There is a Ford dealership somewhere in Germany, where cars from the late 1980s and 1990s sit on the showroom floor, under a layer of dust, still sporting the protective plastic on the seats and less than 5 miles on the odometer. This dealership comes with quite a story.
About two years ago, the Auto Retro team found some pictures online. They showed an old Ford dealership in Germany, full of cars from more than 30 years ago, but no one knew where it was.
Later, they discovered that the photos were taken in 2010, but nobody could tell if the cars were still there. The Auto Retro team tracked down the place and took a 1,000-mile trip from the UK to Germany to see what is left of the place. They were surprised to see that everything was like in the photos from 13 years before.
This Ford dealership closed in the mid-1980s, when it had a stock of over 300 cars. The owner continued to be an independent car dealer until he passed away in 1994. One year later, his family, who owns all the buildings of the dealership, sold most of the cars. Those left unsold were moved into the showroom, which transformed into a memorial to the owner.
The widow kept everything in good condition, renovated the place, and did everything she could to keep the cars tidy. For a while, she even received visitors, until they started to steal parts from the cars exhibited in the showroom. From that moment on, she closed the doors to visitors, and people could only see them from outside.
Beyond the glare of the window, there is an abandoned stock of brand-new Fords from the 1990s. A green Sierra features a single mirror on the driver's side, since the one on the passenger's side was optional. There is also a Sierra estate in the showroom. Right next to it, there is a Fiesta. Another Sierra, one in red, powered by a 1.6-liter engine, sits next to the window.
Even though the cars have been sitting there since the 1990s, they hardly have a layer of dust on the bodywork. It is obvious that they haven’t been cleaned up for a while since we are dealing with an abandoned dealership. They still have the protective films on the badges, and, after all these years, the tires are not deflated. And all of them have plastic on their seats.
The Ford Orion 1.6 DCL has a sticker on the front right window announcing that it was the new Orion itself, while the odometer shows 4 kilometers (2.5 miles).
The widow of the former owner ended up in a care home, and the family does not exactly take much care of the former dealership. Nobody knows what will become of this place. Hopefully, Ford Europe will do something about these treasures on wheels and will give them proper exposure in a brand museum.
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