to the end of local manufacturing because it also involves removing its major archives from England and Germany to create a new global archive. Ford intends to digitise much of the Australian material so it’s available online to researchers, film-makers, academics, economists, enthusiasts and journalists.

The archive, essentially the largest and most comprehensive record of motor manufacturing in Australia, is far too valuable a resource to be allowed to leave our shores.

The idea that a future digital index could provide essential basic research does not hold true. Research means delving into archives to find new material. Nothing beats the productivity of in-person ‘browsing’ through archives.

Worse, nobody at Ford can tell us when the Ford Australia material will be digitised, nor how much will be stored electronically.

Ford Australia’s record in preserving its history is patchy at best. The archive was created by former PR chief Adrian Ryan and initially mostly held at Broadmeadows. The opening of the Ford Discovery Centre in Geelong in 1999 allowed the archive to be consolidated in one location until, in 2007, it was returned to an area beside the Broadmeadows canteen, although some was stored in a disused amenity block where it was extensively damaged by water from a sprinkler system. Today, the archive is housed in the basement of the otherwise disused building, which is to be renovated to house Ford’s local R&D operations.

Ford’s unique archive includes: board meeting minutes; engineering and styling Black Books detailing individual local model development; Hubert French’s material; war-time correspondence; Ford publications; employee records; repair manuals for local models; a near complete selection of local press kits; hundreds of hours of film and video; and thousands of photos. It is part of our national heritage and falls into the realm of Moveable Cultural Heritage.

Canberra was informed of Ford’s plan in October 2015, but despite the urgency (Ford initially intended to send the material to Dearborn in March) and requests from former Ford Australia employees, the minister has yet to even decide if Fomoco needs to apply for a permit to remove it.

Ford Australia is simply complying with a request from Dearborn and has no interest in preserving the archive in Australia. There is no sense that Ford retains any pride in its celebrated local history, which saw the creation of generations of uniquely Australian vehicles.

Rather than celebrate its storied past, Ford Australia seems happy to follow its masters and ship the archive off to America.

There is no sense that Ford Australia retains any pride in its celebrated local history