Is This Ford’s Craziest Concept Car of All Time? The MA Concept Vehicle Explained

The recent launch of the Ford Heritage Fleet, a curated collection of nearly 500 vehicles that showcases the company’s legacy, has reminded us of some intriguing vehicles from Ford’s recent past. One of those is the MA Concept, an eco-friendly, aerodynamic kit car with a race car appearance created by a Ford design legend in 2002.  

The MA name was derived from the Asian philosophy of “the space between,” in which two concepts can exist in a mutually beneficial relationship. The car was said to exist “in a space between emotional and rational, art and science,” according to a press release from the time. The vehicle was nestled among several other Ford and Lincoln concept vehicles from the 2000s in a display of a portion of the Heritage Fleet at World Headquarters in Dearborn. But the MA looks very different from its prototype siblings. 

The digitally designed MA incorporated a unique composition of bamboo, carbon fiber, and aluminum, all held together by more than 350 titanium bolts because the car, which was intended to be assembled by the customer, did not require welding. The open-air, mid-engined two-seater was said to have virtually no environmental impact with its included low-speed electric engine, though a small conventional gas engine could be added. In its intended state, the MA was also made to be 96% recyclable thanks to a lack of hydraulic fluids, few painted parts, and no adhesives used in its production. 

Rather than debuting at a traditional auto show or auto industry event, the MA bowed in November 2002 at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles as part of an exhibit dedicated to Mays’ body of work, including concept vehicles, development models, video footage, original drawings, and photography. The MA was displayed both as a completed vehicle and in its original form as a more than 500-piece kit ready for assembly.  

Mays’ resume at Ford included the 2002 Ford Thunderbird, the Ford GT, and the Ford Forty-Nine Concept, another member of the Heritage Fleet, among other vehicles. He succeeded another Ford design icon, Jack Telnack, in 1997 and retired from Ford in 2013 after 16 years with the company and 33 years in the industry overall. 

Build your own future

The Heritage Fleet is a living, breathing archive created in part to help stimulate Ford’s future design and innovation, and the MA Concept vehicle is a great source of inspiration with the unconventional thinking and bold ideas it incorporates. 

Love Ford history? Access http://fordarchivesonline.com with your CDSID to search your favorite topics. Or visit http://fordheritagevault.com, where no CDSID is needed, to browse and download product history.