Ford Build Sheets; Save your money!

When we first heard the news that Ford was going to provide owners with a “Build Sheet” documenting their cars factory correct specifications I was extremely excited. How cool would it be to have a Ford generated document that correctly states how your rare Ford/Mercury collector car left the factory? I thought this might give some real competition to the Ford collector car standard Marti Report.

To find out I decided to order two of the new Ford Reports. Not long ago we published an article regarding Ford’s new program where you can get a “Build Sheet” for your Ford car if it meets certain date and model requirements. We promptly ordered one for our Talladega and Dan Gurney Spoiler. We promised to compare them with our previous Marti Reports and Ford “999” letters. I will do that but let me tell you up front not to waste your money on one of these new Ford Reports. The Deluxe costs $46 which is what you will pay for a Deluxe Marti Report. The Ford Reports, from my experience are not worth the cost of the postage to send them to you and mine came by email! Does that give you a clue as to what I think of them?

The quality is terrible and the accuracy is worse. What they are selling today is what you use to be able to get for free from Ford. They were then called the 999 Report.

You may remember from years ago when I did one of the 999 Reports for three Talladegas I had that all three came back as Mustangs! Imagine my surprise that Ford didn’t even know what a Talladega was! Well, this time they called Talladega a Torino Cobra (that at least is closer). The new Report went on to tell me our Wimbledon White Talladega is actually Presidential Blue with hood pins! This is not only incorrect it is totally unacceptable.

If an owner new to the Talladega world is trying to determine how his or her Talladega should be restored this is not the way to start. If a potential buyer is looking at your Talladega, Spoiler or Spoiler II and wants to get a Ford Report telling them your car is correct and not a clone or somehow modified, this is a terrible and damaging piece of information being provided by Ford.

The Report for the Dan Gurney 428 SCJ Spoiler was equally bad. Neither the Spoiler option or the Drag Pack option are mentioned. It appears to be, in Ford’s files, simply a Mercury Cyclone with “white exterior paint color with dark blue metallic accent paint color.” Nothing in the Ford Report would tell you that this is one of only five such Spoilers built! To be fair, it took a special research fee for Marti Reports to provide this information. It was not included in the Deluxe Report.

Below you will find copies of the “Build Sheets” I just received, the 999 Reports previously received for free and the Marti Reports. If you want documentation on how your Ford or Mercury were built continue to rely on the Marti Reports the Ford documents are strictly for laughs and don’t trust a word they say.

Here are the various Reports for the Talladega

Here are the Reports for the Dan Gurney Spoiler 428 SCJ