The Truth About That Abandoned Dealership Crammed With Brand New ‘80s Fords

At the end of last month, we covered the unearthing of an abandoned dealership full to the brim with showroom-fresh ‘80s Fords, though much of its story was clouded by mystery. Now, it’s all been explained by the man who originally found it.

Auto Retro has done a follow-up video to his original discovery of the dealership, located in Ingolstadt, Germany, uncovering further details. 

Originally opening as Auto-Stock in the 1960s as a franchised Ford dealer and said to be the main in the city, founder Joseph Stock found it difficult to keep up with the hometown manufacturer Audi. Apparently, the German brand handed out huge discounts to those in the city, making it hard for any other brand to compete.

Apparently, Ford wouldn’t take back any unsold cars from stock, leaving him with a pile of unsold cars over the years. As well as cluttering the showroom, several others would be tucked away in a nearby multi-storey collecting dust.

Eventually, in the mid-'80s, Ford apparently pulled the plug on Auto-Stock as an official dealer, leaving it to survive as an independent. Following Stock’s death in the ‘90s, his family were said to be left with a stash of at least 300 cars - with around half unused Fords.

His widow soon closed the dealership but struggled to sell the remaining then-new cars - though older, zero-mileage models were said to be flying out of the stockpile.

For unknown reasons, Mrs Stock put aside seven cars for her grandchildren, six of which remain in the showroom to this day.

As for how and why the cars are still there, plus why the showroom still looks pristine, we’ll stop shy of spilling all of the spoilers and leave that for Auto Retro to finish the story. It’s an interesting and worthwhile watch.