The Weekly 3

Last week’s mention of the National Corvette Museum sparked a lot of interaction. Not only about the museum itself, but about the marque the museum is centered around.

I think it is great that there are museums dedicated to a specific manufacturer, especially a specific model. I can see these types of museums as being among the most difficult to manage, simply because they are so niche.

Yet, there is another part of me that understands how these types of museums are possible, because of the volume of interest and passion centered around the brand.

The National Corvette Museum is big, extremely impressive, and consistently ranked as one of the top automotive museums to visit. If you’re a Corvette fan, the only other place dedicated to Corvettes is Greg Wyatt’s Vintage Corvettes and Museum.

Aside from Corvettes, there are two Corvair museums you can visit. The Corvair Museum of America and the National Corvair Museum.

However, it’s the Mustangs for the win. There are three separate museums you can visit in the USA that are entirely dedicated to the Ford Mustang. This doesn’t even include the museums centered around Shelby or the Halderman Museum Barn which is only open by appointment.

The Mustang Owner’s Museum was something the late Steve Hill had been working on for years before it finally opened in April 2019. I had lunch with Steve once towards the end of 2018, where he presented me with the option of being the director of the Mustang Owner’s Museum.

I had just moved away from North Carolina two years earlier and had no interest in going back. If that lunch had been less than one year later, my life could be drastically different.

By about July 2019, I had made the decision to close Miles Through Time Automotive Museum at the end of the season in October. Not because it was failing, but because I could not get it to the next level in its current location. If I had had lunch with Steve during that time, I may have walked away from Miles Through Time Automotive Museum.

Instead, the opportunity to move the museum 20 minutes north to a larger building that would enable the museum to be open all year long without me having to specifically be at the museum changed everything. Two more expansions since then and we’re ready to move one more time to a forever home.

Bob Powell is also passionate about Mustangs. He created the Mustang Museum of America, which has the largest collection of Highway Patrol Mustangs. I’ve been lucky enough to meet Bob and tour his museum. This is a great short detour between Birmingham, Alabama and Atlanta, Georgia.

The Blue Oval Car Barn is a little different from the other two museums. Finley Ledbetter owns and displays about 60 high-end and rare Mustangs. The museum is free to visit, and the location offers restoration services, parts, and inspections.

You don’t have to be a Mustang fan to enjoy visiting these museums, which are full of automotive history. 

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.