I am Rick Weedn and I am Co-Founder of Fordimages.com at Archivea GmbH. I am a second generation art publisher and printer. We were set up in 2010 as the brainchild of Ford executives; John Nens, Dean Weber, Mark Bentley, Betsy McKelvey and myself. We now work closely with Ted Ryan at Ford's Heritage Vault and many other Ford Executives. We make special high value art products for owners of Ford Vehicles. Our mission is to offer archival and contemporary Ford images as art for the world to enjoy. Reach out anytime +41 79 265 8891. Text me on WhatsApp.
"Powered by Ford" has delivered race wins since the dawn of the Total Performance Era.
Where is Fordimages located?
In support of Ford's global brand awareness and in anticipation of the 2026 Ford return to F1 we are located in Lugano, Switzerland about 2 hours from where the final four Shelby Daytona Coupes were built in Modena, Italy. Like Ford we are Americans who travelled to Europe to share our enthusiasm and competitive spirit. We supply Ford dealers, enthusiasts and club members daily, using SwissPost (Fedex) and USPS shipping across the globe.
Why do you love Ford?
“Well that is a big question. I love Ford because of its American and now International roots and to me Ford stands for many ideals I hold as vital. Primarily that anything is possible. Like Henry Ford's first race car and the invention of the assembly line, anyone with a good plan can succeed even against the odds. From whatever economic background they hail from all is possible”. Nothing is impossible!
Tell us about the artwork you print.
We start with the highest quality scan from the original negative or an original print. When we started in 2010 we placed our own scanner at the archives of The Henry Ford Museum. This evolved quickly as the mandate at Ford was clearly to digitize much of the archive. We print these files today at our own Archivea GmbH studio printshop in Lugano, Switzerland. We use only the best Canon equipment and stay away from any mass produced latex or solvent base printing. We print only on 12 Color aqueous archival equipment. We print on photographic high gloss heavy paper, matte German art paper, mural textile or German quality canvas. We make these one at a time. We frame this one at a time.
Tell us about your team.
We are a small family run shop. We are third generation art publishers/printers. My father Jack Weedn was an art publisher, so I followed in his footsteps as has my son, Miguel Weedn. We rely upon our Fine Art Printer, Sabine Catteneo who has her masters in Photography and printing. Jo is our framer and canvas stretcher, she also has a major background in photography. Tyler is our studio companion a forever young Springer Spaniel. We make everything in our studio. PS. We also like motorcycles!
Above is our Fine Art Printer, Sabine applying her craft. These are freshly printed canvases for a dealership in the USA. These are hand coated, cured 48hrs and hand stretched on super strong wooden bars. We love our hundred year old work tables. The Swiss know about quality that lasts.
Here you will see a glimpse of our fleet of 5 Canon printers and an example of one of our textile self adhesive murals. Tyler is headed to his favorite window to watch the world go by. Yes we like vintage motorcycles!.. My own personal 1965 F250 4x4 is a perfect hauler of vintage bikes.
Tell us about your Owner's Editions
We make Owner's Editions for most popular Ford vehicles. Our designer, Cory Stefan in Colorado starts with composing an image that combines an archival photo usually the original race car as a backdrop. We then do our very best using Ford new and archival imagery to build a composited image of your own car as it left the factory in the foreground. We also do Custom Editions which illustrate options you may have added.
How is the Owner's Edition framed and shipped?
We use SwissPost and USPS to make the Atlantic crossing to USA. When we first moved to Switzerland the crossing was slow. Now, with help from SwissPost we have managed to speed it up considerably. It takes about 8-10 business days to get to you using our latest (as of October 2023 Priority service). We pack these very strongly with great care as you can see. Each frame is built with hardwood and a durable smooth coating of paint (think powder coat) that protects and adds durability. The glazing is naturally not glass but like a Lexan window of a race car. It does not break with shipping. The chassis plate is engraved with your name and VIN data. The car image follows the specs of your car or truck. Each of these Owner's Editions are double matted and hand cut around the image and the chassis plate. Each outside dimension is 27" x 30". We add a wire hanger old school style on the black finished back.
Why does it take so long and cost so much to make these?
Yes, it takes us usually 5-8 weeks to make these not counting transit time. Yes, it is a slow hand made process with quality materials. This is because each one is made to match your car or truck and each one has an engraved chassis plate. Be it our stretched canvas or murals, these are not a mass produced product. It is carried out in our small shop by one of our three experienced team members. We try very hard to apply stringent quality controls and sometimes we remake the entire framed edition before it ships out the door. We hand carry each one to the post office as we send them on the way. The shipping costs us more than $100 each, the packaging another $35. These really are a labor of love and passion for the blue oval.
Below is one of our stretched canvases about to be stretched. Each is made by hand on UV coated and cured German canvas by our Swiss team.
Below are freshly stretched canvas for a dealership showroom in the USA.
Who are your customers?
Our customers are about half dealerships and half VIP specialty car owners located around the world. We supply most of the largest collectors of Ford vehicles, many museums and many one, two or three car collections. Our murals and canvases usually head to dealership showrooms. They like vintage imagery for sales and service offices and new images for showrooms. Our VIP collectors most often order Owner's Editions or murals for their own garages. We try very hard to satisfy the needs of all of our great customers.
