Ford throws open the doors to its new Vault, unveiling 125 rare historic vehicles

ROMULUS, Mich. (AP) — Ford will open the doors to its new Vault this weekend to some lucky gearheads and fans of history.

The 123-year-old carmaker on Saturday will allow select members of the public and employees into the Ford Vault to take a gander at everything from rare concept cars and Hollywood Mustangs to historic police cruisers and even a 1938 ambulance. Tickets were snapped up quickly, but Ford Motor Co. said there will be future showings.

“You don’t create an experience like this and a space like this and then hide it away,” said Ted Ryan, Ford’s Archives and Heritage Brand Manager. “We’re going to find a way to make it available to the car community in Michigan as soon as we can.”

Ford’s collection of historic vehicles once was housed at its Dearborn, Michigan, headquarters and other locations. Its vast new home, the Vault, is situated inside a former Amazon fulfillment center in Romulus, another Detroit suburb, and measures 79,000 square feet (7,339 square meters).

“I can tell you, after working here for a couple weeks, I’m averaging about 20,000 steps a day,” said Ryan.

The Vault brings together 125 of the Heritage Fleet’s historically significant vehicles, including race cars, design concepts and vehicles tied to pop culture.

“Here, we can actually have a purpose-built space for the cars,” Ford Archives Manager Ciera Casteel said. “That’s our legacy. That’s what we do here. That is what this company is.”

Some highlights:

— A 2005 Mustang GT proof-of-concept that paved the way for the Shelby GT350. Engineers nicknamed it “Johnny Cash” (inspired by his song “One Piece at a Time,” about an autoworker who cobbles together a car out of mismatched parts). “It’s like Frankenstein. Things have been bolted onto Johnny over the years. This is the first time he’s ever been displayed,” Ryan said.

— The first three cars to cross the finish line at Le Mans in 1966, a race immortalized in the 2019 Matt Damon/Christian Bale film, “Ford v Ferrari.”

— A 1910 right-hand-drive Model T that was built in the U.K. and remained there until 2025, when it was added to the Heritage Fleet.

— A 1973 Mustang convertible used in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” The vehicle was sold in 1974, and remained in private ownership until Ford bought it last year. The body underwent a restoration in 1999, while the interior remains original.

The carmaker built the Vault to be a working archive, giving today’s designers and engineers access to the ideas and experiments that shaped the company as they work on what comes next.

“There’s ‘surprise and delight’ moments throughout the building,” Ryan said.