When I first started to create the Automotive Museum Guide, I really had no idea how it would take off. Initially, only the biggest automotive museums were listed, like Petersen and The Henry Ford, and then the little museum I started, Miles Through Time.

It wasn’t intentional that only the biggest museums were listed in the guide, but the reality was they were the easiest automotive museums to find to add to the guide. Most of the automotive museums took a lot of research to discover.

In some cases, if you’re local to a small automotive museum, you’d be able to relatively easily find the museum. However, most museum visitors are not local, they are travelers looking for things to do and, often, learning about a car museum to visit wasn’t always possible.

It has taken years to add all the automotive museums all over the world. Adding automotive museums is only one aspect. Maintaining automotivemuseumguide.com to ensure information is as accurate as possible is time-consuming.

Luckily, museums have been sending me updates directly, and people have been sending me information about any museums not listed or museums that unfortunately are no longer operating. 

Between museums sending updates and individuals helping maintain the guide, automotivemuseumguide.com has grown into a very robust directory of automotive museums all over the world that is used by millions. 

I have to admit, I wasn’t really sure how helpful the Automotive Museum Guide would be. I was optimistic it would be useful for people to discover museums, and help automotive museums get found by visitors.

Turns out, automotivemuseumguide.com has become a very useful resource and I will continue to make improvements and maintain the directory. I have no idea what the future of the guide is. Perhaps it will become a part of something larger in the future. 

There seems to be an ebb and flow of automotive museums. Some museums close and new ones are created. Idle Ridge Car Museum is a brand-new museum slated to open in the summer of 2025. 

This museum was created because Jim Feneis set up the James Feneis Charitable Foundation to turn his personal collection into a museum after he passed away. Unfortunately, Jim passed away, but soon visitors will be able to visit and see what a lifetime of collecting looks like.

4Speed on 50 Auto Park is an automotive museum you can visit now. This museum is full of classic vehicles, collectible vehicles and memorabilia, plus there is a full restaurant, 4Speed on 50 Diner.

Not every museum is just a “car museum.” Admittedly, some car museums are pretty much just car museums, meaning they are buildings full of cars and if you’re not into cars, you’re not going to care to visit.

Every “car museum” has the potential to be more, it just depends on how the museum is presented. I created Miles Through Time Automotive Museum as a history museum, an art museum, and, of course, automotive themed. This way, the only visitors that wouldn’t find the museum interesting would not have to be into cars, history or art.

The Frick Pittsburg Museums and Garden is another good example of being more than a car museum. The Frick Car and Carriage Museum displays carriages and some of the first horseless carriages that had a major impact on Pittsburg. 

Plus, the Frick has a garden, art, and other historical artifacts on display that have nothing to do with cars, but they have created a museum that can be enjoyed by almost everyone, especially with free admission.

That’s it for this week. If you ever find a museum is missing, closed, or needs to be updated, just email me, I’ll get it taken care of. If you represent an automotive museum or your favorite automotive museum doesn’t have the “Featured Museum” badge, let me know and I can send 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

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