By now, we’ve all heard that leaving cars untouched for years isn’t great for them. But surely, even the most adamant champions of the “use it or lose it” philosophy must recognize that this sextet of 1980s Fords, preserved in literal showroom condition, is fascinating.
Found by the Auto Retro YouTube channel, the six Fords have been locked away in a dealership in Germany for around 40 years. Tipped off to their existence by a series of photos from 2010, the channel decided to try and work out where they were located.
With the help of Google Earth, they found the showroom. Despite not knowing for sure if the cars would even still be there, they decided to travel 1,000 miles (1,609 km) from their home in the U.K., to the location in Germany to take a look.
Read: Abandoned Saab Dealership Discovered With More Than 20 Cars Locked Inside
Photos Auto Retro/Youtube
Luckily for them, the cars were still there. Inside, they found a green Ford Sierra five-door hatchback, a red Sierra 1.6-liter five-door hatchback, a blue Sierra Estate, a Fiesta S Mk2, an Escort 1.1 Laser Mk3, and an Orion 1.6-liter diesel.
The bad news, then, is that none of the cars would have been particularly exciting in 1986, which is around when the dealership closed. However, because they were all uninteresting cars at the time, it’s likely that very few examples remain in good quality, and it’s almost certain that none are so clean.
In the video, the cameraman manages to shoot the odometer of one of the cars, which shows just 4 km (2.4 miles). As mentioned above, it’s probably not great for an engine to sit around for that long, but the bodies and interiors are in astoundingly good condition, and there’s no rust to speak of anywhere in this dealership. Even if the engines are completely seized, there’s something cool about how well the rest of these cars have been preserved.
As to how they came to be preserved, it starts with a tragedy. Auto Retro reports that the owner died in the ’80s, and that his widow decided to simply keep everything as is. She had the cars and the showroom cleaned until a few years ago, when she went into a care home.
It will be interesting to see what becomes of the collection now that more people are aware of it, and at least a few know how to find it.