Latest news with #TedRyan
CBS News
22-07-2025
- Automotive
- CBS News
World War II veteran receives special tour of Ford's Heritage Fleet of cars
Ford Motor Co. hosted a special guest Monday for a special viewing of its Ford Heritage Fleet of vehicles at its Dearborn headquarters. Bill McCubbin, a 102-year-old World War II veteran and former Ford dealership owner, traveled hundreds of miles from Indiana to Dearborn after seeing Ford's Heritage collection of vehicles on CBS News over the weekend. McCubbin's family contacted Ted Ryan, Ford's Archives and Heritage Brand Manager, about setting up a visit. McCubbin owned a Ford dealership in Madison, Indiana, for more than 60 years, but his history with Ford began as a young soldier. "Bill's story is fascinating," Ryan said. "You know, his first Ford contact, he came to work at Willow Run building B-24 Liberator bombers. "I was already drafted, just waiting for a spot to go into the Navy, so I lived over in Ann Arbor for four months and worked at Willow Run Ford," McCubbin said. McCubbin's story amazes Ryan, and he says the company is honored to welcome home a hero and former longtime Ford dealer and employee. McCubbin's love for Ford began as a young boy living in Kentucky. My second-oldest brother used to sell cars in Detroit, and he visited us down in Kentucky when I was just a little kid; I come from a family of eight kids. He came down with a Model A with the double spare tires in the fenders, a little convertible. I thought, 'Boy, I've gotta have one of those,' and that's really what got me started to loving Ford," McCubbin said. With his long history with Ford, McCubbin was excited to visit the special fleet of vehicles, and he was the star of the show during Monday's visit. "I guess I've always had Ford Motor Company running in my blood. I've always loved Ford and still do," McCubbin said.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Ford Introduces Heritage Fleet Showcasing 120 Years of Automotive Innovation
⚡️ Read the full article on Motorious Ford Motor Co. revealed its new U.S. Heritage Fleet on Wednesday, showcasing nearly 175 historically significant vehicles collected to preserve the automaker's 120-year legacy while guiding the creation of future models. This extensive collection includes vehicles spanning multiple decades, highlighting technological breakthroughs, iconic designs, and key milestones throughout Ford's history. The U.S. fleet is part of a global heritage project that totals nearly 500 vehicles, including contributions from Ford's subsidiaries in Germany and England. Ted Ryan, Ford's archives and heritage brand manager, said that the effort to consolidate Ford's historical fleet began just over a year ago. Until recently, while various departments within Ford, such as Product Development and Ford Performance, kept individual vehicles, there had been no organized attempt to systematically preserve and showcase these cars. 'This fleet represents not only Ford's storied past, but is meant to inspire our future,' Ryan said. Vehicles selected were chosen for their importance in Ford's narrative and their ability to contribute to future innovation. Key highlights from the Heritage Fleet include the historic 10-millionth Mustang, rare prototypes like a 10-cylinder Mustang concept, one of the earliest four-door Broncos, and three generations of Cobra R Mustangs. It also houses significant concept vehicles such as the Lincoln Navigator prototype and the trio of 2004 Ford GTs that reintroduced Ford's legendary performance lineage to a new generation. Ryan noted that the Heritage Fleet serves as a resource for Ford's design and engineering teams. Designers regularly reference these classic models to incorporate historical elements into new vehicles. The recent Bronco revival heavily relied on archived sketches and documents, but now, designers can physically access original vehicles for deeper insights. Several historic vehicles, including the original 1914 Model T, a rare 1938 V8-powered ambulance, and the Mustang famously displayed atop the Empire State Building in 2015, will soon be on public display at Ford's new Product Development Center and its headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan. Ford plans to make the Heritage Fleet accessible at events nationwide, ensuring these automotive treasures help drive innovation and inspire enthusiasts for generations to come.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
The 10 Coolest Cars We Found in Ford's Official Heritage Fleet
Since its founding in 1903, the Ford Motor Company has churned out a vast array of iconic, historically significant, and boundary-pushing cars. Yet, shockingly, Ford didn't have an official collection of historic models in the United States until very recently. The automaker has now crafted the Ford Heritage Fleet and invited us to check out some the special vehicles it has gathered in Dearborn, Michigan. Ted Ryan, Ford Heritage brand manager, explained the collection's genesis. On a trip to England last year, CEO Jim Farley was blown away by the Heritage and Innovation Centre in Daventry, which commemorates Ford's history in the United Kingdom with a library of artifacts and more than 100 vehicles. The visit prompted Farley to email his American colleagues, imploring them to create a vehicular archive of the brand's history in its home country. The team started completely from scratch since Ford didn't have a tradition of holding onto vehicles in any organized way. Ryan began by writing a "collections policy," a guide to what vehicles to keep, what not to keep, and the key reasons for retaining significant vehicles. Then the team rounded up cars, finding them in warehouses, tucked away in back corners of factories, and attracting donations from Ford diehards. The intent of the Heritage Collection isn't to create a museum but rather to fashion a fleet of vehicles that can be used to tell the Ford story through marketing and other promotional activities. The fleet, which hides behind a nondescript door in the automaker's headquarters, will be used for employee events—such as bringing in designers for inspiration—and will be trotted out for major events, such as the Woodward Dream Cruise. The U.S. fleet joins the U.K. archive as well as collections in Germany and Australia tailored toward Ford's market-specific efforts in those countries. Ford will also use the fleet to document its most important vehicles and will upload additional content to its Heritage Vault website, a vast online database of photos, press releases, and brochures for nearly every vehicle Ford has built until the early 2000s. There were roughly 50 vehicles present when we visited, and while we could easily wax poetic about nearly every car there, we've distilled the following list to the most intriguing vehicles in the collection. This silver Mustang packs an unusual heart. Instead of the traditional V-8, this prototype features a 5.8-liter V-10 engine developed by a skunkworks team alongside the 2005 GT, as Ford mulled directly challenging the 10-cylinder Dodge Viper. The V-10 was crafted from a pair of 4.6-liter V-8s, with Ford chopping off the front two cylinders of one engine and attaching them to the other. Since Ford didn't have a dedicated engine control module for this motor, it used two separate processors—one for each bank of cylinders—and tuned the processors as if they were each controlling an inline-five. Ford said the project still runs, putting out about 400 horsepower and reportedly capable of some epic burnouts. The shiny Airstream concept was built in collaboration with the famous camper/trailer company of the same name, meant to emulate Airstream's iconic chrome mobile homes. The futuristic exterior—with cameras instead of sideview mirrors and asymmetrical doors—hid an equally forward-looking powertrain called HySeries Drive. This experimental setup was a plug-in-hybrid hydrogen fuel cell, which drove the wheels via electric motors and replenished the battery by either the hydrogen fuel-cell system or plugging into a charger. The F-150 Lightning wasn't Ford's first crack at an electric truck. In fact, the Ranger EV, built from 1998 to 2002 and largely leased to fleet customers, was Ford's first production EV. The unassuming bodywork hid a single rear-mounted e-motor and a nickel-metal hydride battery weighing 2000 pounds. Ford says this Ranger EV still works and currently has a range of about 40 miles, down from around 82 miles originally. Even cooler, the Ranger EV's original charging equipment has been preserved, showing just how far EVs have come in two decades. Of course, Ford had a whole array of GTs, including the first three preproduction models for the 2005 GT—VINs 001 through 003—as well as a 2017 model with exposed carbon-fiber bodywork. But the coolest was this GT Mk II, a track-only version of the GT that drew on lessons learned from competing with the GT in endurance racing like the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Developed with Multimatic, only 45 Mk IIs were built at $1.2 million apiece. The Lincoln C concept was an unusual foray for the luxury brand, hinting at a potential compact hatchback with premium pretensions. The curvy exterior features a stepped rear end—somewhat reminiscent of the early-2000s Renault Mégane—but the real highlight was the elegant cabin, with a front bench seat, a hollow steering wheel, plenty of wood trim, and an ornate flower design on the seats. Lincoln envisioned an EcoBoost 1.6-liter four-cylinder providing up to 43 mpg, but the C concept never reached production and Lincoln subsequently shifted toward exclusively selling SUVs. Ford had been mulling the Bronco's return long before the latest generation arrived in 2021. This blocky 2004 concept debuted at the Detroit auto show and paired a squared-off body with a short wheelbase for classic Bronco proportions. A 2.0-liter turbo-diesel under the hood was paired with an "intelligent" four-wheel-drive system. Ford even boasted of a nitrous-oxide injection system for short boosts of power. The Bronco concept would later star in Rampage alongside Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. The Cobra R is among the rarest high-performance Mustangs, with a limited run of just 300 units. The aggressive body kit—a bulging hood, protruding front splitter, and towering rear wing—announced the 5.4-liter V-8 engine, which sent 385 horsepower and 385 pound-feet of torque through a six-speed manual gearbox. Ford also ripped out the radio, air conditioning, and rear seats to save weight and reworked the suspension and brakes to make the Cobra R the ultimate track-ready Mustang. This beefy Ranger is the Lightning Bolt, a one-off pickup truck prototype that stuffed the supercharged 5.4-liter V-8 from the second-generation F-150 Lightning under the hood of Ford's mid-size truck. The motor was good for 420 horsepower and 480 pound-feet of torque, and with the Ranger weighing roughly 1000 pounds less than its F-150 sibling, the Lightning Bolt would certainly be a hoot to drive. Many of the vehicles in Ford's collection carry massive engines, and the 427 concept is no exception. Although the front-end styling would appear on the first-generation Fusion, this sedan concept was powered by a 7.0-liter V-10. The extensive use of aluminum—for parts like the block, positions, and cylinder heads—meant the V-10 weighed nearly 70 pounds less than the Cobra R's V-8. A six-speed manual gearbox sent 590 horsepower to the rear wheels. We'll conclude with yet another powerful, rear-wheel-drive, manual-transmission sedan concept, the 2007 Interceptor. Once again, the concept's styling would influence a production car, the 2008 Five Hundred that would soon be renamed Taurus. Sadly the Interceptor's "Cammer" 5.0-liter V-8 from Ford Racing didn't make it into the production car. Built on the same platform as the Mustang, the Interceptor was E85 compatible, produced 400 horsepower, and was hooked up to a six-speed manual. You Might Also Like Car and Driver's 10 Best Cars through the Decades How to Buy or Lease a New Car Lightning Lap Legends: Chevrolet Camaro vs. Ford Mustang!
CBS News
13-03-2025
- Automotive
- CBS News
Ford shows off treasure trove of rarely seen vehicles to a select few at its headquarters
A select few are getting the chance to set their gaze on a slew of rarely seen Ford vehicles at the automaker's Michigan headquarters. About 50 cars and trucks that are part of Ford Motor Co.'s Heritage Fleet are on display in Dearborn. Some employees checked them out Tuesday, and the media got a look Wednesday. And next month, they'll be available for viewing as part of "Bring Your Child to Work Day." "I'm so excited to be able to share these vehicles, because every one of these vehicles throughout this room are here because somebody, a passionate Ford employee, worked to have it preserved, worked to have it saved," said Ted Ryan, Ford's Heritage brand manager. Ford has existing Heritage Fleets in the U.K., Germany and Australia. Over a year ago, company CEO Jim Farley charged Ryan with curating a U.S.-based collection. The American fleet now is 175 vehicles strong, with about 30% of it on display at the world headquarters. Some highlights include a series of Mustang performance vehicles, a 1938 V-8 Ambulance and a 2003 Model T-100 that is a replica of a 1914 Model T. "This is the first time all of these vehicles have been assembled and shown like that," Ryan said. But he said there's a rationale to showing off the historic vehicles that goes beyond the "wow" factor. "These vehicles aren't here just to be a museum. These vehicles have a business purpose. They're used by engineers. They're used by our product development team. They're used by our communications group. And every one of them has to have a reason that drives the business forward," Ryan said. "Because we're looking forward by looking back."
The Hill
12-03-2025
- Automotive
- The Hill
Ford shows off a treasure trove of rarely seen vehicles to a select few at its Michigan headquarters
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — A select few are getting the chance to set their gaze on a slew of rarely seen Ford vehicles at the automaker's Michigan headquarters. About 50 cars and trucks that are part of Ford Motor Co.'s Heritage Fleet are on display in Dearborn. Some employees checked them out Tuesday, and the media got a look Wednesday. And next month, they'll be available for viewing as part of 'Bring Your Child to Work Day.' 'I'm so excited to be able to share these vehicles, because every one of these vehicles throughout this room are here because somebody, a passionate Ford employee, worked to have it preserved, worked to have it saved,' said Ted Ryan, Ford's Heritage brand manager. Ford has existing Heritage Fleets in the U.K., Germany and Australia. Over a year ago, company CEO Jim Farley charged Ryan with curating a U.S.-based collection. The American fleet now is 175 vehicles strong, with about 30% of it on display at the world headquarters. Some highlights include a series of Mustang performance vehicles, a 1938 V-8 Ambulance and a 2003 Model T-100 that is a replica of a 1914 Model T. 'This is the first time all of these vehicles have been assembled and shown like that,' Ryan said. But he said there's a rationale to showing off the historic vehicles that goes beyond the 'wow' factor. 'These vehicles aren't here just to be a museum. These vehicles have a business purpose. They're used by engineers. They're used by our product development team. They're used by our communications group. And every one of them has to have a reason that drives the business forward,' Ryan said. 'Because we're looking forward by looking back.'
