The Weekly 3

If I asked you to name the first car museum that popped into your head, chances are it would be one of about 10 museums. (USA only) Reply back with the museum you named, and we can test this theory.

Every museum named is going to be a great museum, and you should definitely visit all 10 of them. The issue is that those 10 car museums are so big and popular that many people assume that’s it.

The reality is, there are hundreds of automotive museums all over the country and even more worldwide. Each one has a unique reason for existence and the artifacts on display are unique to that museum. You may see similar somewhere else, but each museum is like a fingerprint.

Which is why the Automotive Museum Guide makes it easy for you to find all these amazing places to visit. Sometimes the museums are easy to see that they are a “car museum”, while others are more elusive and less obvious, but still worthy of an automotive enthusiast’s visit.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Cars, trucks, motorcycles, and things automotive are ART. They may have been designed to do a specific task, but they were dreamed up and created, beautiful or not, they are all art.

The Art Car World takes the art of the car to a whole other level. This museum has over 40 “art” cars on display with even more that rotate in and out of the museum. 

This museum either takes the original design of the car and makes it something more, or turns something that was not a car into one.  This museum won’t be to everyone’s taste, but interesting nonetheless.

ARTISANworks is another art museum you can visit. This one has fewer cars, and they may be less radical, but the vehicles on display are only a portion of the entire art museum, which definitely looks interesting.

The last museum I want to mention is not like the other two. However, it is an art school that has a car museum. The Academy of Art University Automobile Museum recently sold off most of its collection, which was donated by Richard A. Stephens.

I didn’t have a chance to see this museum’s collection in person before it went to auction, but I did see the cars on their website, and they were beautiful art deco and classic cars.

The museum has updated their website with their new collection. If I didn’t know what they auctioned off I’d say the collection is perfectly fine. There are a few cars I’d love to have on display at Miles Through Time Automotive Museum and a few cars I’d love to just drive.

But, since I do know what they had on display, I can’t help but be disappointed. I don’t know anyone at the Academy of Art University Automobile Museum, but what I read was they were selling the collection to raise funds and modernize the collection.

In my opinion, they made a major mistake. Unless, of course, they needed to sell 105 vehicles and raise $14.5 million. If I could raise that much money, Miles Through Time would have a new building right now.

Unfortunately, now all I see is 21, much more modern vehicles and a boat. Although I’m disappointed in this museum, I’d still visit. I have a hunch they know what they’ve done since admission to the museum was drastically reduced.

At least the museum is still a place you can go visit, and I encourage you to go do so. If you visited before and post auction, I’d love to hear your thoughts.  If you want to see the collection they sold and the current collection, click the links on the museum’s listing in the guide HERE.

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.