DEARBORN, Mich. – Ford Motor Company made headlines across the globe this past week with the grand opening of its all-new Ford World Headquarters on the company’s ever-evolving Henry Ford II World Center Campus in Dearborn, Michigan. Thousands of Blue Oval fans from across the region – including Ford executives, employees, retirees and their families, as well as business leaders, elected officials, owners, clubs and countless enthusiasts and community members – gathered at the new site for a gala celebration and a glimpse into Ford’s new corporate home. The gleaming, new 2.1-million-square-foot World Headquarters building is now the anchor on Ford’s reimagined product development, design and engineering Dearborn campus, a little more than a mile away from the famed Glass House, which will be demolished after serving as Ford’s global headquarters since 1956.
The daylong WHQ Grand Opening event was free and open to the public and filled with Ford and family centric activities. They included immersive tours of the headquarters, a Ford Heritage Fleet indoor display area for some historically significant vehicles, plus live entertainment, a vast array of food trucks, a Bronco-themed campsite, a Lincoln Lounge and two separate Ford Racing displays where attendees could get up close with various race cars and meet drivers for autographs. They could also roam the 12 acres of new greenspace and walking paths on the refreshed campus and see the HQ building’s interior courtyards that add another 100,000 square feet of outdoor space for employee use.
Thousands of people streamed into the new HQ building, shaped by three overlapping hexagons, to get a glimpse at the six flexible design studios and futuristic showroom as well as the 160,000 square-foot Gallery Hall dining area with its seven food stations, markets and coffee bars. It will eventually accommodate some 4,000 employees when fully completed in 2027, which is twice as many as the old Glass House. Perhaps the major difference is that now the executives and key decision makers will be under the same roof as the designers, engineers and program managers, fostering enhanced interaction and collaboration as never before. It’s just the latest of a years-long global overhaul of Ford factories and workspaces that corporate executives refer to as a “sweeping modernization.” By the end of 2027, more than 90 percent of Ford’s office employees will be working in new or newly renovated spaces.
For most people who were there, perhaps the highlight of the day was when Ford Executive Chair Bill Ford and CEO Jim Farley led a countdown to the unveiling of the Ford Blue Oval atop the headquarters building as the official opening of the new Henry Ford II World Center campus at One American Road in Dearborn – with the address that carries over from The Glass House. But for some Ford owners and club members in attendance, the highlight was easily participation in the grand opening event’s own “Ford Community Car Show” that was assembled in the main lot adjacent to the HQ entrance off Oakwood Avenue, just across the street from the Henry Ford museum.
Here, a Ford event team assembled a variety of Ford-owner cars and trucks that spanned the ages to help attendees celebrate Ford’s storied product legacy. It was powered by regional owners, employees and clubs across the Midwest, including the Mustang Owners Club of SouthEastern Michigan (MOCSEM), the Mustang Club of Mid-Michigan, and the West Michigan Mustang Club, among others. They got word of the gathering only weeks before with a message from Ford Performance Club Connect that read:
“Calling all Club Members & Ford Enthusiasts! Help mark the historic opening of Ford’s new World Headquarters (WHQ) on Sunday, November 16, in Dearborn, MI, by showcasing your special Ford vehicle in a car show for the ages. The Ford Community Car Show will give the public a unique opportunity to see privately owned Ford treasures – from pristine classics to creative custom designs, sports models to heavy-duty trucks. We want to show off the full range of the Ford experience: build, thrill, adventure, elevate!”
Nearly 200 owners responded to the call with more than 100 vehicles finding their way onto the property on that cold and blustery Sunday. Some loyalists even traveled hundreds of miles to have their cars part of the historic event. We met up with two members of the Mustang and Shelby Club of Long Island, who came all the way from New York to participate in the car show. Longtime club board member Dennis Healey drove out in his 2019 Mustang GT California Special Convertible while former club president John Olesuk trailed his 1965 Mustang 2+2 Fastback. It was just that kind of special day for club members and enthusiast Ford owners, who provided rolling proof of more than a century of Ford product prowess. Ford Racing.com was there all day to take in the experience with our fellow enthusiasts, and brought our camera to share with you our photos of some of the fine Fords we saw at the WHQ Grand Opening’s very own Ford Community Car Show: Walk along the show lot with us below to check out the rides:
FORD RACING PHOTOS / JOHN CLOR
