Gilmore Car Museum
Hickory Corners, MISaturday, August 18, 2018
On my way over to US131 in Martin. MI, I made a pit stop to see what I would say is one of the best auto museums in the US, and the largest in North America... THE GILMORE!
From the minute I walked through the doors to my final stop, the collections of Ford, Caddy, Lincolns and European cars were all outstanding. The layout of the buildings on over 90 acres made it a great viewing, like going into the dealer showrooms.
The Gilmore Car Museum started in the early 1960s when Donald S. Gilmore began collecting vintage automobiles. Some of the first vehicles in his collection included a 1927 Ford Model T, a 1913 Rolls Royce and a 1920 Pierce Arrow. Restoring that classic Pierce-Arrow at his home on nearby Gull Lake ignited a passion. Over the years that followed, Donald continued collecting some of the world’s most renowned automobiles.
To accommodate his collection, he acquired 90 acres of land in southwestern Michigan in a small town known as Hickory Corners. It was his wife Genevieve who had the idea of turning the collection into a museum, providing future generations access to Donald’s one-of-a-kind collection. They established a non-profit foundation and opened the museum to the public for the first time on Sunday, July 31, 1966.
Today, the Gilmore Car Museum is North America’s largest auto museum with nearly 400 vehicles on display and over 189,000 square feet of exhibit space. The Museum’s 90-acre Historic Campus features numerous vintage structures, including a restored and fully-functioning 1941 Silk City Diner, a recreated 1930s Shell Station, six onsite Partner Museums and so much more.
The Gilmore Car Museum is a founding member of the National Association of Automobile Museums, as well as a member of the American Alliance of Museums, the American Association for State and Local History, the Michigan Museums Association, and the MotorCities National Heritage Area – affiliate of the National Park Service.
This is the place to go on your Auto tour www.gilmorecarmuseum.org
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21