Today, May 18, is International Museum Day, established at the 12 annual assembly of the International Council of Museums in 1977 in Moscow. It was a global effort to transform world museums, from musty collections of relics to entertaining and educational destinations welcoming to the public. For car nuts, a pilgrimage to an automotive museum can almost be a religious experience. It’s the only place the the world you might get to see a legendary race car, a one-of-one prototype, or a rare classic. There are an estimated 1700 automotive museums around the world.
What’s your favorite car museum?
The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What fuel saving car should I buy since my Land Cruiser gets 8 mpg?“.
There are many different solutions to the high fuel price × Land Cruiser problem. Looking at the new(ish) cars that were suggested, brkr12002‘s suggestion of a Ford Maverick Hybrid is one that covers most of the truck stuff. For the consummate family hauler, Ian G.‘s Toyota Sienna Hybrid is the answer. BobbyC‘s year-old Nissan Leaf provided nonexistent maintenance costs, and Negishi no Keibajo‘s XW60 Prius is one of the best looking modern cars on the road today. Unfortunately, these cars are still new enough to be rather expensive, and it would take too long for the fuel savings to offset the cost of the car itself.
To really save money on gas there’s always a motorcycle. Steve E offered a two-wheeled take on the MIATA answer, while Jim Klein‘s Super Cub and Franxou‘s Goldwing bookended the bike gamut with Honda recommendations. I miss my Yamaha FZR600 but haven’t had a bike in 20 years and my wife would kill me if I tried to take our kid to school on a bike.
One type of suggestion we really enjoyed was the “regular traffic but available with a manual transmission” category. This includes Ben E.‘s pick of an E110 Corolla, ra21benj‘s E130 Corolla CE, nlpnt‘s eighth-generation Honda Civic Hybrid, and sigerson‘s Mitsubishi Mirage. All of these were ignored in their time, but may offer a not-so-bad compromise between practicality and feeling anything at all while driving that’s rare in today’s automobiles.
Finally, we have a category of cars that are genuinely interesting, and not just because they may have a manual transmission. This included steve‘s recco of a CRX HF, Taylor C.‘s Civic Wagon, @ye‘s Aston Martin Cygnet, and crank_case and dankan, who both suggested the original Honda Insight, preferably in Citrus Yellow.
We honestly didn’t expect so many good fuel saving options that weren’t a total bore. Nevertheless, there can be only one champion and this week’s winner was Evan:
1st gen Scion xB
Borderline un-killable and supremely likable: this boxy Boi easily gets 35 mpg thanks to its Vitz underpinnings. Personally, I think the basic design has aged quite well, is a certified classic at 25 years old, and will still be able to cram your kid inside with all of their associated gear. This Scion can easily be had for under $4k even in this economy. If you pull the trigger, the xB has the possibility to be the in-marque yang to the yin of your J80 AND the potential to even outlast your Land Cruiser. Just sayin’…
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
If ever y’all visit the Netherlands the Louwman Museum is a must!
They have a collection as much ridiculous as diverse, entering the parking garage there’s a Mazda cosmo so beautiful tucked behind glass that almost makes me want to do a museum heist, the building itself is REGAL like a cathedral for everything automotive.
There’s race cars, antique automobiles, kei cars and huge literal land yachts, a Toyota 2000-GT, a really cool desk and more!
I think the most interesting, not only for what’s on display but for the spirit it represents, would be (if I could travel to visit them) the Mazda Museum in Hiroshima and the Mazda Classic Automobile Museum Frey in Germany. It’s perhaps the smallest Japanese brand in terms of sales volume, but the one with the greatest impact. It best embodies that idea of never giving up and achieving what no one believes is possible on its own terms (yes, we were all pleasantly surprised by the Dacia Logan’s performance at the Nürburgring this weekend, competing and completing the 24 hours on its own terms as Mazda).
I’ve only been to a handful of automotive museums. Some of those I’ve visited include our local fixture, the Petersen Automotive Museum which is world-class, and then there was the eclectic collection of the Malamut Automotive Museum in Thousand Oaks. In Japan I enjoyed the Honda Collection Hall in Tochigi, the small private collection of some friends at the Maehara 20th Collection in Kiryu, and of course I was ‘Wowed” by the Toyota Automobile Museum in Aichi, which would have to be my favorite if it wasn’t for another eclectic collection, the funky and odd Yokota Collection at the Ikaho Toy, Doll and Car Museum in Gunma. This place is a Showa lovers paradise. There are close to 100 Showa era vehicles on display, from Kei cars and “family” cars to the “coveted” sports cars of Japan. There’s even a recreation of the Fujiwara Tofu Shop from Initial D, as well as the various other Showa themed exhibits make this place my all time favorite car museum to date. Can’t wait to go visit again.
http://www.ikaho-omocha.jp/museum/03car.html
I’ve had the opportunity to visit a few car and transportation museums including the BMW Museum in Munich, Barry’s Car Museum in Lancaster, PA, The Car and Carriage Caravan Museum in Luray, Virginia, The Car and Carriage Collection at the Frick Mansion in Pittsburgh, PA, and the Hall of Transportation at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. The best museum, by far, is the Pierce Arrow Museum in Buffalo, New York. Pierce Arrow started as a bicycle manufacturer and then transitioned to motor vehicles, all while based in Buffalo, New York. Yes, it does focus on Pierce Arrows, and it also has an interesting collection of other vehicles as well. Furthermore, there is a full-size construction of a gas station designed by Frank Lloyd Wright inside the museum that was designed for a corner in Buffalo but never built. It’s worth the trip just to see the gas station.
https://www.pierce-arrow.com/
Or, “Tell me if you haven’t been to the Toyota Auto Museum in Aichi.”
I would say the Blackhawk Museum in Danville, California. I haven’t been since they added non-automobile attractions, but they still have cars and also host car shows and events. They have a huge variety of random stuff that rotates. Everything from Type 35 and Type 50 Bugattis, a Hispano-Suiza, Facel Vega, or giant 1920s Cadillac, to something as common as a Datsun 240z, or as obscure as a 1950s Hongqi. It’s not too big, but the variety of past and present marquees from around the world (anything from the 1800s to the present) make it fascinating to anyone interested in the history of the automobile.
The Lane Museum in Nashville is unrivalled for sheet “car-guy” street cred, with Jeff Lane being a car freak par excellence. The displayed collection is massive and is only about 1/3rd of the whole, much of which is in storage below. Most cars are driven at least semi-regularly (staff gets to “borrow” them) and runs the gamut from Nissan Pike cars (Be-1, S-Cargo etc) to Lancia Delta Integrale to VW iltis to a WWII Troop Landing Craft to Tatra Ambulance to whatever else imaginable the last time I was there. And then some. It seems that if Jeff liked a car he’d buy it and bring it there from wherever it was in the world. If anywhere near Nashville it is easily a full afternoon’s worth of dreams.
PS this is shaping up to be a nice list of museums around the world! Others not to be missed are Beauleau in southern England, the Coventry Museum in Coventry, England, Audi Forum in Ingolstadt, VW Autostadt Museum (for MUCH more than just VW group vehicles), Duesenberg/Cord in Auburn, IN, another vote for Blackhawk and Petersen, too bad MegaWeb in Tokyo has closed, and Technik Museum Sennheim in Germany. I’m forgetting others but there are many good ones, always worth looking into if on a trip somewhere…
I really enjoyed checking out the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. It was extremely comprehensive and had a lot of exhibits showcasing the grassroots, it’s maturity, the lovely 80s and 90s vehicles, and today’s stuff. I must’ve spent over four hours walking through all the exhibits, all housed in a very attractive facility.
I thought the small museum in History Garage was really excellent from a quality over quantity standpoint. Combined with MegaWeb showcasing current Toyotas there was a nice mix of interesting things for an American to look at. Alas.
The Toyota Museum is top notch for sure. Definitely the finest I’ve been to. Though I agree the Mazda Museum was really great too. Just seeing the 787 in person was well worth the trip.
Others are the definct Imperial Palace Collection in Vegas, Autoworld Brussels, and another small gem is The Brumos Collection in Jacksonville, FL.
I’ve never been to the Petersen, one day I hope to.