Automotive museums are repositories of history and caretakers of dream cars. They’re places every hot rodder and gearhead should visit occasionally to remind themselves of how far the hobby has come in such a short time, and how all the different genres of the hobby are really just bits of fabric in the same cloth. Plus, they’re just plain fun to wander through.
Beyond that, they’re the perfect way to introduce the next generation to the hobby and teach them why cars are an important part of our culture—even beyond the enclave of car culture itself. Find one near you and make plans to visit soon!
The Petersen Automotive Museum Affectionately known as the “The Pete” after founder Pete Petersen, who practically birthed the whole automotive enthusiast magazine concept, the Petersen houses the incredible collection he and his wife, Margie, put together over the years. All four floors offer hours of entertainment, but it’s the second floor that is infamous for its five rotating galleries with race cars, classics, vintage motorcycles, concept cars, celebrity and movie cars, and auto design and technology.
The Pete is constantly changing its exhibitions by either dipping into its own extensive collection or through loans from private individuals. Recent favorites of ours are NHRA: 60 Years of Thunder, Cars and Guitars, Muscle Cars: Power to the People, Tribute to Trans-Am Racing, and Steve McQueen: The Legend and The Cars. Currently, it’s Supercars and Scooters. Tell us that doesn’t sound fun to check out. Take the kids to the hands-on May Family Discovery Center on the third floor; it’s designed to spark interest in science by teaching basic scientific principles through the fundamental functions of a car.
The Petersen Automotive Museum
Antique Automobile Club of America Museum The Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) is all about preserving history and educating the public on the history of the American automobile. The concept of an automotive museum actually evolved as a complement to the AACA’s Research Center and Library. They’re really doing outreach PR for all car guys; most of the exhibitions are supported by educational programs for school and community and the AACA sponsors workshops and activities designed to raise public awareness. It hasn’t gone unnoticed either; the AACA Museum was recognized by the Smithsonian as an Affiliate Museum, which is an extremely rare honor.
The AACA is unique because virtually all the cars on display have been loaned or donated by AACA members. You’ll take a trip back through time since most are arranged in settings appropriate to their eras so visitors can see how cars shaped life and vice versa. If you find a particular favorite car, you can even participate in the AACA’s Adopt-a-Car Program that lets enthusiasts help the museum care for individual cars. A list of adoptable cars is on the museum’s website.
Antique Automobile Club of America museum
This is mecca for lovers of America’s sports car. The 115,000-square-foot National Corvette Museum houses one of the world’s greatest collections of Corvettes ever assembled and includes a library and archive for those wanting to brush up on their Vette history. The enormous Skydome also houses the Corvette Hall of Fame, where the rarest of the rare are on hand. The museum puts on a ton of events throughout the year, and is even working on creating its own motorsports park: a reconfigurable 2.94-mile road course.
For one thing, they have the only ’83 Corvette in existence. The museum has an ever evolving collection that often includes cars from private individuals and rarely seen concepts and race cars. Don’t forget to check out the “nursery” where brand-new Corvettes await their new owners who chose the museum delivery option.
Don Garlits’ Museum of Drag Racing Don Garlits is on a mission with his museum. It’s been the personal obsession of the Patriarch of Drag Racing for the past 34 years to establish a home for the International Drag Racing Hall Of Fame. The goal is to preserve the history of drag racing for all associations around the world. That’s an ambitious goal, but if anyone can pull it together it’s Big Daddy. The museum is also home to Super Stock Magazine’s Drag Racing Hall of Fame.
The majority of Swamp Rat dragsters from 1 to 34 (though a couple are recreations), including the influential rear-engine Swamp Rat 14, are present along with plenty of history and stories about them straight from Don. It’s not just Don’s stuff though; there’s also an unbelievable collection of other historic drag cars from all the big names—Jungle Jim, Connie Kalitta, and Tom McEwen to name a few. Beyond drag, the museum also houses Don’s personal classic car collection. Even the Little Red Wagon Wheelstander is there! Matter of fact, you might even spot Don himself walking around; he’s there regularly when not consulting for Top Fuel Teams.
Don Garlits’ Museum of Drag Racing
Floyd Garrett’s Muscle Car Museum Starting with a black ’70 Chevelle purchased in 1975, Floyd Garrett amassed over the next 36 years a collection of over 90 of the most sought after and dreamed about muscle cars of the ’60s and ’70s, with a sampling of important cars from the ’50s as well. An accomplished muscle car expert, Floyd tries to bring back a bit of the magic of that era in automotive history when horsepower and attitude were what mattered most.
As Floyd says: “90 cars worth over $8 million!” Honestly, there is just about any high-profile, high-horsepower muscle car, from LS6 Chevelles to Boss Mustangs, ZL1 Camaros, and Hemi ’Cudas. Floyd is still collecting, so there may be more cars added soon.
Floyd GarretT’s Muscle Car Museum
The Gilmore actually began as just one car—a ’20 Pierce-Arrow project—that Donald’s wife, Genevieve, gave to him back in 1963. Following the full restoration of that car, Donald’s new hobby quickly grew into a 30-car collection. That led to the purchase of 90 acres and the moving of several historic barns to the site to house everything. Today the museum actually consists of several sites includes eight historic barns, a re-created 1930s service station, a small town train station, and nearly three miles of paved roads, and it’s not unusual to see museum cars out for a cruise.
The picture-perfect 1930s Shell gas station is a perennial favorite; we recognize it from many readers’ rides photos. The re-created Franklin dealership from Los Angeles circa 1910 is another must-see. For 2011, their popular History of Stock Car Racing and Ford Muscle and Super Cars exhibits are headlining. If you’re into emblems, the Gilmore also has one of the country’s largest displays of automotive hood ornaments and name badges.
While it is a massive museum with one of the world’s best collections of historic automobiles of every conceivable type and brand (not just Fords!), the Henry Ford houses actually so much more than that. The nine-acre structure is nothing less than an attempt to “document the genius of ordinary people by recognizing and preserving the objects they used in the course of their everyday lives.” From cars and planes to diners and houses, travel, and even exhibits on Thomas Edison and Abraham Lincoln, the Henry Ford is quite a slice of American history. That flows outside as well into the Greenfield Village, which is an 80-acre time machine that includes 83 authentic, historic structures, from Noah Webster’s home, where he wrote the first American dictionary, to Thomas Edison’s Menlo Park laboratory, to the courthouse where Abraham Lincoln practiced law, and the Wright Brothers’ workshop where their first plane was built.
There’s so much, to see it all will take at least a couple of days. Mustang No. 1 is in the museum as well as the Le Mans–winning GT40, to cherry-pick a couple. The awesome 600-ton Allegheny steam locomotive is one of the best photo ops. Made In America, Heroes of the Sky, and Presidential Limos are also must-see exhibits.
Indianapolis Motorsport Museum Situated on the grounds of the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Motorsport Museum is the only automotive museum we know of that’s actually been recognized as a National Historic Landmark. It’s well-deserved, too; the museum houses some of the greatest race cars in the history of the sport. Though the exhibits change occasionally, the museum keeps at least 75 cars on display at all times with more than 30 Indy 500-winning cars, including the four cars driven to victory by A.J. Foyt Jr., Zora Arkus-Duntov’s infamous ’57 Corvette SS, and the original Marmon Wasp, which won the inaugural 500 race in 1911.
There’s plenty to learn about the history of Indy racing, such as the equipment and methods used for timing and scoring from the first race to the 21st century, including an interactive computer presentation that explains the progress through the years. Also, check out the trophy collection, including the BorgWarner Trophy, which honors the winner of each Indy 500. To offer a taste for those who’ve never been to a race, the museum also features the 48-seat Tony Hulman Theater that runs a 20-minute presentation of rare historic footage and Indianapolis 500 race highlights.
Indianapolis Motorsport Museum
The International Motorsports Hall of Fame Located on 35 acres next to the Talladega Superspeedway, The International Motorsports Hall of Fame was founded to pay tribute to those who put their lives on the line in pursuit of speed. It actually includes more than half a dozen different Halls of Fame—the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) Hall of Fame, the Western Auto Mechanics Hall of Fame, the Quarter Midgets of America Hall of Fame, the World Karting Hall of Fame, and the Alabama Sports Writer’s Hall of Fame—intermixed with that is a prime selection of dozens of famous, record-setting race cars.
A favorite is Bill Elliott’s ’85 Thunderbird, which not only won NASCAR’s Winston 500 in 1985, but set the world record for the fastest 500-mile race ever run at 186.288-mph average speed. Speaking of fast; they also have the Budweiser Rocket car, the first car to break the speed of sound on land. Of course, they have a ’69 Talladega Torino, namely Donnie Allison’s. Also, check out the remains of Michael Waltrip’s number 30 Pontiac after his huge crash at Bristol in 1990. The car was essentially ripped in half, but Waltrip walked away.
LeMay: America’s Car Museum This one is a bit of a cheat since this museum is still technically under construction, but the collection it boasts, as well as the grandness of its design, earned it a spot on our list. Despite currently only being a 165,000-square-foot shell of what it will be, the LeMay is already hosting events and car shows on its 3.5-acre show field. The collection itself is what’s left of the largest privately owned automobile collection in the world amassed by Harold and Nancy LeMay, and it may very well be the best representation of the evolution of the American automobile over the course of the 20th century, since everything from the brass era to modern cars are represented.
For now, the best way to see samples from the collection is to attend one of the LeMay events or shows as some of their cars are usually present. The museum itself is scheduled to open in 2012. You can check out the construction progress photos on the website as well as the delayed camera feed of the site that’s updated every 15 minutes.
LeMay: America’s Car Museum
What do you do with a 40,000-square-foot building vacated by Wal-Mart? You load it up with one of the largest collections of GM muscle cars in the world if you’re anything like Rick Treworgy. This museum celebrates the days when Detroit was churning out big brawny power and currently boasts over 65,000 hp on display. Tell us that doesn’t get you excited. The 99,000-square-foot museum has 200 cars on display with a focus on the mid ’60s to early ’70s.
All the GM muscle you possibly want: ’67-69 Z/28, ’70 Z28 Camaros, ’68-71 396 Camaros, ’64-71 SS Chevelles, ’65-71 SS El Caminos, ’58-67 big-block Impalas, ’64-71 Pontiac GTOs, ’64-72 Oldsmobile 442s, and a sampling of hot rods and antique Chevys. Rick even managed to collect one or more Corvettes of each year from 1954 to 1975, and several of each series from 1975 to 2006.
National Automotive Museum Many of the National Automotive Museum’s cars come from the collection of the late Bill Harrah. After he died, and his hotels and casino were purchased, the investment group announced that they intended to auction the cars off. Citizens of Nevada were justifiably upset, so Governor Robert List formed a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and convinced the group to donate 175 cars from Harrah’s research library to the organization. It was the largest corporate philanthropic gift in American history at the time.
Much of the collection focuses around important antique autos, but there is also a collection of historic race cars, historic off-road racers, as well as some celebrity cars, like one of Elvis’ Caddys and John Wayne’s ’53 Corvette. The original Thomas Flyer that won the first Great Race for America is currently there as well.
National Automotive Museum
The Volo likes to say it’s “Lake County’s high-octane theme park.” It’s one of the oldest museums on our list and over the course of 51 years it has become home to the world’s largest muscle car collection as well as the George Barris TV and Movie Car Collection, and an impressive array of military vehicles as well. Where the Volo is truly unique, however, is that all 300 or so classic cars on display are for sale.
There’s really something for everyone here—lots of movie and TV cars, like KITT, the General Lee, The Bluesmobile, and the infamous Vette from Corvette Summer, contrasted with heavy-duty military hardware, and a great selection of classic and antique cars of all stripes. The rugrats won’t even be bored; the Volo has dedicated exhibits for kids like Herbie, Ecto-1, Lightening McQueen and Doc Hudson, the Truckasaurus, as well as the wild Hall of Fame caricature cars, some of which are actually driveable.
Wally Park NHRA Motorsports Museum It has NHRA in the name, so you know there will be historic drag cars on display, but there’s actually much more than just that to this museum. A longtime dream of Wally Parks, one of the founders of the NHRA and structured drag racing as we know it as well as being the first editor of Hot Rod magazine, the NHRA Museum honors all forms of hot rodding from street cars to Indy cars and land speed racers. One of the best times to show up is the evening of the first Wednesday of every month for the Twilight Cruise—there’s always tons of great cars that show up and the museum stays open.
The NHRA often puts together temporary exhibits for special occasions (including one featuring PHR’s Project Talladega), but one of A.J. Foyt’s Coyote Indy Cars, Kenny Bernstein’s first dragster to go over 300 mph, and The Bug (the first “rail”) are always there and definite must-sees. Additionally, the museum has an eclectic collection of artifacts from early events in the history of land speed records and hot rods. We love the display that demonstrates how much nitro a Top Fuel engine ingests during a pass.
Wally Park NHRA Motorsports Museum
Pomona, CA
Wellborn Muscle Car Museum The Wellborn is the mothership for lovers of Ma Mopar, boasting the largest collection of historic Mopars in the country. Tim Wellborn grew up in a Mopar family, even helping his father pick out a new ’71 Hemi Charger. A few years later he and his wife, Pam, met and fell in love in a Mopar (a Charger that’s still in the museum) and since then they’ve shared a passion for collecting and preserving muscle car history that has culminated in an impressive museum.
Mopars definitely rule the roost, but that doesn’t mean that’s all the Wellborns appreciate; the museum also houses a few Corvettes, 442 W-30 convertibles, Ford Boss 429 Mustangs, LS6 Chevelles, GSX Buicks, AMC Javelins, a super-rare Pontiac Ram Air IV GTO Judge convertible, a Gulf edition Ford GT, and the greatest collection of ’71 Hemi Chargers in the world.
Wellborn Muscle Car Museum
More Museums Across the U.S.!
This is only a teeny sample of a few of our favorites, but there are so many great museums across the country. Want to see exactly what’s near your home? Check out this killer database we found of nearly every automotive museum in the country broken down by state: www.Team.net/www/Museums/us.html. Or search the overall database at: www.MuseumsUSA.org