Last week, I asked what your favorite automotive museum is and what automotive museum you’d love to visit. The results are in, and Miles Through Time Automotive Museum is a major contender, at least for museums people want to visit. 😉

This is not a shocker since this is the museum I founded and mention often. So, to be fair, Miles Through Time doesn’t count. I hope the thousands of people who read this email will all want to visit Miles Through Time if they haven’t already. This guide exists because of Miles Through Time. 😉

Moving on…

Interestingly enough, the usual Top Automotive Museum still came out on top.

These aren’t in a specific order, but they are the favorites mentioned by people like you.

Simone Foundation Automotive Museum
Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum

Gilmore Car Museum

Petersen Automotive Museum

National Corvette Museum

Top Automotive Museums people want to visit:

Savoy Automobile Museum

Klairmont Kollections Automobile Museum

Pontiac Transportation Museum

Academy of Art University Automobile Museum

Ultimate Driving Museum

My point is there is no point in any Top Automotive lists. The biggest, most popular, and well-funded museums are always going to be at the top of every list, and rightfully so. You can never take away how impressive these museums are. From the buildings or campuses to the exhibits on display, no one can deny their impressiveness.

However, as an automotive enthusiast, I encourage you to explore more. Don’t stop at visiting only the most well-known automotive museums. Use the Automotive Museum Guide and discover all the other amazing places you can visit.

My favorite resource is to use the MAP to find where the nearest automotive museum is no matter where I am. It’s important not to compare The Petersen with a private 30-car collection in a rural town somewhere in the middle of the country. 

You wouldn’t compare a Lamborghini to a Prius, but arguments could be made for how great both cars are in their segments. The same goes for automotive museums.

Some of my favorite automotive museums are not the biggest or most impressive, but what they have and how they’re presented are great. Plus, I like to know the origin of how and why the museum exists. 

Gasoline Alley Museum is a unique museum in Canada that has been made possible thanks to the donations of a local businessman named Ron Carey. There are automotive artifacts on display from the turn of the century to the 1950s.

The North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame is a museum is one of the few museums I visited before creating my own and was the last museum I visited before creating Miles Through Time. There are over 40 different types of race cars on display, and seeing all the different types in one place is fascinating.

The last museum I’ll share with you this week could be considered controversial. The Hollywood Star Car Museum is definitely a car museum. The museum is full of cars from movies, and there is signage to read about most of the vehicles on display.

However, this museum is in a very high tourist location and is structured more like an amusement ride you walk through. You really have to take this museum for what it is, and if you compare it with any museum that has docents, you may be disappointed.

If you take the museum for what it is and check it off the list of places you’ve visited when you’re done, you may be content. Especially if you are a movie fanatic. I would say the museum is geared towards people who recognize the vehicles from movies and shows more than people who just like cars, but you can be the judge.

Explore as many automotive museums as you can. You never know when you might find your diamond in the rough. Visiting the museums is a fantastic way to help support their efforts.

You can follow most of the museums on social media or sign up for their newsletters to stay up to date with what they are doing. If you want to take it a step further, you can help support any museum by donating vehicles or other artifacts.

Money is always a huge help for any nonprofit. Many museums may have something like what Miles Through Time has, and you can become some version of a Founding Member.

In the end, we are all just temporary caretakers of automotive history. It is up to all of us to keep history alive, and we have been for over 100 years.

Have a great week!

SCROLL DOWN TO CHECK OUT THIS WEEK’S 3 AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUMS.

Plan your next trip, discover your new favorite, or find the nearest museum

 Sean Mathis
 Creator of Automotive Museum Guide
Founder of Miles Through Time Automotive Museum

 Follow me @   

P.S. Make sure you follow AMG on Facebook and join the FB Group to see what’s going on at all the museums.