KJRR
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- KJ
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2020
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- Location
- Cleveland, OH
- Vehicle(s)
- '19 Ford Ranger, '14 Ford Edge, '74 VW Type 181
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- Professional Curmudgeon
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- #1
Spend 20 hrs over a long weekend with my dad touring auto museums in Indiana and Michigan.
If anyone is an auto enthusiast and has a few days to spare, I recommend visiting these museums as they are some of the best I've been to. This is the second trip my dad and I have taken to these museums and they still impress.
Auburn, Indiana
Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg (ACD) museum - Auburn, IN
National Auto and Truck Museum (NATMUS) - Auburn, IN
Early Ford V8 Foundation Museum - Auburn, IN
The Studebaker National Museum - South Bend, IN
Gilmore Car Museum - Hickory Corners, MI
ACD features mainly Auburn, Cord and Duesenburg automobiles from the 20's and 30's and is housed in the original corporate office and showroom. 2nd time we have been there and some new cars and they rotate displays to keep things fresh. Lots of history of high end vehicles and the incredible engineering that went into them. Some things you think are new to cars today were actually done back then, louvered radiators, adjustable suspensions and cornering lights among them.
NATMUS is right behind ACD and is part of the original manufacturing and development building. You can visit both in a day and there is a discount to cover both. Wide variety of cars and trucks including a good collection of IH trucks and some overflow from ACD. They also have a GM Futurliner.
Early Ford V8 is nearby and has a good collection or flathead V8 Fords along with some other early Fords. Highlight has to be the 1936 stainless steel Ford Deluxe. The last time we were there is was a small building and took us about an hour to go through. They have tripled in size and we spent probably 3+ hrs there. They have added a replica of the Rotunda building and the original Rotunda sign out front. If you are a fan of flathead Fords, highly recommended.
Studebaker is about 1.5 hrs away and covers the history of the Studebakers from carriages to electric to Avanti's. They also have a section covering the history of Indiana cars. Many of their designs were ahead of the times. They were one of the early manufacturers of electric vehicles and have a 1909 backward-forward electric car commissioned by the US Government to transport people through the tunnel between the Senate and Capital buildings.
Gilmore should have a full day dedicated to it. We spent 7+hrs there and they are expanding. Many of the national car clubs are setting up shop there. Lincoln, Cadilac Lasalle, CCCA, Franklin, Model A, Pierce-Arrow, Horseless Carriage and a good general display of others. Current feature is muscle cars. Many of the clubs have their own building or barn and some designed to represent dealerships. Amazing amount of automotive history here and if I recommended one auto museum to visit, this would be it.
Every museum had some people around to answer questions and share some history. We took a lot of time taking in the details and reading the placards. I'm a function over form guy but the beauty of many of these cars is the kind of art I can appreciate, and the engineering is incredible. Also a lot of history of the automobile in general and interesting to learn how some of the people moved around from one manufacturer to another. Also surprised at how many of the cars are driven as indicated by bugs in the radiators and trays underneath the engines.
There are 5 other museums that are part of a Midwest Motor Tour that I wish we knew about in advance as we may have added another 3 days to the trip to take those in. Maybe next time. We've been to Peterson, Henry Ford (my #2), AACA and a few others but these museums are all near each other and cover a wide variety of manufacturers and history.
Don't go expecting to see your everyday Mustangs and Cameros, those are at the local car shows.
NATMUS Futurliner
NATMUS
ACD - Original pizza cutters and run-flats. Today's oversize rims have nothing on these.
ACD - Brass era
ACD - Cord 810 FWD
ACD - adjustable suspension, tighten or loosen the belts connected to the axle depending on the road and ride you want
ACD - early power-adder
ACD - Talk about long time from order to delivery, this one took 3 yrs from order date to delivery.
ACD - shuttered radiator, cornering headlight and shock absorbing bumper
Ford V8
Ford V8 - Beautiful Woody
Ford V8 - Early flatty fuel injection
Ford V8 - '36 Stainless Steel Ford Deluxe
Ford V8 - Rotunda
Studebaker - Electric Senate to Capitol transportation
Studebaker - Love the styling
Studebaker - Choice of police departments everywhere
Studebaker - wrap-around rear windows and unique front styling
Gilmore - Tucker
Gilmore - Stutz
Gilmore - Ford Ranger ELECTRIC!!!
Gilmore - A whole row of Auburns, same color schemes, different models, same owners
Gilmore - Early glamping , Henry Ford and buddies
If anyone is an auto enthusiast and has a few days to spare, I recommend visiting these museums as they are some of the best I've been to. This is the second trip my dad and I have taken to these museums and they still impress.
Auburn, Indiana
Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg (ACD) museum - Auburn, IN
National Auto and Truck Museum (NATMUS) - Auburn, IN
Early Ford V8 Foundation Museum - Auburn, IN
The Studebaker National Museum - South Bend, IN
Gilmore Car Museum - Hickory Corners, MI
ACD features mainly Auburn, Cord and Duesenburg automobiles from the 20's and 30's and is housed in the original corporate office and showroom. 2nd time we have been there and some new cars and they rotate displays to keep things fresh. Lots of history of high end vehicles and the incredible engineering that went into them. Some things you think are new to cars today were actually done back then, louvered radiators, adjustable suspensions and cornering lights among them.
NATMUS is right behind ACD and is part of the original manufacturing and development building. You can visit both in a day and there is a discount to cover both. Wide variety of cars and trucks including a good collection of IH trucks and some overflow from ACD. They also have a GM Futurliner.
Early Ford V8 is nearby and has a good collection or flathead V8 Fords along with some other early Fords. Highlight has to be the 1936 stainless steel Ford Deluxe. The last time we were there is was a small building and took us about an hour to go through. They have tripled in size and we spent probably 3+ hrs there. They have added a replica of the Rotunda building and the original Rotunda sign out front. If you are a fan of flathead Fords, highly recommended.
Studebaker is about 1.5 hrs away and covers the history of the Studebakers from carriages to electric to Avanti's. They also have a section covering the history of Indiana cars. Many of their designs were ahead of the times. They were one of the early manufacturers of electric vehicles and have a 1909 backward-forward electric car commissioned by the US Government to transport people through the tunnel between the Senate and Capital buildings.
Gilmore should have a full day dedicated to it. We spent 7+hrs there and they are expanding. Many of the national car clubs are setting up shop there. Lincoln, Cadilac Lasalle, CCCA, Franklin, Model A, Pierce-Arrow, Horseless Carriage and a good general display of others. Current feature is muscle cars. Many of the clubs have their own building or barn and some designed to represent dealerships. Amazing amount of automotive history here and if I recommended one auto museum to visit, this would be it.
Every museum had some people around to answer questions and share some history. We took a lot of time taking in the details and reading the placards. I'm a function over form guy but the beauty of many of these cars is the kind of art I can appreciate, and the engineering is incredible. Also a lot of history of the automobile in general and interesting to learn how some of the people moved around from one manufacturer to another. Also surprised at how many of the cars are driven as indicated by bugs in the radiators and trays underneath the engines.
There are 5 other museums that are part of a Midwest Motor Tour that I wish we knew about in advance as we may have added another 3 days to the trip to take those in. Maybe next time. We've been to Peterson, Henry Ford (my #2), AACA and a few others but these museums are all near each other and cover a wide variety of manufacturers and history.
Don't go expecting to see your everyday Mustangs and Cameros, those are at the local car shows.
NATMUS Futurliner
NATMUS
ACD - Original pizza cutters and run-flats. Today's oversize rims have nothing on these.
ACD - Brass era
ACD - Cord 810 FWD
ACD - adjustable suspension, tighten or loosen the belts connected to the axle depending on the road and ride you want
ACD - early power-adder
ACD - Talk about long time from order to delivery, this one took 3 yrs from order date to delivery.
ACD - shuttered radiator, cornering headlight and shock absorbing bumper
Ford V8
Ford V8 - Beautiful Woody
Ford V8 - Early flatty fuel injection
Ford V8 - '36 Stainless Steel Ford Deluxe
Ford V8 - Rotunda
Studebaker - Electric Senate to Capitol transportation
Studebaker - Love the styling
Studebaker - Choice of police departments everywhere
Studebaker - wrap-around rear windows and unique front styling
Gilmore - Tucker
Gilmore - Stutz
Gilmore - Ford Ranger ELECTRIC!!!
Gilmore - A whole row of Auburns, same color schemes, different models, same owners
Gilmore - Early glamping , Henry Ford and buddies
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