This week I am going to share with you three automotive museums that opened near the same time Miles Through Time Automotive Museum started in 2017. It is fascinating to see how each museum started and how they are doing today.

I had no clue what I was doing in 2017, hence the reason automotivemuseumguide.com exists.

I did all I could to absorb as much automotive museum knowledge as I could. It was difficult though, because the type of information I found most often were museums like Petersen which had just completed a $125 million dollar renovation in 2015.

As a guy with one inherited car trying to boostrap a museum, learning about a museum that just spent $125 million dollars was more discouraging than anything. 

To be fair, the more I researched car museums, I quickly realized I was way over my head and could have been deemed clinically crazy.

Nevertheless, I was drunk on excitement and went all in. It would be amazing right now if my next sentence could be and the rest is history, but, alas, I’m not done yet.

There are a lot of reasons Miles Through Time Automotive Museum has had so much success over the years. When it comes to me specifically, there are a few key attributes that I believe have helped the progress of the museum.

The first is, I do not have an ego. From day one, I have really tried to remain humble and grateful. This came naturally to me, since I literally had nothing at the beginning except my Pop’s car.

Even eight years later, I personally don’t have much more than I had when I started, but my appreciation and gratefulness for all those who have helped and gotten involved has grown.

The other thing is being flexible. The vision I had in my head in 2016 for a car museum was not exactly how it started. The vision has changed over the years and even the reality of the museum has changed many times.

Miles Through Time’s development has been very much like a pinball machine. Half the reason why is that I’ve just been trying to figure it out as I go. The other half is because circumstances can change for whatever reason which makes it, so I have to pivot.

My next pivot will be to take on investors/partners to move the museum and Vintage Garage Antiques which I created to support the museum, to a 10-acre plot of land right off the main highway.

The concept will be to use the museum and antique shop as an anchor for the new Miles through Time campus, which will include an automotive-themed restaurant. I also invision some sort of lodging, either tiny homes or a themed motel.

There will also be RV hookups, EV chargers, an outdoor pavilion, a nature trail and possibly additional storage facilities for those who would like to keep their vehicles somewhere close to being able to drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains and head towards the Trail of the Dragon.

Here’s a rendering of what my vision is.

Every automotive museum is different and the one I created is pivoting towards being a place where history is not only preserved and shared, but also a place where you can shop, eat, stay, store, enjoy events and hang out all day long. It’s just a matter of time before I can get funding to break ground.

The Newport Car Museum was also created in 2017. However, this museum was the more typical way a car museum is started, which was with a 90-vehicle private collection. 

The Route 66 Car Museum was created one year before Miles Through Time Automotive Museum in 2016. Guy Mace started collecting cars in 1990 and now he has more than 75.

No automotive museums were created in 2018, but in 2019 the Midwest Dream Car Collection opened. This museum will always be special for me because I had been figuring out my own museum for about 3 years and I learned about the museum from their conception.

I’ve been able to watch this museum grow from the very beginning. I’ve been able to meet the people that run the museum, and I’ve even been able to visit it in-person. They have some beautiful cars, including a Tucker, which I was allowed to sit in so many others I’d love to own and drive or at least display in my museum. 

For a while it felt like I had to keep announcing museum closures. Now, I am seeing growth. Museums are expanding and getting new buildings. I hope Miles Through Time Automotive Museum will be able to officially announce our new location soon.

Until then, I really enjoy seeing not only these museums, but my friends and people in general succeed. So many things in this world are contagious, including success and happiness. Go out there and spread 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

 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.

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.