It has been two weeks since I showcased the Klairmont Kollection Automotive Museum. This was the private collection of WWII veteran, Larry Klairmont, who passed away at 94 years young in 2021.

Larry opened to the public in 2018, so his entire 300+ car collection could be seen by everyone. I believe my first visit to Chicago was later in 2018, but unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to visit or potentially meet Larry.

My last visit to Chicago was just last year. Again, I was pressed for time, with Chicago only being a place where I had to do something specifically and then move on.

Almost every week, I express the importance of not procrastinating and to visit every automotive museum you possibly can, as soon as you can. I’m guilty myself, assuming I had more time. 

Last week, I learned the Klairmont Kollection Automotive Museum was closed. I then quickly found out that the entire collection is going to auction from September 19th – 21st with Mecum.

I know some people will be excited to have an opportunity to purchase something from Larry’s collection. For those who don’t know me or understand how Miles Through Time Automotive Museum works, will say I should go to the auction and purchase items.

Unfortunately, for the museum I founded, donations are the only way the museum’s collection grows. There may be some wealthy “museum” founders at the auction and you may be able to see something at another museum, but typically, most of the vehicles will be put into private collections all over the world.

Museums give people an opportunity to actually be able to see these works of art from history, but when they are stashed in private collections, they are often hidden from the world until they reemerge at some point.

To be clear, I have no issues with private collections. Some of the best collections in the world are private. This is the circle of life with vehicle caretakers. They’ll outlast us all.

You have one more opportunity to see the museum before it’s gone. Registered bidders can view the collection at no additional cost on September 13th and 14th. If you aren’t a registered bidder, you can still visit with regular admission.

Who knows, maybe a bit of Larry’s legacy will live on at Miles Through Time Automotive Museum in the future. 

Dr. Peter Kesling and his wife Charlene chose to donate their car collection to the local historical society. The La Porte County Historical Society is home to the Kesling Auto Collection. The vehicles on display range from a 1903 Winton to a 1982 DeLorean. 

I am very glad I do not have to try to pronounce the Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Museum. 😉 This museum preserves an important era in American history. The museum also hosts the National Hudson Motor Car Company Museum.

The last museum I want to share with you is the Buffalo Transportation – Pierce-Arrow Museum. We all know how amazing Pierce Arrows are, so that should be enough to pique your interest to visit. Seeing the 1927 Buffalo Filling Station by Frank Lloyd Wright is also a treasure.

I’m telling you. Do not miss an opportunity to visit an automotive museum. Or an invitation to a private collection for that matter. It may be your only opportunity to see particular pieces of history.

Perhaps I’ll have one more opportunity to visit the Klarimont Kollection (with a trailer) 😉 I hate to see any automotive museum close for any reason. I do not know the circumstances behind the closure of Klairmont, but as a general rule for all museums, the best thing we can do is visit often.

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

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

I hope you had a great 4th of July weekend. I know many people have been traveling. I’ve gotten to see friends on social media visit automotive museums while they travel. One even visited Miles Through Time Automotive Museum before officially heading back to Texas.

Some of the greatest places to visit are off the beaten path. Visiting unique museums in obscure places can create memories that last a lifetime. 

These places don’t necessarily have to be obscure or in the middle of nowhere, but they do have to be discovered by you, to be able to experience them. 

If you’re an automotive enthusiast like me, you’d be down to visit any place that has a few cars, just to satisfy your curiosity. If you have someone with you that isn’t as die-hard of a wheeled fan as you, discovering museums where there is more to it than just vehicles is a bonus.

The Harold Warp Pioneer Village would be a great place to take your road trip buddy if they are a fan of history.  There are over 50,000 historical items to see in this old village and cars are just some of them.

Perhaps viewing 50,000 items is too much for you, and you prefer to hone in on something very specific. This way, when you leave the museum, you feel like you may be a bit of an expert on the subject.

The Greyhound Bus Museum may be the place for you. Who knew buses could be so interesting? At the Greyhound Bus Museum you’ll see 18 historical buses, including a 1914 Hupmobile which was the very first bus used for passenger service.

If the opposite of fancy is your thing, the Cloud Museum should be on your radar. This is the personal collection of Johnny Cloud which began in 1989. You’ll see all kinds of old cars, trucks, tools, equipment, and more inside and outside. 

I think it is fascinating to be able to see what people have managed to collect over the years and then make it accessible to the public, which is key.

Over 40 vehicles have been donated to Miles Through Time Automotive Museum over the last few years. That means myself, the museum and all the volunteer docents have been entrusted to be the temporary caretakers of those vehicles.

In general, all vehicles are going to outlast all of us. We are all just temporary caretakers. Some people choose to share their vehicles now, while others may choose a museum after their gone to share for them.

The automobile has been around for almost 140 years and there have been thousands of brands over the years. You couldn’t possibly see it all, so don’t miss an opportunity to see any of it.

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

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

Over the weekend, the museum I founded, Miles Through Time Automotive Museum, just celebrated our 9th Annual Car Show. I did a grand opening in 2017 with my first-ever car show, almost completely by myself. I had no idea how to run a museum or a car show at the time.

After 9 car shows (plus more smaller ones) and 8 years of automotive museum Pinball, and Tetris, I’m starting to get pretty good at all this. Yet, I’m just one person, and over the years, the MTT family has grown.

I have a great group of volunteers that, without their help, not only would putting on the size of car show we have be impossible, but the museum itself would be nothing compared to what it is today. For this, I am extremely grateful.

Many times over the years, I have come really close to some sort of “reality TV show.” I’m not a fan of the term, but ultimately, the show would showcase the reality of the museum.

The premise of the show would be to capture the stories of the vehicles as they come and go from the museum. The stories from the people who donate to the museum, my travels to other automotive museums and the time-sensitive aspect of capturing the growth of the Miles Through Time Automotive Museum.

Unfortunately, it keeps coming down to production expenses to create each episode. Discovery Channel was on the horizon until its last buyout, which canceled every project.

Most networks not only want the sizzle reel, but these days they pretty much want an entire show already produced. With that being the case, all I need is my own production crew, and the MTT YouTube already exists. You can subscribe HERE. 😉

My point is, it doesn’t matter if I have an open checkbook to document and film everything I am doing at Miles Through Time Automotive Museum and my visits to other automotive museums. It will never be the same as visiting in person.

It is interesting to be able to discover all the different automotive museums. You can learn what you can about them online, and visit the ones you can in person. I doubt anyone would ever be able to visit every single one of them, but if anyone sets out with that goal, let me know.

You should be able to visit an automotive museum within a few hours, no matter where you live in the continental US. 

Klairmont Kollections Automotive Museum is one you can visit that was founded by Larry and Joyce Klairmont. There are some really cool cars at this museum. I have not had an opportunity to visit in-person (yet), but I have been able to see a few of their cars while on loan at other museums.

The Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum started as the dream of Richard Holmes. Unfortunately, I have not yet had the opportunity to visit this museum in person yet either, but I have met Richard  and his wife many times.

This was also the newest automotive museum on the map when I created my own, one year after they opened.  Now they are going to do a massive remodel and expansion, which means they’ve been doing a good job preserving and sharing the vehicles over the years.

Spoiler alert, I have not been to any of the museums I’m sharing this week, but I’ll fix that. America on Wheels has over 75 different vehicles on display, and they do change their exhibits often in their big nice-looking building.

Visit the museums in-person if you can. Explore the others online, and support them all by sharing.

As soon as I can get someone to help me film and produce, you’ll be able to see more of Miles Through Time on YouTube at least. 😉

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

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

I am obviously a big proponent of automotive museums. I’ll be excited when new museums open, and I’ll be bummed when they close.

Closures are inevitable, simply because of how many of them were created and are operated, but that is okay. I can only hope that I got the chance to visit first, and so did you.

I may not be able to prevent automotive museum closures, but I like to believe the Automotive Museum Guide helps.

I am trying my hardest to find a way to fund a new building for Miles Through Time Automotive Museum. Without massive funding assistance, to say I have a challenge ahead of me is a bit of an understatement.

If only Miles Through Time had as many visitors as automotivemuseumguide.com, I wouldn’t have any issues. 56,000 museums have been viewed in just the last 30 days on automotivemuseumguide.com. That is 1,866 museums every day!

My definition of an automotive museum is broad in one since. I believe there are many ways to create and operate a “museum.” On the flip side, if the “museum” is not open to the public, and doesn’t give any information about what is being viewed, then chances are it’s just a private collection or dealership.

There is nothing wrong with dealerships or private collections, but I could go down a rabbit hole trying to include all the private collections and dealerships in the guide, and I don’t want to.

If you are looking for dealerships, there are some listed HERE. Some museums have cars for sale and some dealerships have so many cars you can see, that they are worth noting.

I enjoy seeing vehicles I’ve never seen before. Or vehicles with interesting stories. Sometimes, the vehicle’s specs and condition make it desirable and interesting. Sometimes, it’s the vehicle’s journey that led it to be on display, which makes it relevant and unique.

Ernie Adams started car museum called the Dwarf Car Museum. If you are on social media, or have subscribed to automotive magazines in the past, chances are you’ve seen one of Ernie’s creations featured. 

Ernie scales-down classic cars which make unique one-of-a-kind dwarf cars. Many of these cars can be seen at his museum in Arizona.

The Stutz Museum is in an old Stutz building from 1912. This is definitely not your typical museum. In fact, the “museum” is just a small part of a whole retail development. Nevertheless, there is a collection of vehicles you can see for free in a repurposed automotive building.

The Bickford Mahan Collection is another one you may not consider a museum. There is nothing fancy here, but there are some really cool big old trucks, firetrucks, and tractors. 

In 2024, The Bickford Collection merged with the Mahan Collection and was renamed The Bickford Mahan Collection.

I am a big proponent of museum collections merging, rather than completely dying. It’s good to see two collections were able to come together and make one stronger museum.

This is something I suggest to everyone who has ever asked me about starting a museum of their own. Joining forces is sometimes the better option. I built an entire museum this way. 

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

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

Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to join them, but a group of friends of mine went on a four-day birthday driving event. To keep things interesting and memorable, instead of taking the trip in their best sports cars, they did it in the worst cars. 

One of the vehicles was an old fire truck, and they took it on the Tail of the Dragon, which should give you an idea of the types of cars these guys were in. Having driven to Glacier View, Alaska in an old short bus, I can tell you with certainty, that it made the trip “interesting.”

They did a bunch of cool things, but the relevant part of the story is that on the four-day trip these guys took, which was about 1,500 miles. They visited Savoy Automobile Museum, Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, Lane Motor Museum, and Miles Through Time Automotive Museum.

All four of these museums are amazing and completely different from each other. From what they display, how they display, the style of the museum, the origin of the museum, pretty much everything. And yet, each one is interesting and worthy of visiting.

This is why I think it is so important for everyone to know about all the different automotive museums you can visit. They are all so different, it is fascinating to be able to visit each one and discover all the history.

I can’t believe it has been 8 years already since I founded Miles Through Time Automotive Museum. In a way, it feels much longer, and in another way it feels like I still have so much to do. (this part is true) 

My fascination with why people create a “car museum” has grown over my years of doing this myself. There are as many reasons why someone would create a car museum as there are types of car museums. There is no right or wrong way, hopefully.

I created a museum because I inherited my Pop’s 59 Cadillac and felt so privileged and honored to have it that I wanted to share it with as many people as I possibly could and create the platform for others to do the same. 

Someone else might create a car museum because they have a collection of vehicles and are at a point in their life where they are ready to open the doors to allow the public to see what they’ve spent a lifetime collecting. Or a group of enthusiasts gets together with similar passions and creates a museum. There are a number of ways and reasons.

Lewis Miller’s Mitchell Collection was founded by Lewis Miller who is a direct descendent of the Mitchell and Lewis families. He has one of the largest collections of the various products sold by their respective companies, including The Mitchell Wagon Company, Wisconsin Wheel Works, and the Mitchell-Lewis Motor Company. 

We can assume Lewis’s passion for his family heritage is the reason he does what he does and has decided to open it to the public.

The Browning-Kimball Classic Car Collection was the private collection of Matt and Barbara Browning. After they passed away, 9 of their prestigious vehicles were donated to the city of Ogden. The museum is part of the Ogden Union Station Museums.

Donating to a preexisting museum is a fantastic option if creating a standalone museum seems like too daunting of an option.  Many private collections have been absorbed by museums all over the world, and they have made those museums better.

The only thing I always point out to those considering donating their collections or even just one car. If it is something you want to do and the option of doing it while you are still alive is viable, do it so you can enjoy being a part of the museum.

I enjoy seeing the joy and excitement on donors’ faces when they get to spend time at the museum and talk to visitors. That is part of the reason why I created Miles Through Time. It’s not always possible for the donor to be able to visit the museum, but if they can, it is the absolute best.

The last museum I am going to share is the creation of Pat & Janell Hanlon. The founded the Hill Country Motorheads Motorcycle Museum. They have over 200 privately-owned motorcycles in the collection. The museum regularly showcases more than 70 bikes of many brands from around the world.

Pat had always had a motto of, “Show them, don’t hide them.”

I feel the exact same way, but I would also say ride them and drive them. 😉

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

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

I don’t remember a time before I loved cars. The furthest I can remember back involved me building cars from LEGO and garages to park them in. I had to be somewhere around 1st grade when my dad bought an old CJ7 that looked like a mail delivery Jeep and completely modified.

By the end, the Jeep was lifted, sitting on fat tires with no top, just a roll bar and bright blue metallic paint job. To top it off, the license plate said CJ4SEAN. In just a short 9 years, that would be my Jeep.

I would eventually grow up to understand that 9 years is a long time to keep anything in my family. My latest memories of that Jeep are from when it was broken and parked behind a trailer. I would sit in the driver’s seat and pretend to drive it until my dad sold it. That license plate is now hung on the wall at Miles Through Time Automotive Museum.

A few years later my dad picked up a project, a 1956 F100.  I instantly loved that truck. We did a few things to the truck and even bought an old Thunderbird with a 302 that was going to be used for parts.

This was going to be the truck I’d drive in high school in just a few years. That didn’t work out either, and the truck and Thunderbird were both sold back to the guy my dad bought the truck from.

From that point on, I just drove whatever I could. My oldest brother was off in the Navy, and he left his Jeep Grand Cherokee, so I drove it around the property. We had a really old Farmall tractor, so I drove it.

My dad had an old Dodge pickup at one point. It was big, long bed, extended cab, and orange. I would drive the garbage cans down to the road with it. I just loved driving.

My grandpa had a fancy riding lawnmower. Growing up, we didn’t even have a lawn, so, of course, I wanted to mow his lawn every time we went to visit him, just so I could feel the steering wheel in my hands.

I knew my grandpa had a really cool old car in his shop growing up, but he never took it out. The car was always under the cover. It wasn’t until I got older that I realized how special a 1959 Cadillac is.

After both my grandparents passed away and my dad gave me his dad’s car (3rd times a charm) that is what set me on my current path in the automotive world.

I’ve now owned my grandpa’s car for eleven years. Miles Through Time Automotive Museum was created because of that car, which has now been open for eight years and continues to grow.

My story is just one of many. Cars are my passion and so much more than just a means of transportation. My story led to the creation of a museum, along with a few others, but no matter the path, the story never ends.

Space Farms Zoo and Museum started as a general store, repair shop and 400-acre wildlife refuge in 1927. During the depression, people started paying their bills with whatever they had.

Eventually, people started to come specifically to see the animals and memorabilia on display. This is the only museum I’m aware of with this kind of origin story.

The Ice House Museum is a bit more traditional. This is the private collection of Bill Kidder. Bill passed away in 2005, but his family keeps the museum open seasonally.

Gasquatch is definitely not your typical “museum.” This is a collection of 15 or so classic vehicles that can be seen 24/7 because they are part of a gas station attraction. 

Is it really a museum? Or just a private collection being stored in a business that is open to the public? Does it really matter? You be the judge.

The stories that originate from cars are one of the most interesting aspects of this world. Every car has a story, every collection, every museum, every person. 

You will not run out of things to see and learn.

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

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