So one day my editor, Tom Shaw, asks me, “What exactly is the Ford database, and how does it work?” It’s a simple question — with an involved answer.

When others ask me this same question, it never fails to surprise them when I start out by thanking Ralph Nader. To those who remember the ’60s (which some believe means you weren’t really there), the famous Ralph Nader did the one-two punch that led to the demise of the Corvair. Additionally, Nader was a leading force being the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, which led to things like mandatory seatbelts, padded dashpads, and break-away rear-view mirrors. A relatively unknown requirement was the notion of mandatory recalls and the required infrastructure necessary to be able to perform them.

Beginning with the ’67 model year, auto manufacturers were required to keep track of what they built, how they were built, and where they were currently located. It is for this reason that the Marti Reports available for Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles begins with the ’67 model year. Ford wasn’t required to keep track of vehicles prior to this, so they didn’t. The ’60s were a time when the solid-state computer was beginning to take off, although it was still very much in its infancy. The United States had the goal of putting a man on the moon, but a large portion of the engineering work was still done with slide rules, not computers (I can personally attest to this).

Back then, computer memory storage was mostly done with magnetic tape. It was slow and expensive. Core memory (so named because it literally consisted of little wire bobbins wound around iron cores) was costly. A kilobyte of memory cost $1,000, so every conceivable means of conserving space for storage was employed.

The mainstay for data exchange was the famous Hollerith card, a design first used to weave rugs and other textiles. The Hollerith card, often called an “IBM punch card,” was actually used in the 1890 census. It was 80 columns wide, and would come to contain the main information necessary to create a Mustang. Ford began using this “modern” system in the mid-‘50s. And in 80 columns, they had to figure out a way to build a car. Shown here is a sample card for a ’69 Mustang containing the information required to know how, when, and where to start building a complete Mach 1; when it was finished; and where it was to be shipped.

The serial number takes up the first 11 spaces on the card. The remaining 69 spaces are used for the paint color, interior trim, every option, and important dates in the life of the car. Even the dealer that bought the car is coded on the card.

Dealers were assigned a six-digit code for identification. Paint codes required two spaces (some cars and trucks had tutone options); interior trim needed three spaces. With hundreds of options available over the entire Ford car and truck lines, the 28 spaces basically reserved for options had to do more than double duty to allow for all the possibilities. This data would become the basis for the buildsheet, window sticker, routing paperwork, dealer invoice, accounting paperwork, delivery card, warranty card, door dataplate, buck tag, and so on.

All of this data was handled using a coding system known as EBCDIC. In addition, other important dates, owner information, routing details, and financial data were accumulated. Back then, the preferred long-term storage method was 1-inch-wide magnetic tape. The machines looked like oversize reel-to-reel tape recorders. Each record was methodically laid down and updated as necessary.

While all of this was going on, I was celebrating my ninth birthday with plans of becoming an astronaut when I grew up. My biggest concern at the time was not growing taller than six feet because the space program didn’t like oversized people being stuffed into their small capsules. As I moved on to high school, I was exposed to the Hewlett/Packard 2000B/C Time Share computer system. Students were each allocated 2,000 bytes of storage space and told we should consider ourselves VERY fortunate.

With college came my studies in mechanical engineering. In those days, there were no such things as “apps.” If you wanted the computer to do something, you wrote the code and sat at an IBM 129 punch-card machine to make your Hollerith cards. Then you loaded your deck into the reader and came back (sometimes hours later) to get your printout.

This background enabled me to know how to deal with data storage methods from the ’60s. So when I became aware that Ford still retained the data, well, you can conclude the rest. Many trips to Dearborn, thousands of hours of computer programming, and a host of people performing data entry resulted in the Ford database being available to the general public for a greater good.

Of course, this story includes a host of other people besides Ralph Nader and myself. A multitude of people at Ford Motor Company have been involved in making this valuable asset available to the hobbyist. Most recently, the people at Ford Restoration Licensing (those involved with making sure you can get great parts for your Mustang, such as Dennis Mondrach and Kevin Powell) lead in this. If you’re at a Mustang show where Ford Licensing has a presence, give Dennis a “thank you” that Ford would give our hobby this access. No other car company has this great a resource.

We can be proud to be part of the Ford experience. It’s the American dream, the yearning of the human spirit. And like the spirit of a wild Mustang, Ford operates free-of-government assistance, unfettered, running out in front, with Bold Moves, just like how we see our Mustangs. Truly a Better Idea. Ain’t it fun to Drive One!

Article originally published January 26, 2011 in Mustang Magazine