I would argue that sometimes a car museum is just a car museum, but the best are all 3.

I want to thank you for reading this. This is officially 256 weeks in a row of showcasing at least three automotive museums in North America. I saw at least three, because sometimes there is an opportunity to mention a few more.

This means I’ve been doing this for just shy of 5 years and have mentioned over 700 automotive museums. To give you an idea of how many automotive museums you can visit, it takes over 3 years to get through all the museums. Which, of course, doesn’t even include all the great museums you could visit abroad.

I will tell you, I have mastered the art of staying busy. It’s amazing how much time everything takes. Keeping the Automotive Museum Guide up-to-date requires way more hours than I would have expected when I first created it.

Combine AMG with running Miles Through Time Automotive Museum and promoting events like our 10th Annual Car Show, it’s a lot, and that doesn’t even include everything. 

The thing is, I really enjoy everything I created. Every time someone replies to thank me for this email or to tell me their story, it keeps me going. Meeting visitors in the museum who tell me they read these emails is also awesome.

Seeing visitors of Miles Through Time Automotive Museum get emotional because of what they see and read, reassures me that I’m doing something right. 

Knowing what I know now, I could easily create a car museum without anything. I boast about starting a museum with only one car I inherited, because it’s the truth and it was, and still is, very challenging.

The reality is, there are no shortage of cars out there. I could create a museum with borrowed cars, offer storage and consignment like I did originally and just have a warehouse full of cars. 

I’ve learned a lot about myself over the years, and I know exactly what kind of automotive museum I want Miles Through Time to be. I could borrow amazing cars from other museums. I could ask private collectors if I could borrow their cars, and the museum could have nothing but stunning cars on display.

If I did that, MTT would lose what makes it unique. I started the museum because I felt so privileged to have my grandpa’s car that I wanted to share it with as many people as I possibly could. I want people to know it’s not about the car, it’s about my grandpa (Pop).

Miles Through Time is not a car museum in the traditional sense, it’s more of a history museum. We are sharing the history and the stories behind the cars. I can’t say 100% of the vehicles on display are sentimental, but the vast majority are. 

Sharing why and how the cars mean so much to the owners that they want to either temporarily share with visitors or even donate them to the museum. That is our bread and butter. This is what gives me joy. 

I brought in a few motorcycles on loan over the weekend and these motorcycles are sentimental bikes that have been in the family. When the owner read the signage that went with the bikes, it was all he could do to hold back tears.

I’ve been caught getting choked up talking about my Pop’s car and I can’t even tell you how many donors and visitors I’ve met that have broken down in tears knowing their car was going to the museum, in the museum, or just the fact that a car was in the museum triggered an emotional reaction. This is what keeps me going.

I’m not rich. I don’t have a huge car collection. I’m not an automotive expert on really anything. I am passionate, and I understand that all kinds of cars do mean a lot to people. This is what makes Miles Through Time unique. 

MTT’s origin story is unique, but it’s more than just the origin story, the journey. How the museum has been shaped to be what it is today, and it’s about the future of the museum. It only takes one person to change the entire trajectory of the museum. 

Every museum is unique in its own way. Holly Classics is a pretty cool museum. John and Jane Hollansworth started the museum with their collection and after John passed away in 2023, Jeff and Darla Hollansworth expanded and improved the museum to honor John’s legacy.

The Penrose Heritage Museum is an entirely different type of museum. This museum is all about the legacy of the founders Spencer and Julie Penrose. A part of that legacy includes 30 carriages and 15 racecars.

Clifton Classic Chassis Auto Museum is a private collection of American cars from the 40s to the 80s. There are also paintings on display that date back to the 1700s. You can visit this museum on Fridays and Saturdays.

If you know anyone who’d like to get these emails, have them sign up HERE. It’s okay not to be interested in these emails, but if you could share Automotive Museum Guide with as many people as you can, you’d be helping all the automotive museums.

This will hopefully help keep museums open and get better. Without visitors, there are no museums, and many private collection “museums” are only temporary. Use AMG to find as many museums to visit as you can.

If you want to see more, visit the Weekly 3.

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.