Toutes les Machines du Monde
North America
Click on the photo for each museum to visit our photo page for that museum
Museums are arranged by rating, with Auto & Motorcycle collections first followed by Aviation
The Nethercutt Collection, Sylmar, California ★★★★★
This is quite simply the best of the best; a stunning collection of automobiles displayed in elegant style. Fabulous cars in an unbelievable setting. You will see in the photos that there are three separate display areas; a replica of a 1920s high end show room and a separate large display building plus the basement under the showroom. The cars in this collection are truly extraordinary and famously were all always licensed, insured and ready to be driven at any time; an amazing accomplishment in and of itself. The collection includes at least six first prize winners of the famed Pebble Beach Concours. Read the website carefully before you go as a guided tour is an important part of your free visit and you need to make arrangements in advance.
Mullin Automotive Museum, Oxnard California ★★★★★
www.mullinautomotivemuseum.com
This is truly a special place. The cars, primarily representing classic French touring cars of the 1930s, are nothing short of exquisite. Adding immeasurably to their appeal is the simple fact that this is a greatly underrepresented genre of automotive style. The models seen here from Delahaye, Hispano-Suiza, Delage, Avions Voisins and others are not only gorgeous but are also very nearly unique in terms of their representation in the world’s Museums. Having had the good fortune to visit the French National Museum at Mulhouse, as well as other European museums, I can assure you that the cars of the Mullin Museum are unlike anything to be found there. If you love beauty in automotive design, you must find a way to visit this museum. The collection is open to the public on a limited basis and reservations should be made in advance through the museum’s website. The photos I’ve posted show the featured cars on the main floor display as well as additional photos from the only slightly less exotic cars on the mezzanine level. Don’t miss a chance to visit this museum.
The Barber Vintage Motorcycle Museum, Birmingham, Alabama ★★★★★
What the Nethercutt is to automobiles, the Barber is to motorcycles. Housed in an elegant building adjacent to beautiful Barber Motorsports Park a few miles east of Birmingham, this is a wonderful place to experience motorcycles of all ages and styles. The collection is large and varied and the bikes on display are beautifully restored and exhibited. In 1998, we visited the Barber Museum in its earlier location when it was housed in a warehouse setting near downtown Birmingham. That was a wonderful experience too, but the new setting is just perfect. We visited the new facility for the first time in 2004 and have had a few photos posted to this site since the site was first developed in 2014. Now I am very pleased to have been able to visit the Barber Museum again, this time in Spring 2020, and to now completely re-do this page with more than 100 new photos of the motorcycles, and increasingly, racing cars that are so lovingly displayed. Do not miss this magnificent museum.
The LeMay Collection, America’s Car Museum, Tacoma,Washington ★★★★★
This newly opened (2012) museum makes a great addition to the existing body of car museums in the US. The LeMay collection of over 3,000 cars is listed by Guiness as the largest private automobile collection in the world. In addition to hundreds of cars from the base collection, the museum hosts several special exhibits at any given time, adding spice to your visit whenever you go. While featuring American cars and the American automobile experience, the collection also includes some foreign examples and one of the special exhibits at the time of our visit featured a number of British cars and motorcycles. The museum is housed in a large and beautiful purpose built facility and the lighting is excellent for viewing and photography. The museum also hosts a number of special events during the year and has extensive grounds for outdoor events such as car shows. Well worth anyone’s visit when you are in the area and for those who live in the Seattle-Tacoma area an annual membership would certainly not disappoint. Highly recommended.
Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg Museum, Auburn, Indiana ★★★★★
This is a must visit collection. Not only are the cars absolutely gorgeous, but the museum is housed in the original Auburn factory building, which is a National Historic Landmark. Don’t Miss It!
We have visited twice, but it was some years ago and our photos are not digital. We hope to return to this wonderful museum in 2020 and redo the photography. I’ve borrowed this picture from the museum website for reference.
World of Speed, Wilsonville, Oregon ★★★★
World of Speed is a great spot to visit. It differs from most museums in that it does not exist to showcase a set collection of vehicles. Rather, it displays racing vehicles on loan from other collectors or museums. It is specifically a racing museum, and features cars from Indy Racing, NASCAR, Drag Racing and Land Speed Record attempts. There is also a very nice exhibit featuring speedway racing motorcycles and extensive displays of racing memorabilia of all sorts. The museum emphasizes its support of educational programs and its goal of sharing the racing heritage of the Pacific Northwest. At the time of my visit the featured exhibit was celebrating 100 Years of racing at Indianapolis and it was very well done, with 33 Indy racing cars ranging from 1914 to 1996. The quality of the cars and their racing heritage were excellent and the museums and collectors represented were top quality. Clearly the cars on display at any given time will vary, but judging by my experience I doubt you will ever be disappointed by a visit to this museum. We plan to visit again and will upgrade our rating to five stars if the exhibit at that time is as high a quality as this one!
Unser Racing Museum, Albuquerque, New Mexico ★★★★
A beautiful collection of racing cars along with personal cars, pace cars and older American cars from the Unser family collection. Founded by Al Unser Sr. in 2005 and dedicated to his parents, it is clearly a labor of love and is chock full of information and memorabilia. Particularly interesting is the collection of video footage, including Indy races won by the Unsers, and excellent film of the Pike’s Peak Hillclimb race, where various Unsers have won an amazing 36 races. A wonderful spot to visit, and Albuquerque is a terrific town, especially in the Spring or Fall. If you are lucky, Al Unser himself may stop by to chat.
National Auto Museum, Reno, Nevada ★★★★
Harrah’s Hotel & Casino has long maintained an extensive auto collection in Reno. Now called The National Auto Museum, it is largely unchanged from earlier times and that’s just fine. It is a large collection and is maintained in excellent condition. Very strong in cars from the Antique and Vintage eras, it also has good representation in Luxury cars of the late 20’s and 30’s, a reasonable number of foreign representatives, mostly from the 50’s, and a good sampling of post war American cars. The number of racing cars is small and that room is particularly crowded. Period appropriate displays accompany many of the cars. Overall, the museum is reminiscent of the French National Museum at Mulhouse, particularly in the generally low ceilings and use of gravel around the cars. Lighting is adequate, although the museum tends to be somewhat dark for photography so working without flash is a challenge. Certainly worthy of a visit if you find yourself in Nevada.
Blackhawk Auto Museum, Danville, California ★★★★
A beautiful, albeit small, collection. Located in an upscale shopping mall and perhaps feeling just a bit full of it’s own importance, it is nonetheless an exquisite group of cars. The collection is first rate and the individual cars are truly stunning. There are more vehicles in the collection than can be on display at any one time, and new aquisitions are shown on their website so more than one visit would no doubt be rewarding. Also, the auto museum is only one part of a larger campus and there are other display areas as well. The black building interior and rather harsh spotlighting of the cars makes for a dramatic presentation, but also makes photography more challenging than I might like. Consult their website for details. Well worth a visit.
Tampa Bay Automobile Museum, Pinellas Park, Florida ★★★★
A beautiful, and technically very interesting museum in the Tampa Bay Area that is well worth a visit. It began as a collection of a family’s cars they brought with them when they emigrated to the United States from France and has grown from there. There are many French makes represented but also US and British makes are well represented. Many of the cars show front wheel drive and rear engine designs from the 1920s and 30s and the collection includes what may be the largest group of Tatras outside of Czechoslovakia. This is my observation only and no claim of this is made by the museum. The lighting is a bit difficult to work with for photographers, but the cars are not roped off so it is possible to work between and around the displays. This is a very nice spot and is very affordably priced. Put it on your list for a visit.
Solvang Vintage Motorcycle Museum, Solvang, California ★★★★
A very nice collection of around a hundred vintage cycles ranging from the 1900s up to 2001. Star of the collection is one of only ten Britten motorcycles ever made, and the only one that has never been raced. Many of the bikes on display have a racing heritage and excellent posters and other memorabilia are also shown. There are some Harleys, Indians and other American bikes, but the majority of the collection reflects a European style road racing heritage and a high percentage of the bikes are either from Europe or were raced there. A very nice little museum and well worth a visit. Solvang is located about 125 miles north of Los Angeles and just a short distance inland from Santa Barbara.
Wisconsin Auto Museum, Hartford, Wisconsin ★★★★
We came across this fine museum entirely by chance. Wisconsin has been the home of a number of automotive manufacturers including Nash, Hudson, Tucker and Kissel, which was based in Hartford. The Museum is located in a very attractive period building and proved well worth the visit. Lots of great cars you won’t necessarily see in other collections with displays creatively done and enhanced by the building itself.
Sterling McCall Cadillac Museum, Warrenton, Texas ★★★★
In rural Texas a ways east of Austin we happened to spot this place and pulled in for a visit. Sterling McCall is a long time Texas Cadillac dealer and car collector and the museum displays lots of cars, not all of them Cadillacs, in a stylish setting. You can tell from the few photos we’ve posted that there are actually quite a large number of cars on display at this location. We had a nice time and had the place all to ourselves as we were the first ones to sign the guest book in several days. The caretaker was delighted to see us. A wonderful example of a good ol' low key rural attraction that is well worth the visit next time you get to Texas.
Vintage Motors of Sarasota, Sarasota, Florida ★★★★
Sharing the same building with the Sarasota Classic Car Museum, this lovely space was an unanticipated find. This is a sales facility for vintage and classic machinery and not a museum, therefore the inventory will change continuously. At the time of our visit the cars were beautiful as you can see in the photos. No entry was charged and we were free to browse and photograph the cars at our leisure. Whether you are shopping for a vintage automobile or, like us, just want to see some pretty cars; this is a pretty cool spot.
The Great Race 2016 (rally event), Lusk Wyoming ★★★
I’d heard of The Great Race before, but this year we learned at the last minute that it would actually be passing near where we would be. So we made a small adjustment to our route and caught them at their planned lunch stop in the small town of Lusk, Wyoming. The route changes every year and it’s a hoot if you ever get the chance to catch them. They have scheduled stops for mid-day and evening, and then of course the starting time the next morning. About 100 great cars 1972 and older, with scoring on overall best performance but with an added handicap system to reward older cars. Lots of fun, look it up!
Sarasota Classic Car Museum, Sarasota, Florida ★★★
Said to be the second oldest continually operating car museum in the country, the SCCM does have some history behind it. It is housed in an old wooden structure without any windows so it can it be fairly dark in places and the need for numerous support beams makes for difficult sight lines in viewing or, especially, photographing the cars. Despite being comparatively expensive to visit, I’m sorry to say the museum shows a fair amount of neglect and one wishes it could be kept in a neater condition. The cars are clean, no problem there, but as you will see in the photos there is a disappointing amount of clutter around them with items just leaning on the walls, etc. I can’t say which of the cars are actually in the permanent collection as many of those featured in the museum’s website were not present when we visited. Also, the special exhibit on at the time of our visit in February 2020 was not particularly well done. I’d prefer to not share such negative comments, but this is an expensive museum to visit and I found it not worthy of the admission price for each of the reasons given. If you are in the Tampa/Sarasota area, I’d recommend the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum in Pinellas Park as a better place to see interesting cars; and at about half the cost of admission.
National Packard Museum, Warren, Ohio ★★★
Located in part of the former factory in the hometown of Packard Motor Company, this small but interesting museum tells the Packard story and gives you a close up view of some beautiful cars. Lots of period photographs and ad copy add to the experience.
R.E. Olds Transportation Museum, Lansing, Michigan ★★★
This is an Oldsmobile museum even though R.E. Olds was forced out of the Oldsmobile company just a few years after it was formed. It also features the REO cars and Diamond REO trucks, including the original “REO Speedwagon” fire trucks, that Ransom Eli Olds went on to develop. Lansing’s a nice town and this is a nice little museum.
Snook’s Dream Cars, Bowling Green, Ohio ★★★
A genuine drive by, never heard of it before, kind of experience and a real hoot. Owned and operated by Bill Snook and his son Jeff, it’s an amazingly eclectic gathering of british sports cars together with plenty of sort of odd ball Americana. Lots of fun if you happen past.
National Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola, Florida ★★★★★
A great place to spend a day or two exploring the US Navy’s collection of historic war planes. A huge facility with both indoor and outdoor displays of aircraft and excellent lighting of the exhibits. Lots of interesting displays and plenty of room to roam. This is our favorite of the US aviation museums we've visited and we have been there several times. Our most recent visit was in the fall of 2015 and the pictures on this page are from that visit.
National Air & Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Washington D.C. ★★★★★
This is the relatively new annex to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum on the Mall in Washington D.C. It was built to house some of the enormous overflow from the collection that could not fit in the original space. It is a wonderful spot to visit, with lots of interesting exhibits including the Enola Gay B-29 bomber from WWII, the space shuttle Discovery, an SR-71 Blackbird spy plane and too many more to mention. Your visit is free although there is a charge for parking. We first visited Udvar-Hazy in 2014 and were able to return in January 2020. We’ve posted photos from both visits in this collection.
War Eagles Museum, El Paso Texas ★★★★
www.war-eagles-air-museum.com/
Another fine airplane museum that is well worth a stop if you are passing through El Paso. We first visited here in 2002, but returned again in 2014 so we could get some digital photos to share with you. This is a wonderful privately funded collection of not only airplanes, but period automobiles as well. It’s a bit crowded as the collection continues to grow, but everything is lovingly maintained and many of the planes and cars are in flying/driving condition. Actually located at the airport in nearby Santa Teresa, New Mexico, it is most easily reached from El Paso.
National Museum of the US Air Force, Dayton Ohio ★★★★
Another must see for aviation buffs, although the naval aviation museum at Pensacola is considerably larger and, we think, more interesting. This museum is very dark inside and thus a difficult place to photograph. We visited Dayton in 2006 and hope to visit again so that we can upgrade our photos.
Wright Brothers National Memorial, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina ★★★
Site of the first heavier than air flight in 1903. A small but attractive visitor’s center that was built for the centenary in 2003 includes a reconstruction of the Wright Flier, films and artifacts, and the preserved site of the flights is just outside. An effective but very low key memorial to the historic first flight.
Tillamook Air Museum, Tillamook, Oregon ★★★
You can see this museum from the highway, which is how we found it. Housed in a WWII blimp hanger, it’s a unique spot. Funky and small but surprisingly interesting and very well organized. Stop by here on your way to the cheese factory next time you’re on the Oregon coast.
