For decades, Ford Motor Company operated under a simple policy from Henry Ford II: “We build cars, we don’t collect them.” This meant that countless prototypes, milestone vehicles, and concept cars were sold off or destroyed. Recently, the company shared its Ford Heritage Fleet, and CBS This Morning visited to take a look at this collection of the company’s most significant vehicles, many of which were saved by passionate employees who refused to let them disappear.

As Ford Archive and Heritage Brand Manager, Ted Ryan explained, passionate employees would hide these vehicles to preserve them. “Without our employees, without their passion for the cars they built, we wouldn’t have a fleet,” he explained.

The mission to officially gather these cars began in December 2023. After seeing Ford’s well-preserved U.K. Heritage Collection, CEO Jim Farley tasked Ryan to “Go find the best of the vehicles in America and find a way to get them together.”

Ford Archive and Heritage Brand Manager, Ted Ryan (right).

The Ford Heritage Fleet is a collection of nearly 200 vehicles in the U.S., with about 50 now on display in an executive parking garage at Ford’s Dearborn headquarters. The collection includes everything from a 1938 ambulance and the 10 millionth Mustang to wild concepts like the 2007 Airstream and the 2004 Bronco that appeared in a movie with “The Rock.”

Ryan described how plant managers hid the first F-150 and the last Mustang built at the Dearborn Assembly Plant. Another manager saved the 2015 Mustang that was displayed on the Empire State Building, which was supposed to have been destroyed after the event.

The purpose of the Ford Heritage Fleet is to serve as a library of inspiration for Ford’s current employees. As Ryan noted, each vehicle “had to have a story; otherwise, you’re just keeping it just to keep stuff, and we’re not hoarders.” The collection allows designers and engineers to study the company’s evolution and learn from past projects, including “failed” experiments like an early electric Ranger, which provide valuable lessons for future vehicle engineering.