California Car Museums, A Hoon’s Guide to
Mt. Shasta rest stop, Interstate 5
It’s January and the weather outside is miserable. But all is well. You are planning that California road trip you are going to take in [insert time in near or far future]. Here are a few overlooked destinations in the Golden State worth visiting and drooling over, from south to north:
Mercedes-Benz Classic Center, Irvine (Orange County). Here, Mercedes will restore any Mercedes you can throw at them, from a 450SEL 6.9 to a 1930s rear-engined 130H. They have virtually every part in stock. And if they don’t, they’ll machine it. In the lobby, about a half dozen showroom-condition classics are for sale. Past the lobby is the mother lode. Against the walls, you’ll find stacked on top of each other dozens of pristine Mercs of all vintages. Southern California’s lust for Mercedes is confirmed by the fact that only two Classic Centers exist in the world. The other one is in Germany. Visitor info.
Riverside International Automotive Museum, Riverside (Greater Los Angeles, sort of on the way to Las Vegas). For the most comprehensive Maserati collection in the Western Hemisphere, go here. Doug Magnon, the man behind the collection, spared no expense in collecting, restoring, and displaying the vehicles. The crown jewel, in this blogger’s opinion, is the Frua Quattroporte once owned by the King of Spain. If you’re lucky, they might let you check out the warehouse next door. Visitor info.
Mullin Automotive Museum, Oxnard (between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara). The total value of the Bugattis and art deco cars in this museum rivals the combined GDP of sub-Saharan Africa (minus oil-rich Angola). The first floor has all sorts of pre-war French voitures, including the $40m Bugatti Type 57SC. The second floor has modern Bugattis like the EB110, Chiron, and EB218. In fact, the Veyron is the dullest car there. The nearest museum of comparable magnitude is in Alsace. Visitor info.
Canepa Motorsports Museum, Scotts Valley (near Santa Cruz). Race driver and exotic car purveyor Bruce Canepa has a lot of trust in humanity. Why? There are no velvet ropes to separate visitors from the cars on display. The first floor, which is actually a showroom, is graced with mundane cars like Porsche’s 959 and Dodge’s 1969 Charger Daytona. The second floor houses race cars of every kind. Remember, you can smell, but not lick. Visitor info.
Blackhawk Museum, Danville (San Francisco Bay Area). 90 pristine cars are housed and displayed here. Half are downstairs. They comprise of post-war cars like Mao’s Hongqi, an Italdesign Aztec, and an Aston DB4 Zagato. Upstairs, you’ll find a dizzying array of the greatest of pre-war cars, including a Bentley Blower, a 1937 Cadillac V16 by Hartmann (a 22 footer), a Hispano-Suiza Tulipwood Torpedo, and a Bugatti Type 41 Royale. The inventory is rotated often so you’re bound to find something new every time you visit. Visitor info.
Bonus: Littlefield Tank Museum, Portola Valley (San Francisco Bay Area). 200 tanks and military vehicles, including two (2) Scud launchers, are here. Your jaw is guaranteed to drop. Visitor info.
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Wait, hold on a sec — can we go back to the frickin' Citroën XM in the lead photo?
Can do:
http://karakullake.blogspot.com/2010/10/road-trip…
Now THAT was awesome.
Very cool, but what does it have to do with the rest of the article?
Well, it's on a road… taking a trip… in California. It's a bit of a stretch, but who cares? A photo of a Citroën XM can park itself wherever it likes.
Don't get me wrong; I would never look a gift XM photo in the mouth. I was wondering if I was missing something.
Rad. I think my top choice would be Mullin, but all of these are pretty cool.
The Mullin is amazing…
Tank museum is RAD.
The Estrella Warbirds Museum is pretty cool. http://www.ewardbirds.org
First, lots of cool old military planes, both inside and outside. Second, they opened a car museum branch a few years ago that is small, but still nice. Third, every year they have a "Warbirds, Wings, and Wheels" car show where you can show your car and you park right amongst the outside aircraft. It was pretty cool showing off my Spirit with it parked under the wing of an F-4.
It's in Paso Robles, by the way.
Any excuse to get up to Pasois welcome in my book
Lest we forget…..
http://www.petersen.org/
http://nethercuttcollection.org/
I will definitely have to visit the Canepa Museum, since it's right over the hill from me. I might throw together a group drive and lunch for it with the local auto group.
I've been to the Blackhawk Museum a few times now. They also do a few special events per year, including New Years and Halloween, as well as private events like weddings. That was a pretty awesome wedding…
Another one worth mentioning if you are in the area is the San Diego Automotive Museum, which also has a really cool collection of classic motorcycles. http://www.sdautomuseum.org/
Technically, not a museum, but a trip to Leno's garage is on my bucket list.
The only one I've been to is the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation, called the "LIttlefield Tank Museum" in the article.
I can confirm that it is awesome. The by-appointment tours are totally worth $20. Also, if you go, take cat treats.
I'd love to check it out, myself.
Of course, the MB museum is only open when I'm at work.
When I was checking out caterers for our wedding reception, one of them mentioned they were the exclusive caterer for the Blackhawk Museum. I suggested to my wife that we have our reception there, mostly joking because I never thought she would go for it. Turns out, she loved the idea of having it someplace unexpected. I might be biased but I think it was one of the best wedding receptions ever.
I hope to visit the Mullin sometime soon, I'm a huge geek for Ettore-era Bugattis.
I'd also recommend the Marconi Museum in Tustin.
Neat,
Now where is the video of the "haul'n ass" tank running over the line of hohum family sedans…???