When I was in school, history class was one of my least favorite classes. I don’t believe it was because I didn’t have any interest in history, considering how involved my life is with history these days.

The main memory that sticks out for me about history class is that it was always the class that came with a big textbook. The textbooks were full of chapters of history, followed by some sort of quiz or test at the end.

Aside from a random class project, (which was way more interesting), history class for me was nothing more than the teacher telling me to read the chapter and answer the questions at the end.

For some, this kind of learning may be perfect, but for me, I find it monotonous and boring. I was able to find the answers and pass the tests, but most of what I answered was stored in short-term memory.

Today, I find history absolutely fascinating. I listen to audiobooks of prominent individuals from history. I watch historical documentaries and I go to museums.

There are a lot of different historical timelines you learn about. A lot of historical timelines measure wars, dynasties, evolution, geographical change, etc. The one thing they all have in common is that they span long periods of time and can end up seeming vague.

History is fascinating, and I’m a fan, but there is so much. I have always been a car guy, for as long as I can remember. Being thrown into the automotive museum world, I’ve discovered my favorite history subject.

The automotive history timeline may arguably be the most complete and intricate historical timeline ever. The timeline begins in 1885 and, for 140 years and counting, we can see the evolution of the automobile industry.

We know all the different manufacturers that have come and gone. We can see how the design of the car has changed over the years. Innovations that revolutionized the world. We can even see what the automobile did to society because of how easily it allowed people to travel.

I don’t think there is anything else in our history that has been so well documented, with annual visual representations (new models each year) and we can continue to watch history be made.

No one wants to admit it, but these brand-new 2025 vehicles will become classics. Sixteen year olds today, wishing they could own a 2025 Supra, Mustang or whatever, will inevitably want them again when they turn 36.

Automotive museums, car shows, cruises, and driving events are really important to bring all the different generations of automotive enthusiasts together. This is how we can keep automotive history alive.

The Classic Car Club of America shares their bit of history as one of the museums represented on the Gilmore campus. I’m still waiting for the right opportunity to be able to visit Gilmore and have enough time to spend visiting all the museums.

Motorcycles are a niche part of the automotive timeline I also find fascinating. I enjoy riding motorcycles and seeing all the different kinds, just like cars. I wish I could have them all. 😉

Seaba Station Motorcycle Museum is a museum where you can see all kinds of vintage bikes. The museum is located inside the old Seaba Station, which was built in 1921, so the building itself is a piece of history.

You can go down so many different paths of automotive history. You may find some aspects of automotive history much more fascinating than someone else’s and vice versa.

Automotive museums are no different. I created the Automotive Museum Guide because I realized how much variety there is and if you were interested in visiting one museum, chances are you’d be interested in visiting another.

The Ultimate Driving Museum is a niche museum made possible by the BMW Car Club of America Foundation. Every year the museum completely changes with a new theme. Two years ago it was BMW motorcycles, last year it was Mini’s, and this year it is all about Alpina.

You do not have to be a BMW fan to enjoy this museum. You will learn and experience just a snipit of a specific segment of automotive history. The catch is, you only have one season to experience it, before it’s gone.

Do you want to read the textbook or do you want to go on a field trip? Everyone in school would prefer the field trip over reading the textbook. I would argue, the memories made on that field trip have stuck around a lot longer than some random chapter in a textbook.

Visit the museums, learn the history and make those memories.

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.

Last week was amazing, getting to spend time with peers and friends at The Petersen. Having the opportunity to view some private collections, like the Singleton Collection, a portion of Philip Serafin’s (big fan), and Jay Leno’s.

In 2016, I was 32 years old and had two automotive museums under my belt. I lived in Mooresville, NC, the capital of NASCAR so naturally I made my way over to the NASCAR Museum and Memory Lane Museum because it was there next to where I was buying a trailer to move away.

I’ve always been a big car guy, but for whatever reason, automotive museums just weren’t a part of my life. That is, of course, until 2017, when, out of nowhere, I founded Miles Through Time Automotive Museum.

Fast-forward 8 years and I have visited almost 100 automotive museums in North America. I found myself on the board of the National Association for Automobiles and the World Forum For Motor Museums. 

I’ve even helped newer automotive museums create their own brands and online presences. I never planned any of this, but this is my life now. I intend to do everything in my power to ensure the longevity and success of the museum I founded and do everything within my power to help all the other museums.

One thing I noticed right away when I started to dive into the automotive museum world, is that there are so many variations. There are so many different ways to present an automotive museum and there is no right or wrong way, because there are so many variables.

This week I want to share with you some examples of completely different types of “automotive” museums. The very first one I was going to share was the Lone Star Motorcycle Museum, but unfortunately they are permanently closed. This is a good example of why I send these emails.

So instead, I’ll share the American Classic Motorcycle Museum. I have visited this museum, and I will admit I almost didn’t go in. If you didn’t already know there was a motorcycle collection upstairs in this country diner, you’d have no clue. 

You’ve heard the term hole-in-the-wall restaurant? For me, that usually means its a little place, not fancy, but it’s good. That is what this museum is like.

The Eastern Museum of Motor Racing is another unique example. This museum sits on 40 acres overlooking wooded hills and a racetrack. If you’re like me, that was enough to sell you. The museum is constantly bringing in historic cars to display so you never know what you might see.

The Tucson Military Vehicle Museum is a newbie. If you like seeing military vehicles, this is the place for you. You’re going to see tanks, big trucks, Willy’s and everything else the military has used over the decades.

Honorable mention this week in Tucson as well is the Tucson Auto Museum for officially opening in their new location. I got to visit the old location, but now it looks like I have a few more reasons to visit Tucson.

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.

I’m heading to the National Association of Motor Museums’ Annual Conference on Tuesday.

I joined NAAM back when I first started Miles Through Time in 2017. Aside from the big automotive museums, I could find online, NAAM was my only other resource to figure out how to create a museum of my own.

I will admit I didn’t get much out of NAAM for years. To be fair, for the first three years, I truly was a one-man show and didn’t have to do much with NAAM.

It wasn’t until I went to my very first conference in 2020 and the National Corvette Museum, that I discovered the true value of NAAM. I met a bunch of amazing people associated with other automotive museums from all over the country.

The following year, the conference was at the Revs Institute then The Henry Ford, and last year at Savoy. Each year, I’ve been able to make new personal contacts and reunite with others who have become great friends over the years.

Attending the annual conference at NAAM is something I look forward to every year now. I find myself in a unique position when I attend the conference because I am not employed by a museum who was sent to the conference, and I’m not the guy with a car collection who decided to start a museum. And yet, somehow, I am also both, minus the car collection. 😉

It doesn’t matter if I’m talking with a museum director, the founder, or a volunteer docent, just being able to chat and mingle with peers in an industry I never imagined being a part of in the capacity I am, is amazing.

Tuesday, I’m heading to the Petersen Automobile Museum. I’m pretty sure everyone has heard of the Petersen. It’s one of the top automotive museums in the world.

This will be my second visit to the Petersen. My first visit was driving a donated e21 BMW back to Georgia and stopped by the Petersen to visit my friend Leslie Kendall. Little did I know I’d end up spending the entire day there. Half because Leslie and I chatted and half because the BMW broke down in the parking lot. 

At the end of the day, I drove away in that e21 and eventually made it back to Miles Through Time Automotive Museum. If you want to watch that trip, here’s a video. If you donate a car to Miles Through Time Automotive Museum, I may just come get it myself, and driving it back even from California isn’t off the table. 😉

As amazing as the Petersen is, it got its start on June 11th 1994, when Margie and Robert E. Petersen donated $5 million to the Los Angeles County National History Museum.

Interestingly enough, that is pretty much the same amount Miles Through Time needs to build a new building. Perhaps one day, the little museum I started with my Pop’s car will be as famous as The Petersen.

The other great thing about the NAAM conference is that we travel to other museums. The networking and lectures are great, but the ability to go on field trips makes the NAAM conference better than any other conferences I’ve been to.

I wanted to go to the Lyon Air Museum when I was driving the old BMW back to Georgia, but I didn’t have time since I had the opportunity to visit Jay Leno’s Garage, which seemed like a chance of a lifetime.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to meet Jay, but I saw him there patiently, allowing a very enthusiastic fan to talk his ear off. I hope one day I can meet him and show him what I’ve created.

The Lyon Air Museum has a great mix of vehicles and aircraft on display. I was an A10 and C130 crew chief for 11 years, so I also have an appreciation for things with wings and this museum has both.

Another museum I get to visit is the Marconi Automotive Museum. This was another museum I had hoped to visit on my trip back in the BMW, but at that point I was very well aware that it was possible the BMW was not going to make it another 2,000 miles.

Luckily, I get to see the museum this week. The museum was started by Dick Marconi, his wife Bo, and his son John. Marconi has some amazing exotic supercars on display. I only need one at Miles Through Time. The museum hosts a lot of events and admission is donated to the Marconi Foundation for Kids, which is a great cause.

Aside from these museums, I’m also going to get to see some private collections in the LA area, I can’t tell you about.  I will share photos and videos on my Instagram and Facebook if you want to follow along.

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.

It is pretty awesome when people visit Miles Through Time Automotive Museum from all over the country, specifically because they found the Automotive Museum Guide and started receiving these emails.

I hate it when I miss the museum visitors, but when I do get to meet them, it’s amazing. A couple stayed for over four hours on Saturday, and they use the guide regularly to visit museums all over the country.

I hope this is a common occurrence for all the museums listed in the guide. If you visit a museum because you discovered it in the Automotive Museum Guide or I mentioned it in an email, let the museum know when you visit.

This week’s email is going to be brief. I understand some people are bombarded with emails and even this one each week can end up being a bit much. If you miss the email for any reason, remember you can always go to the website under the EXTRAS tab and click Weekly 3.

You never have to miss the three museums I share, even if you don’t have time to deal with the entire email. You can quickly scroll to the museums, get the information you need and move on. Plus, you can always refer back if you want.

First up this week is the Museum of Automobiles. The museum was founded by Winthrop Rockefeller in 1964. The museum housed his collection until 1975, two years after his death when Bill Harras purchased the collection for $947,000.

A new nonprofit was formed in 1976 with vehicles on loan from collectors and the museum has been in operation ever since.

The Academy of Art University Automobile Museum is one you wouldn’t expect to find. This museum recently auctioned off 105 of their vehicles, which raised $14.5 million. We’ll have to wait and see what the museum does next.

If you just looked at the Audrain Automobile Museum, you’d assume they’ve been around for a while, but the museum only opened in 2014. The museum has access to over 400 cars and motorcycles and changes the exhibits 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

 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.

It still amazes me that the Automotive Museum Guide has grown into a huge resource for automotive museums, and visitors who want to visit them. In the last 12 months, almost 7 million people have seen the museums listed in the guide.

I wish I could say 7 million people have visited the Miles Through Time Automotive Museum in the last 12 months. We’d probably have the funding we need to build the new building, if that was the case. 😉

I never planned to send these emails, but a combination of museum information was changing, and the email list grew into the thousands. The only logical thing I could think of was to send a weekly email to help me manage the information listed for each museum. 

This is my 192nd email. If you got some of my very first emails, you’ll know how much they’ve changed over the years. The main aspects of the email are the three featured museums listed below. 

At the bottom of every email you’ll see three automotive museums from somewhere within North America. You can see what state they are in, and you can click each one to find out more information. 

I could just do that, and some people may prefer that. Every once in a while, I get an email, because the reader got frustrated I didn’t say exactly where the museum was in this portion of the email.

I do this on purpose for three reasons. The first, I don’t want you to know exactly where it is until you’ve given yourself a chance to learn about it. If it’s too far, and you’ll never visit, that is understandable, but at least you will be aware of it and, who knows?

If I tell you right off the bat, the museum is somewhere you think you’ll never go. Some people may never take the next step to learn just a little bit more about it. 

The second reason is that my intention is not to tell you all about the museums, especially if I haven’t visited myself. If you click the museum’s name, it will take you to the guide where you can then get all the pertinent information you need to then learn more about the museum itself.

The third reason I don’t bother to mention exactly where the museums are in the body of the email is simply because you can see that at the bottom of the email where is neatly shows a snippet of each museum and the state it is located in.

I don’t get paid for sending this email and I do not get paid for creating the website. The museum I founded, Miles Through Time Automotive Museum, is one of the many museums listed in the Automotive Museum Guide that needs to be found by visitors.

If I can get more people to visit the museum I founded and more people to visit other museums, because the Automotive Museum Guide makes it easy to find them. I call that a win.

I love it when people reply to these emails, send me a message, email me directly or sometimes call my museum. I prefer when it is for something positive, but I’m always open to constructive criticism. 

This week, I want to share with you a few museums that were visited by someone from the Schwanke Car, Tractor and Truck Museum because of the Automotive Museum Guide.

The Dahl Auto Museum is located at one of the Dahl’s family dealerships. The family goes back 5 generations, spanning over 100 years. You can see cars on display that go back just as far.

The Nuss Collection is similar in the fact that it goes back three generations. This is a private collection you can visit by appointment. You’ll see a lot of big trucks because the collection comes from years of operating Nuss Truck and Equipment.

The last museum I want to share with you is separate from the others. Stahls Automotive Foundation is one I’ve been to twice. To simply say Stahls is impressive wouldn’t do it justice. 

I recently learned Stahls Automotive Foundation will be quadrupling as the Stahls Automotive Museum. The combination of vintage musical instruments (some the size of rooms) and the amazing vehicles and memorabilia, I cannot wait to see Stahls blossom into the museum it deserves to be.

It seems like a lot more automotive museums are growing lately, rather than closing, which is fantastic news. Hopefully, once I figure out the funding to build the forever home for Miles Through Time Automotive Museum, I’ll be able to announce another museum moving and growing.

If you’re reading this on Monday, then have a great St. Patrick’s Day. If you want a chance to win a 2006 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited and help support the museum I founded, you can enter at milesthroughtime.com/jeep/ and use the promo code LUCKY for an additional 25% more entries.

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.

I’ll start this week by letting you know about a brand-new museum that just opened this month. The St. Charles Motorcycle Museum is now open. From what I can tell, they have some really nice vintage bikes on display. If you’re into motorcycles, or if you at least appreciate them as art, it may be worth checking them out. 

You may have noticed that automotive museums seem to close constantly. I believe this is just part of the automotive museum’s “circle of life”, partly because of how many museums are created and partly because museums are a massive challenge.

On Saturday, I had a guy come to the counter of Miles Through Time Automotive Museum. Immediately, he assumed we just had some cars and then proceeded to rant for about ten minutes on how he had owned a bunch of cars, been to a lot of car shows and seen a lot of car museums. 

He even claimed to have been to Miles Through Time at the old location and possibly at some other point in the new location, but he couldn’t articulate when.

Ultimately, after about 10 or 15 minutes of telling me how great he is and pausing for five seconds to ask me how much admission was, he turned around and left without actually asking any questions about the museum he was at. Other than to tell me how he couldn’t believe we didn’t have a Gullwing Mercedes. 😉

My point to this story is that this guy may have called himself a “car guy” but was he? If everyone had his attitude, there would be far more museum closures.

There are amazing museums you can visit for free, like the new DFW Toy & Car Museum, that opens April 1st, but that is not the norm, just because of how expensive it is to make museums accessible to the public.

 Sometimes, automotive museums have to make the difficult decision to close. Or sometimes the better option is to join forces. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like mergers are common practice.

More often than not, when a museum closes, you learn about the closure because of the auction that is about to take place. But, what if there was a better option?

What if, instead of closing a museum for good, it was able to join forces with another museum? This could mean the entire collection could be absorbed by another museum and live on within the other museum.

An example of this would be the Unser Racing Museum, which closed in 2023. The stand-alone museum is gone, but the collection lives on within the walls of the Museum of American Speed, which is one of the most impressive museums I have ever visited. I rushed through the museum on one of my cross-country trips, and it still took me an hour. I have to go back.

Another example would be the Museum of Bus Transportation. This museum merged with the AACA Museum, which makes for a better visitor experience for both museums.

Mergers can have some unique complications, but the biggest issue in most cases would be space. I’m not aware of too many museums that have a lot of room for more vehicles. I’m also not aware of any nonprofit museums that have auctioned off their collections and used the funds to help support another automotive museum.

If the museum closing is a nonprofit, then funds generated from auctioning everything will need to benefit another nonprofit. The Horton Classic Car Museum closed in 2023 and the collection was worth an estimated $32 million.

Even if only half the collection was sold, that would mean there would still be $16 million that could be used to help another museum, perhaps build or add on, and then display the remaining collection, so the museum can live on.

Sometimes it is just the remaining family that doesn’t want to deal with the burden of running a museum, so they close it. Not necessarily because it was failing, but maybe they just don’t have the same passion or bandwidth. There could be countless reasons, but for any future closures, I would hope considering a merger of sorts would be an option.

As you know, I am in the process of working towards securing the future of Miles Through Time Automotive Museum. It is imperative that the museum can get its own building, free from an ever-increasing lease. Half of the Horton Classic Car Museum would have easily made it possible for MTT to have its own building and still share the Horton collection.

I hope in the future, as more automotive museums close their doors for good and head to auction, they look at other organizations that share the same mission and core values. Just because one museum closes doesn’t mean it has to be gone forever. Sometimes it can just be relocated and used to propel another museum to a higher level.

I sent a one-off email last week about a Jeep that was donated to Miles Through Time Automotive Museum specifically to help the museum raise funds. I know it’s not a $100k brand-new car, but it’s a really nice Jeep, and it’s incredibly generous and inspiring that people would do something like that to help the museum.

If you have any interest in helping support Miles Through Time Automotive Museum, consider purchasing a few tickets to win this Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. Even if you don’t want the Jeep, you could always take the cash prize, but ultimately, this is just a fun way to help support the museum and many of the automotive museums across the country are doing something similar. 

I’ll be in LA the first week of April for the Annual NAAM Conference at the Petersen Automotive Museum. If you are affiliated with any automotive museum, I highly recommend coming to the conference which includes visiting other automotive museums and some very exclusive private collections.

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.