America on wheels: curves of classic cars seduce visitors to America's automobile museums

Travel America, Jan-Feb, 2002 by Joan Huyser-Honig

ILLINOIS

Volo Antique Auto Museum, 27582 Volo Village Rd., Volo, IL 60073; (815) 385-3644. This complex of buildings north of Chicago displays 200 cars from every decade, and they're all for sale, with prices starting at $7,000. The site also is home to more than 300 antique dealers.

INDIANA

Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum, 1600 South Wayne St., Auburn, IN 46706; (219) 925-1444. Set in ACD's original 1930s factory showroom for dealers, this museum is a flamboyant Art Deco temple for Auburns, Cords, and Duesenbergs. In the '20s and '30s, these were the cars of movie stars, monarchs, and millionaires. The 100-vehicle collection, however, runs from 1890s horseless carriages to modern muscle cars--with special emphasis on cars made in Indiana.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum, 4790 West 16th St., Indianapolis, IN 46222; (317) 484-6784. The museum rotates 300 vehicles, showcasing 75 at a time. Curators maintain a 3:1 ratio of race cars to antique passenger cars. Enjoy a 26-minute Speedway documentary, video clips, and trophies.

Studebaker National Museum, 525 South Main St., South Bend, IN 46601; (219) 235-9714. Seventy vehicles form a timeline of Studebaker's 114-year-old company, starting with a Conestoga wagon built by Henry and Clem Studebaker. From the 1920s until 1966, Studebaker was known for stylish designs and sturdy engines. Many of the volunteers who now restore vehicles and answer questions were once Studebaker employees.

KENTUCKY

National Corvette Museum, 350 Corvette Drive, P.O. Box 1953, Bowling Green, KY 42102; (800) 538-3883. See over 50 Corvettes, half production and half concept cars, plus Corvette-related sculptures, ads, and TV clips.

MICHIGAN

Automotive Hall of Fame, 21400 Oakwood Blvd., Dearborn, MI 48121; (313) 240-4000. Opened in August 1997, this is like no other auto museum. It showcases only a handful of cars, focusing instead on interactive exhibits about automotive people, such as blind Ralph Teetor, who invented cruise control.

Gilmore Car Museum, 6865 Hickory Rd., Hickory Corners, MI 49060; (616) 671-5089. Open May through October, the museum hosts multiple car festivals. Several buildings hold 140 vintage vehicles, from an 1899 Locomobile to a prototype 2002 Cadillac, as well as a world-class automobile mascot collection.

Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village, 20900 Oakwood Blvd., Dearborn, MI 48121-1970; (800) 835-5237. Over 100 vehicles and thousands of artifacts are arranged according to a highway motif in the museum's "100 Years of the Automobile in American Life." Walk inside an actual 1946 diner, watch video clips, and play interactive games.

NEVADA

Imperial Palace Auto Collection, 3535 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Las Vegas, NV 89109-8935; (702) 731-3311. Only in Vegas: this museum has an 1880s full-service bar in its Duesenberg Room--the world's largest collection of Model J Duesies. From a private collection of 800-plus cars, trucks and motorcycles, this museum displays 200 at a time, including luxury cars owned by such famous people as Elvis Presley and Sammy Davis Jr.