You’ve heard, perhaps, that the American automobile industry is roaring back. Believe it. To understand how the industry once powered the dreams and aspirations of a nation you’ve got to go to Michigan where they keep the flame. Here are a couple of first-rate museums that illuminate the automobile’s storied past in this country:
- Travel back in time to an era where Interstate highways didn’t exist, cars had running boards and the guy at the gas station actually cleaned your windshield, filled up your tank and checked the tire pressure. Visit the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Mich. Tour the Classic Car Club of America Museum, the Pierce Arrow Museum, the Carriage House – and the gas station. See how the automobile penetrated the psyche of early 20th Century America and hasn’t let loose since. The Gilmore’s machines aren’t always static. Every now and then a vintage vehicle putters by, even an authentic London double-decker bus. Remember hood ornaments? (Yeah, we know that dates you). Well, they’re here too, and in abundance.
- Chrysler is making a comeback, and that makes the museum that chronicles its past even more relevant. The Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills, Mich. lays out a century of the iconic car company’s heritage: the Chryslers, Imperials (remember fins?), the Dodges and Plymouths that first introduced legions of us to the open road, this Cheapflights reporter included. This is the kind of place that revs up your vroom, vroom genes. This summer the museum’s Collector’s Curb showcases the Mighty Mopars exhibit. Rev up and revel in Michael Pollock’s 1965 Dodge Coronet HEMI AF/X Detroit Shaker®, as well as Ray and Rose Mrosewske’s 1964 Plymouth Belvedere Petty Replica. Prefer to rocket about on two wheels? There’s a special exhibit featuring an array of vintage motorcycles.
(Image: JimG1948)
