Photo Collection

(March 2006)

AA Photos added to MAFFI Factory Photo Collection
Heretofore, the collection of factory photos held by the Foundation showed very few commercial vehicles
among the nearly 400 images in the collection. But in October, 2005 at Hershey, MAFFI Trustee Howard
Minners luckily found and purchased an album with 61 original photos showing commercial Model A’s.
Howard has loaned these photos to MAFFI to be scanned and prints added to the photo collection.

An example of the photos is the accompanying right-front view of an AA with a heavy duty rotating power
hoist dump body. The photo shown here is just one of four views included on a four-scene composite
photograph that shows the vehicle from both the left and the right with the dump body in the lowered and
raised positions.

The description on the backside of the photo says: “The body dumps by power in five seconds at 1,000 RPM
of the motor. It is operated by one lever, the power take-off lever, which is located in the cab. It automatically
throws out and disengages the power take-off at tipped and riding positions. The shifting of the lever stops
and holds body in any position. The power is transmitted by the drive shaft to the gear case, as bull gear
rotates, it lifts the body to the tipped position. The large malleable gear case gives ample room for lubrication
for the heavy gears and worm mechanism, which is a combination of manganese bronze against steel, similar to
the Model T truck axle.”

The Foundation plans to offer copies of the AA photos for sale at this summer’s MARC and MAFCA national
meets. The photos are of considerable assistance to restorers because they show details of the way the
vehicles looked at the time they were delivered from the factory. MAFFI continues to seek to borrow and scan
additional factory-era Model A Ford photos, both passenger and commercial.

(September 2005)

MAFFI is pleased to announce that the entire photo collection is now available online. If you are interested in
purchasing a print this will enable you to see a thumbnail sized view of the print before purchase.

(March 2005)

During the past year, significant work has gone into preserving, and making more readily available, the more
than 400 photographs that make up the Rentz collection. The major portion (333) of the photographs were
donated by Bob Rentz. Additional photographs have been donated by Tim Johnstone and Tim Kelly. During
the past year the photographs have been reorganized and placed in protective binders, categorized and
notations have been added. Over the past several years, the photographs have been scanned at a high
resolution. The resulting digital files have been electronically stored which will allow rapid downloading and
printing of high quality copies. This service was offered at both the MARC and MAFCA national meets during
2004. The project includes an index of the photographs with descriptions of the cars and scenes. It is hoped
that this informative index can be placed on the MAFFI website (MAFFI.ORG) in the near future so that Model
A enthusiasts can place orders for individual photographs of their favorite car.

(March 2003)

Ron Ehrenhofer has volunteered to help scan, index, and annotate the 333 original Model A factory
photographs in MAFFI's Rentz collection. About one third have been in scanned to date. Interestingly, several
of the photos are of prototype vehicles. Eventually we hope these photos can be viewed online and printed
electronically at modest cost. With restorers so interested in vehicle details, we recognize the need to balance
high quality prints against date file size. For a time, we will continue to display these photos at National Meets
so that copies can then be ordered.

(Jan 1999)
Some time ago, Bob Rentz of Albuquerque, NM, was fortunate enough to put together a huge and diverse
selection of original, Model A Ford factory photos... 333 different views in total, all 8-1/2 X 11 in size! These
photographic images represent an incredible wealth of documentation about how the Model A looked "fresh
off the assembly line." Many photos are publicity shots that eventually appeared in Ford newspaper, magazine
and sales literature advertising. Other views portray close-up views of production model details. The
educational and research potential for Model A restorers is really outstanding.

In Reno, Bob generously donated all of these photos to MAFFI, including more than 300 additional duplicates.
Initially, MAFFI needs to reconfirm Bob's handwritten inventory and index these photographs, hopefully in a
computer-based format that could be accessed from a remote location. We also need to store them in archival
holders to insure optimal preservation for future generations. When these photos are eventually available to
the Model A hobby, we will all be truly grateful for Bob's very substantial generosity. THANK YOU, Bob
Rentz. Well into the future, your photographic gift to MAFFI will be paying dividends to Model A'ers
wherever they may chance or choose to live.