Ford Is Opening A Museum With Over 120 Of Its Coolest And Weirdest Cars, Here’s Why You Have To Go

America’s automakers haven’t always been the greatest at maintaining historical archives that fans can actually visit and enjoy. General Motors has an archive of its greatest cars, but you can’t visit it. Chrysler used to run an entire car museum, then closed it. Ford didn’t really save many vehicles in its over a century of history.

That changes now. Ford is opening up what it calls the Vault, and it contains at least 150 vehicles from all parts of Ford’s history, including cars you haven’t seen before. In a delightful twist from the norm, Ford will open the Vault to the public soon, and here’s why you should go.

Have you ever wondered what happens to concept cars and pre-production vehicles after the auto show lights extinguish and the curtains fall? Most of the time, it’s nothing good. An automaker might keep a favorite, then send the rest to the crusher after the public stops looking at them. This is also the case for any pre-production cars circulated for the press’s first-drive reviews. It’s sad, but it’s just car business. You can’t save them all.

According to Ford historian Ted Ryan, Henry Ford II even had the belief that Ford should just build cars, not collect them. So, for much of Ford’s history, it was like many other automakers. Concept cars and prototypes were unceremoniously destroyed the moment that they stopped being useful to the company.

The Birth Of A Museum

Little did Ford company brass know, dedicated project managers, designers, and engineers had been building a collection of cars. These cars escaped the crusher by hiding in little nooks and crannies in warehouses and other properties scattered across Michigan.

In 2023, Ford CEO Jim Farley visited the company’s operation in the United Kingdom, where he discovered that they were saving their historic models. Apparently, nearly 300 vehicles were archived by Ford workers in Australia, England, and Germany. A collection did not exist in America. Sure, there is the Henry Ford Museum, which does have some vehicles in it, but it is not strictly a car museum. Farley wanted America to have its own collection, and kickstarted the initiative that gave birth to the Ford Heritage Fleet, which would complement the digital Heritage Vault that went online in 2022.

Ted Ryan was put in charge of this massive program, and when Ford employees heard that the company was gathering a heritage fleet, they started spilling the beans about their hidden projects. Apparently, Ford employees got pretty obsessive about saving certain cars under the cover of darkness. Workers at Dearborn Assembly, for example, saved the last Mustang they built in 2004, and also kept the very first F-150 assembled there.

Ford eventually found about 60 concept cars, 50 racecars, and dozens of others. Today, the Ford Heritage Fleet has nearly 500 vehicles globally, and close to 200 of them are in America. Around 50 of these cars were on temporary display in a Ford parking garage in Michigan. Now, those cars get to live in a 79,000-square-foot museum, the Ford Vault, that will eventually be opened to the public for all to enjoy.

The Ford Vault

When I visited the Ford Vault in Romulus, Michigan, yesterday, the enthusiastic staff were honest in that they were still putting in the final touches. The building, a former Amazon fulfillment center, needs a giant blue oval logo outside so it doesn’t look so industrial. Ford is also working with the city’s government to get the facility re-zoned so that the public can visit it as a museum. Everything was happening so quickly that some of the cars had arrived only a few days earlier, and the aroma of fresh paint was in the air.

There wasn’t really enough time to take in the freshness of everything, however, because the doors opened to a room with cars lined up in neat columns as far as the eye could see. Every section of the museum had a theme, from historic commercial vehicles and Mustangs to Broncos and concept cars. The Ford Vault does not display all of the Heritage Fleet at the same time; instead, the building holds around 125 vehicles.

My Top Ten

Here are my 10 favorites from the museum. Some of these vehicles will be getting their own standalone stories in the near future.

1963 Ford Cougar II Concept

Here’s what the plaque accompanying the car said:

The Ford Cougar II is a fastback two-door coupe designed by Eugene Bordinat and built on a Shelby Cobra chassis (CSX2008). The prototype is powered by a production 289 cu-in V-8 engine and equipped with a 4-speed manual transmission. The car has a metallic cherry-red paint with an all-black interior and leather upholstery. The top panel is painted gray.

The car is one of three included in the X-Car group by Ford, which also included the Mustang II and Allegro. This was the more racing-oriented of the three. An unusual feature across the rear of the passenger compartment is an air pressure relief panel, a self-operating gate that opens when interior pressure exceeds 15 pounds/inch.

This is on loan from the Detroit Historical Society.

A historian from the Detroit Historical Society also told me more about the car. While Bordinat is largely credited with the design, McKinley Thompson Jr., a pioneering designer known for, among other things, being Ford’s first Black designer, also did substantial design work.

Another interesting detail I was told is that although this concept car was given the year 1963, it was actually finished in 1962. Technically, the design was completed before the 1963 Chevrolet Corvette “split-window.” This car also has a sister roadster:

2008 Ford Ka

I love the inclusion of this one because the Ka was never sold in America. This car came from Ford’s collection in Europe, and the plaque accompanying it says this:

This model marks the end of an era as the very last Ka produced. Similar to other firsts and lasts of this collection this model still has under 10 miles on its odometer.

Introduced in 1996 as a small European city car, the Ka exceeded all sales expectations. This was Ford’s first production car to feature New Edge styling, the design philosophy Ford had previously showcased on concept cars including GT90, Sentinel and Mercury MC4.

Ford Mustang Ute

This one is getting its own article later on, but the short version is that the one-off car essentially answers the question of what a Mustang pickup would look like.

2005 Ford SYNus Concept

This weirdo is supposed to emulate the look of an armadillo or armored truck. It even has steel shutters for the windshield. The idea is that it’s a private sanctuary away from the outside world. The name is a portmanteau of “synthesis” and “US,” which is an abbreviation for “Urban Sanctuary.” Apparently, the name is pronounced “sin-you-ehs.”

Ford GT40s That Took The Podium At The 1966 24 Hours Of Le Mans

These three are on temporary display and will leave the museum after Saturday’s opening event.

1995 Lincoln L2K Concept

I will write about this one later, because it blows my mind that Lincoln once considered taking down the German roadsters with a V8 roadster of its own.

2000 Ford Prodigy Concept

Amazingly, Ford once considered a 72 mpg diesel-electric hybrid sedan. This one blew my mind because, at first, I thought it was just a Ford version of a Dodge Neon. I will be writing about this one very soon.

2003 Ford 427 Concept

There was a time when America had V10 fever, and Ford teased us with a 7.0-liter V10-powered super sedan. I may write more about this one later.

1910 Ford Model T

This Model T, which was sold new in the UK, was built before Ford’s famous “any color, so long as it’s black” edict went into effect in 1914.

2006 Ford Super Chief Concept

This concept Super Duty was inspired by the streamlined locomotives of the 1930s. Apparently, Super Duty designers are still interested in making a truck with frameless B-pillar windows one day.

The Museum Will Open To The Public

What I’ve shown you here is only a fraction of what the museum has to offer. There’s everything under this roof, from a concept Transit Connect taxi to a brand-new F-750. I also spotted a Th!nk Neighbor electric golf cart and a perfect electric Ranger. These vehicles will be on a rotation, too. For example, remember the Ford F-250 Bronco that I wrote about recently? It will be there in the future.

What I love about the collection is how much it covers all of Ford’s history. It’s not just Mustangs and GTs, and not just cars made in the past few decades. In touring this museum, I got to learn that Ford at least thought about having more V10s than just the Triton truck engine, but never put them into production.

As you can see here, some of the vehicles aren’t even cars. I just love the random E-450 school bus. Though I do think there should be a bit more Mercury and Edsel representation.

Ford and locals in Romulus are hoping to make this space more than just a museum. The local fire department, for example, wants to host community events in the parking lot, where kids can look at modern fire engines, then go inside and look at a vintage fire truck.

However, the property needs to be re-zoned until that can happen. For now, the facility can be visited by the media and by those who are invited. Technically, the first public showing of the Vault kicks off tomorrow. Sadly, if you’re reading this, you’ve missed out on getting a ticket. All 5,000 tickets sold out ridiculously quickly. But once everything is up to code, the Vault will begin operating as a public museum.

Admittedly, I hope that with Ford opening this museum to the public, maybe General Motors might do the same with its own collection. Maybe other automakers might open their own museums in America. Museums hold a great place in society, not just as teaching tools, but as ways to reach out to communities. I think the Ford Vault has some great potential here. Honestly, if you’re a Ford fan, you’d better find a way to get to 11457 Hannan Road, because you will love what’s going on behind these doors. I know I did!

Now, enjoy this photo dump of some of the other vehicles in the museum:

Top graphic image: Mercedes Streeter