What automotive museums are worth the visit?

Sitting here a little board on a Sunday night, the Volo thread got me wondering, what Automotive Museums are worth visiting? Doesn't have to be Mopar specific or even just automotive really.

Where have you been or would like to go?

Any hole in the wall kinda places that are under the radar?

I went to the Henry Ford Museum a long time ago.

I got to Floyd Garretts Muscle Car Museum several years ago.

I want to go to the Tim Wellborn Museum.


From casual observation, seems a majority are in the Mid-West?

What say you?


Just curious.

THE best is the Gilmore north of Kalamazoo, MI. The Auburn/Cord/Dusenberg museum in Auburn, IN is great too!

this one was nifty. Quiet. Went there on a trip with my wife to the Falls.

It's got a lot of old choch, bikes, early stuff. Lots of little stuff to look at and read. Definitely not full of shiny muscle cars.

https://www.pierce-arrow.com/

Garret closed last year. Have you been to the Garlits Museum in Florida?

In north east Ohio Doc Snyder in New Springfield and Flynn Auto Group in Columbiana both have large collections of Muscle and race cars. Neither is Mopar specific and both only have a few Mopars. Doc has more race cars than Flynn and Flynn has mostly original Muscle cars. Both are very worth seeing if you will be in the area.
They are only a few miles apart so it's easy to see both in a day. They are both private collections that require appointments to see as they are not located at their businesses. I don't think either of these is advertised or well known. I was shocked when I found out about these less than 45 minutes from where I had lived all my life and had no idea they existed. I no longer live in Ohio and do not have contact info or addresses for either collection but I bet a few members here know.

The Vanning Museum in Hudson, FL is a little known place but has THE most info and displays of custom vans in the country! https://www.vanningmuseum.com/

Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, Fl.
Lions Museum in Long Beach, CA
The Petersen Museum in LA
The Nethercutt in Sylmar, CA
San Diego Auto Museum
Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, KY
NHRA museum in Pomona, CA

I forgot about Garlits, I was there back about '95 or so. I was in Ocala for work and happened upon it. I got there maybe 25 minutes before closing, but they gave me an hour to look around. It was about the time the 4dr Hemi Coronets became known and the white one was parked in a back room off the main floor. I probably could have stayed longer than the hour, but I didn't want to take advantage of their offer to stay late for me.

Thanks for the suggestions so far!

What others have said, plus:

The Speedway Museum, Nebraska. The collection of vintage speed parts and rare engines is unparalleled !
The Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum in Auburn India will blow you away. Classics galore.
The Brumos Collection in Jacksonville Florida is home to a bunch of vintage Millers, and the Revs institute in Naples Florida if you like vintage race cars.
The Tallahassee Auto Museum is really good.
The Justice Brothers Museum in California is cool.
The NHRA museum at Pomona.
The museum at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is essential.
The National Packard Museum in Ft. Lauderdale Florida is really good.
The Wheels through time museum in Maggie Valley, NC is really interesting, but is mostly vintage motorcycles. But the way they are displayed is so cool.

few that i have been to and enjoyed..

https://www.sealcoveautomuseum.org/

https://internationaltowingmuseum.org/

https://cvtmuseum.wixsite.com/cvtm

not cars but cool as hell.. https://www.stewsihstuff.com/

x2 for the Auburn Cord Dusenberg in Auburn IN.

Went there years ago when we lived in Ft. Wayne. Wasn't expecting much as those era cars aren't really my cup of tea, but it turned out to be awesome!

The AACA Museum in Hershey, PA is a very cool place with a lot of content inside! Even includes a public transportation section in the basement!
https://www.aacamuseum.org

I like the AACA Museum in Hershey, PA. They have a pretty impressive collection, and they have new exhibits two or three times a year. I go up for each new exhibit, so I bought a membership a few years back.

They don't have enough space to display their entire collection, so cars are rotated in and out. The featured exhibits are mostly cars loaned by collectors, with the rest from the museum's collection. They also have a small gallery right off the main lobby that usually features a specific manufacturer, organized by a club.

The Simeone Museum in Philadelphia has a really nice collection of vintage racers in as-raced condition, and displays pretty much all of them all the time.
I can also recommend the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing in PA.

I'm waiting to hear back from another museum in Philadelphia that suspended tours due to COVID.

Crawford Auto, Motorcycle, and Aviation museum in Cleveland

DEFINATELY worth the time to see!!!!!!!


https://www.americascarmuseum.org/

Hajek Motorsports Museum in Ames, OK.

It's in the middle of nowhere but has amazing cars from drag racing and NASCAR history!

Hot Rod did a story a few years back on his collection.

Wife and I were in Reno a few years back and stumbled across this one...we enjoyed it.

https://automuseum.org/

Small, but very cool museum located on an island in Lake Erie.

https://www.perryscave.com/public/attractions/antique-car-museum/index.cfm

The short answer is, ALL OF THEM!! I've been lucky to visit many and enjoyed all of them. Here are some I recommend:

Hershey AACA (many exhibits are ongoing but they change the theme about every 6 months)
EMMR (Eastern Museum of Motorsports Racing)
Simeone Museum in Philly
Petersen in CA
Garlits
Petty
Wellborn
The Henry Ford (but it's not really automotive)
Walter P Chrysler (if it reopens)
Barber Motorsports Museum in Alabama (do that and Wellborn in one trip)
Keystone Antique Truck & Tractor Museum in VA
Swigert in Huntingdon, PA (OLD school place)
Ford Piquette Plant in Detroit (Ford's first plant)
GM Heritage Center
McCandless Museum once he opens it to the public

These are the ones that stand out the most to me.

Ed

I liked these a lot when I visited them:

The Henry Ford Museum/Greenfield Village in MIchigan

Harold LeMay Collection near Seattle (there are two...one run by a municipal organization and the other by the LeMay family)

Great recommendations so far, some I've never heard of.
I certainly haven't been to all of them, but I can't recall one I didn't enjoy.
Some of 'em are worth 2 days.
I think if you're traveling, just look for whatever's on the approximate route, and visit.

Indianapolis Speedway museum is definitely worth a visit. They probably have one of the most valuable collections anywhere. What is the value of the first car to win the 500, or the second, etc? Or the first American car to win a gran prix race? Or any of the Miller front drives? Very impressive collection.

The Gilmore Museum in Western Michigan is fantastic. The cars, the buildings, the atmosphere and the depth and breath of the displays place this museum at the top of my list. If you choose to see it during the Mopars at Red Barn show then you will have hit a home run. I have been to many listed above and the Gilmore always comes out a winner for me. But if Muscle cars are your (only) thing then you must go to MCACN.

In Canada the Reynolds Museum in Alberta is a great place to visit. Tons of car stuff and they have windows to see inside their restoration shops and unrestored stuff outside with full access to.

https://reynoldsmuseum.ca/

I have yet to make it to the Gilmore. There is Stahl's Automotive in Chesterfield, MI. Limited hours, but nice older vehicles. https://www.stahlsauto.com/

Don’t forget the LeMay museum in Tacoma, Washington! It’s amazing. You can also tour their collection which I believe is in Lakewood, but that requires advance notice.

America’s Car Museum

Pioneer in Murdo, South Dakota.


http://www.pioneerautoshow.com/

I’ve been there! It’s awesome. 😊

- Reynolds Museum in Wetaskiwin, Alberta, Canada
- Lemay Museum in Tacoma, WA.
- Blackhawk Museum in Davnille, CA. - WOW !!
- Walter P. Chrysler in Auburn Hills, MI - was there many many moons ago, just when opened
- Studebaker Museum, Southbend IN. - amazing !
- Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn MI - simply awesome !!

- Ferrari Museum - Maranello, Italy - a must see if you are over there !! And soooo many "non car" museums/places to see
- Enzo Ferrari Museum - Modena, Italy - where it all started.

Wow - didn't think I had been to many, put I look at the list and think, yup I have travelled ! All great experiences with car friends and all well worth going to have a look around !!

Cheers . . .

My favorite (so far) is the Richard Petty Museum.

I should be open on a frequent schedule starting in the fall. Here is an article Hakim did on my place recently: https://www.dodgegarage.com/news/article/gallery/2022/05/the-magnificent-mccandless-collection.html

Nice write up. For sure if I head in your direction I would be honored to take a look at what you and your Dad have put together.

Just visited Wheels Through Time in Maggie Valley, excellent museum. Very personable staff, incredible history and displays. They randomly start some of the vintage bikes during the day, from.all eras. One of the best museum experiences I've had. Matt, Dales son, was in there talking to everyone and telling stories, firing up bikes etc. Beautiful area too, take some time to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The Newport Rhode Island auto museum is worth a visit. For what its worth, I have been to a lot of automotive museums, and find them all worth while, but this is a top 5.
https://newportcarmuseum.org/
Steve

The Petersen in L.A. is really interesting - well worth a stop if you are in So Cal. https://www.petersen.org/

Crawford Auto and Aviation Museum in Cleveland
Shelby Museum in Vegas (Free? I think?)
Count's Custom's showroom in Vegas (free)
There's a cool little car museum in Put In Bay on South Bass Island in Lake Erie

Lane Auto Museum in Nashville is pretty cool.

Not your typical muscle car / high dollar / Exotic sports car museum. He stock the place with odd cars and unique cars. He has one of the largest military vehicles made and some of the smallest passenger cars. Stuff like that.

https://www.lanemotormuseum.org/

The NASCAR museum or NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, NC is a very cool experience! Even if you're not into the roundy-round, its a cool automotive history experience with a lot of well known names.

https://www.nascarhall.com/

the greenberg cadillac museum in tiny brookville, pennsylvania.

https://visitpago.com/listings/greenburg-cadillac-museum/

I was just looking at this thread, came across my reply from six months ago, and remembered another museum worth checking out: The Owls Head Transportation Museum in Owls Head, ME. I've visited a couple of times while in ME visiting family, but didn't make it the last time I was up there in 2017.
From the website: OHTM is a nonprofit educational organization. Its mission is to collect, preserve, exhibit and operate pre-1940 aircraft, ground vehicles, engines and related technologies significant to the evolution of transportation for the purpose of education.

The Speedway race museum in Lincoln Nebraska, WILL NOT DISSAPOINT!!!! Plan on half a day atleast!

Wisconsin Auto Museum in Hartford, Wisconsin...
Interesting history of Hartford is where Kissel Cars were made...Later Hartford was the place Chrysler made outboard motors.

I would plan on the full day. They open around noon and close at 4:30PM. It's not enough time for me. My stupid friend dicked around and we lost an hour to start. I never made it to the third floor. A wall of Flathead Ford intakes, Weslake 318 Plymouth engines, Miller/Offy engines, custom cars, etc.