Underground Vault In The Henry Ford Museum Houses Extremely Rare Ford Concept Car

Tom Cotter of Hagerty’s Barn Finder sees many fabled cars in a storage vault at the Henry Ford Museum, including the unique Ford X100.

The Henry Ford Museum Has A Range Of Uncommon Classic Cars That Span A Century

Matt Anderson, the museum’s Curator of Transportation, showed Tom a variety of cars that have historical significance. These include racing cars, such as a 1906 racer based on the Ford Model K to “Awesome Bill from Dawsonville” Elliott’s 1987 Ford Thunderbird stock car that broke the speed record at Talladega. Tom also checked out a fascinating cutaway of a 2005 Ford GT.

An intriguing and fun car stashed away in this underground warehouse is a vintage Meyers Manx dune buggy. In 1964, Bruce Meyers, its creator, shortened a Volkswagen chassis by 14 inches and used the VW’s 1.2-liter H4 engine to develop an innovative sand racer. Another beautiful car from that era is the stunning Bill Mitchell 1963 Buick Riviera. Both cars are exemplary in showing what their designers had envisioned.

RELATED:10 Things Every Gearhead Should Know About The Buick Riviera

Other cars of interest are Edsel Ford’s gracefully sculptural 1941 Lincoln Continental cabriolet and, at the other end of the aesthetics spectrum, the boxy 1983 Econocar concept car with its fiberglass body. Then there’s a 1912 Baker Electric Victoria used by five First Ladies, from Helen Taft to Grace Coolidge in 1928.

Only One Ford Concept Car Like This ExistsYouTube Channel Hagerty

It’s hard not to miss the enormous 10,000-pound 1953 Ford coupe in the vault. The X100 has the classic jet afterburner parking lights and taillights as well as a sliding roof. A production 1952 Lincoln chassis with its 123-inch wheelbase are the underpinnings of this concept car. It packs a Y-block 317 ci V8 that Ford boosted from its stock 160 hp to 300 hp.

The carmaker designed the X100 to commemorate 50 years in the industry and designed over 50 accessories and features for the car. Some, like the heated seats, car radio phone, and built-in hydraulic jacks, are ingeniously ahead of their time.

Others, like a dictaphone, built-in electric shaver, and rain sensor for the sliding roof seem like gadgets without the most practical uses. It’s our guess that Ford designers let their imaginations run wild when developing this one-of-a-kind car. But we’re happy that they did