The Weekly 3

Free automotive museums are great. There are not that many options, but there are a few, usually with limited hours, and in most cases, donations are encouraged or at least greatly appreciated. 

Like everything else in the world, there are always exceptions. For the vast majority of the world’s automotive museums, admission is a necessity. At Miles Through Time Automotive Museum, we inevitably have someone come in and give us a hard time about being charged to look at some “old cars.”   

I would say 95% of the time, this is exactly how it is phrased. “I don’t need to pay to look at a bunch of old cars, most of which I used to own.” 

It used to bother me when people didn’t understand what I was trying to do with the museum. A room with a few old cars is about as far from the reality of the museum as you can get and still refer to the cars.

Anymore, I’d rather the people who complain before they even enter the museum, not even go in. Within the last two weeks, we had a guy complain about the price, but ultimately he still went into the museum.

Two hours later, he came out and said, where is the rest of it? Apparently, 130 full-size vehicles, 5,000+ model cars and hundreds of other historical artifacts in four separate galleries was still not enough. 

It’s okay though, because the positive interactions and feedback completely drowned out the random negative ones from people who I believe their default on life is just set to ornery. 

The more people that visit the museum and enjoy it, means there is more potential for ornery people to also visit, and that’s okay. I’d love it if I was in a financial position to fund a 100,000 square foot building full of automotive and historical artifacts and allow visitors from all over the world to view everything completely for free.

The reality is, I can’t and neither can most other automotive museums. In fact, revenue generated from admission is almost never enough to cover the operating expenses of a museum. 

Most museums have to have another source of revenue. From a benefactor would be nice. Sales, storage, events, donations are all the common alternative sources. I created Vintage Garage Antiques, which acts as a giant gift shop for the museum, but without it there would be no Miles Through Time Automotive Museum.

My goal, and I believe most other nonprofit automotive museums’ goals, are to keep admission as low as possible, but at the same time, keep the museum open. There is no point in keeping admission so low that the museum cannot operate. 

All the museums this week had to have their admissions updated. Between hours, admission and just ensuring automotive museums are still open, that is why I send this email every week.

The RV Hall of Fame Museum was the first museum that was actually brought to my attention by a user. I had not updated the museum for almost three years and in that time the museum had to increase their admission. 

I have not been to this museum in person, but it looks amazing. I don’t think you need to be a fan of camping or RVing to be impressed and learn something.

The Cole Land Transportation Museum was another museum where three years had passed by, and in that time admission was increased $2. This museum was founded by Galen Cole, who passed away in 2020, and six years later the museum is still operating and being enjoyed by visitors from all over.

The Shelby American Collection also increased their admission over the last two years since I visited. At the time, admission was only $5, which was about as low as admission ever gets before just being free. 

Today, admission is $10, still low on the overall spectrum of museum admission rates, but this museum also doubled in size to help justify the increase. If you’re a Shelby fan, this place will be your heaven.

If you ever see anything that needs to be updated in the guide, let me know. Some of the museums are good about sending me updates, but others I’ve never had any contact with, and may not know of updates until I audit them with this email.

Keeping everything as up to date as possible is important, but ultimately, the Automotive Museum Guide is just the gateway to finding the museums to visit. It is always recommended to learn more and verify hours, admission, location and if they are still open by verifying with the museums directly.

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.