As a way of kicking off its centennial year, Ford has cleared its vaults and will have a massive rummage sale when it auctions off about 200 concept cars, race cars and other vehicles from its heritage collection later this year.
As a way of kicking off its centennial year, Ford has cleared its vaults and will have a massive rummage sale when it auctions off about 200 concept cars, race cars and other vehicles from its heritage collection later this year.
Though many of the cars will not even have engines, let alone be roadworthy, this is an opportunity for many enthusiasts to scoop up a one-of-a-kind that would otherwise have been scrapped, and add it to their private collections.
“Taking time to commemorate the triumphs of Ford Motor Company’s first century, it is only fitting that we also celebrate our heritage and share with enthusiasts and collectors some of the concepts that have defined us as a company”, said J Mays, Ford’s vice president of design.
“Rather than letting them fall apart in a warehouse or crushing them, we wanted to put these prototypes into the hands of other people who love them. This way, true enthusiasts will have a chance to appreciate these masterpieces for years to come”.
Among the cars up for grabs will be the 2000 Mustang Bullitt, a concept car based on the 1968 Mustang GT featured in a Steve McQueen film, that made it into production, though in limited numbers.
Concept cars on offer will include a number by the Ghia design house of Turin. The 1992 Ghia Focus, which was notable at the time for its asymmetrical nose and flexible body panels that changed shape as the car gained speed, is one. It also had wooden floors and an interior adorned with rusty steel to “offset” the wood!
Of course, the Focus currently available is not nearly as eccentric as this one was and while some concept vehicles and race cars have made it on to the market, public sales remain rare.
It seems too that Ford are really taking to the auction idea: a similar auction of 51 concept cars in 2002 meant that charities received about R28 million.