Automotive Hall of Fame21400 Oakwood Boulevard
Dearborn, MI
(313) 240-4000 ext. 228
Features: This visitor attraction and educational resource is a repository for automotive history shown through visual and interactive exhibits, automobiles and artifacts. School groups are admitted free of charge with advance arrangements.
Automotive Heritage Museum100 East Cross Street
Ypsilanti, Mi 48198
(734) 482-5200
Features: Located in the nation's last Hudson dealership, with records dating back to 1927. Apex Motors, which produced the "ACE" car from 1920-1922, was located on South River Street and Preston Tucker whose family owned the Ypsilanti Machine and Tool Co. developed and built the prototype for his "Tucker Torpedo."
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Corvair MuseumPart of the Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Collection.
Bay City Motor Co. Museum201 Second Street
Bay City, MI 48708
(866) 822-2216
Features: Vintage, classic, neoclassic, muscle, and specialty vehicles abound. Among the marques represented are BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge (2), Ferrari, Ford, Hudson, Jaguar, Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz, Mercury and Studebaker.
Walter P. Chrysler MuseumOne Chrysler Drive
Auburn Hills, MI 48326-2778
(888) 456-1924
Features: This facility named for the auto pioneer is located on the DaimlerChrysler Headquarters campus. Although much of the collection deals with Chrysler Corp. marques including Plymouth, DeSoto, Dodge, Imperial and Chrysler, there are others dotted here and there -- such as Willys, Rambler Hudson and more.
Detroit Historical Society5401 Woodward Avenue
Detroit, MI
(313) 833-7935
Features: This all-things-Detroit organization includes, naturally enough, numerous exhibits and artifacts concerning the auto industry.
Henry Ford Museum20900 Oakwood Boulevard.
Dearborn, MI 48124-4088
(800) 835-5237
Features: "The Henry Ford," as its members call it, prides itself on reflecting major parts of American history with five distinct attractions spread over the 90 acres of Greenfield Village. It includes such support activities as the Benson Ford Research Center and the Henry Ford IMAX Theater. In addition to explaining the history of Ford's innovative automaking techniques, there are numerous special displays such as the Montgomery, AL, city bus (seen here) on which Rosa Parks refused to sit in the segregated area in 1955, helping touch of the civil rights movement.
Gilmore Car Museum6865 Hickory Road
Hickory Corners, MI 49060
(269) 671-5089
Features: This is not the sort of place you'll see in a half-hour. Nearly 200 vehicles are on display in restored historic barns. Exhibits range from a 1899 Locomobile, to the classic Duesenberg or the rare Tucker '48, and from the Model T to the muscle cars of the 60s.
Model T Automotive Heritage Complex411 Piquette Avenue
Detroit, MI
(313) 872-8759
Features: The home of the Ford Model T was in this Piquette Avenue plant, now well preserved and largely unchanged from its original 1904 appearance. The third floor has never been painted since Ford Motor Company left in 1910. It houses the secret Experimental Room where Henry Ford developed the innovative Model T. Another exhibit spans five bays, showing the Model T during various stages of assembly. This exhibit explains the stationary assembly process with which cars were produced before the moving assembly line. Various Model Ts and other Piquette-era Fords are on display throughout.
Motorsports Hall of Fame of AmericaNovi Expo Center
I-96 & Novi Road (exit 162)
P.O. Box 194
Novi, MI
(800) 250-7223
Features: The hall's board of directors has temporarily suspended public operations at its temporary location in the Expo Center to allow staff and volunteers to concentrate on moving to an appropriate new home. A site selection task force is working on site acquisition and development. Updates will be posted on the Web site.
R.E. Olds Museum240 Museum Drive
Lansing, MI 48933
(517) 372-0529
Features: This facility is named for Ransom E. Olds, founder of REO and, later, Oldsmobile. Displays range from the 1880s through the curved-dash Olds era to today's concept cars. The museum., named one of the nation's 10 best by Car Collector magazine, also houses noth the oldest and the fastest Oldsmobiles, and rare models from REO, Star, Durant, and Viking. Includes buggies, bicycles, trucks, engines and memorabilia.
Alfred P. Sloan Museum1221 E. Kearsley Street
Flint, MI 48503
(810) 237-3450
Features: The Sloan deals with science, local history and genealogy. But its Buick Gallery deals with classic autos -- more than 25 classic and concept Buicks, Chevrolets, and other locally built automobiles. Featured vehicles on exhibit are the 1910 Buick Bug race car, 1951 Buick XP-300 and 1954 Buick Wildcat II concept cars, and a Hellcat Tank Destroyer built by Buick during World War II.
Wills Ste. Claire Auto Museum2408 Wills Street
Marysville, MI
(810) 987-2854
Features: This former WWII munitions factory houses an evolving collection of vintage autos and memorabilia and serves as a center for hobbyists. The collection includes such Wills models as a 1926 seven-passenger sedan and a '26 roadster.
Features: The IMHOF's Motorsports Museum spans three buildings and an enclosed courtyard. Its collection of racing vehicles and memorabilia from 1902 to the present is valued at more than $15 million. Among the items on display are the fastest boat in the world, the rare Ford Talladega Torino that Alabama native Donnie Allison raced in the Winston Cup series, the STP Dodge Charger that Richard Petty drove to a career-record 31 victories, and the Budweiser Rocket car that was the first to break the sound barrier on land.
