The NASCAR Hall of Fame and museum in Charlotte, North Carolina, opened this week a new exhibition, “1948 Proving Grounds,” examining the early days of the stock car racing’s organized competition.
The exhibition, which runs through January 2019, features five period-correct cars, the 1948 NASCAR trophy, and nearly three dozen photographs covering the NASCAR’s inaugural season.
“Stock car racing faced an uncertain future in 1948, as rival sanctioning bodies and promoters wrestled for control of the sport,” the museum notes in its announcement. “This is the story of that first tumultuous but ultimately triumphant NASCAR season: a tale of vision, a tale of will, a tale of risk-takers, thrill-seekers, and men willing to gamble anything and everything on the dusty proving grounds.”
The exhibit examines NASCAR’s birth, the Ford coupes that dominated racing at the time, “Heroes and Hell-Raisers,” the sport’s “red clay” roots, and the 52-race Modified Division season that came down to a one-race, winner-take-all championship battle on November 14 at Columbus, Georgia, between Fonty Flock and Red Byron.
KC museum celebrates Military Month
July is Military Month at the Kansas City Auto Museum in Olathe, Kansas, where a special exhibit includes a 1918 Ford Model T one-ton military (WWI) truck, a WWII Jeep and Jeep amphibious vehicle, a Cushman “Package Kar” scooter, a WWII ambulance, as well as Jeeps from the Korean and Vietnam wars and a 1968 M-274 “Mule.”
Jaguars invade Britain’s Beaulieu museum
A record 415 marque-specific vehicles turned out this past weekend for the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu’s annual Simply Jaguar rally in England.
The People’s Choice award went to Jim Bradford for his 2014 Jaguar XF R-S Sportbrake, which Bradford has modified by lowing the suspension, uprating the braking system and adding a sports exhaust. Runners-up were a 2005 Jaguar S-type R and a 1963 E-type.
The British museum hosts its Simply Japanese gathering on July 29.
Special events this weekend
Muscle Car City in Punta Gorda, Florida, will host a National Collector Car Appreciation Day car show co0hosted by the SW Florida region of the Vintage Motor Car Club of America on Friday, July 13, from 9 a.m. until noon.
On July 13, and again on the 27th and 29th, the National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park offers a “Corvette Experience,” that includes driving instruction and laps at speed at the wheel of a 2017 Stingray Z51 at the NCM Motorsports Park and a VIP tour of the museum. On July 28, Corvette owners will have a special opportunity to exercise their own vehicles on the Motorsports Park circuit.
July 14-15 is “Hoods Up” weekend at the Newport Car Museum in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. More than half of the cars in the collection will have their engines exposed for viewing.
On July 14, the Saratoga Automobile Auction in upstate New York will host an “Instant Consignment Day” with the Saratoga Auto Auction appraising, photographing and consigning vehicles for its fund-raising auction scheduled for September 21-22.
July 14 is Bastille Day Demo Day at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia, where the cars showcased and exercised in the parking lot will be a 1907 Renault that won the 1907 American 24-hour race, a 1936 Bugatti 57G Tank that won at Le Mans in 1937, a 1936/48 Delahaye that raced four times at Le Mans, and a 1938 Peugeot D’arl’mat Le Mans that did the famed French round-the-clock race in 1938.
The LeMay Collections at Marymount in Tacoma, Washington, stages Beer, Brats & Boogie! on July 14.
Dave and Linda Adler will autograph their new book, Extreme Panteras, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on July 14 at Autobooks-Aerobooks in Burbank, California.
The British Motor Museum hosts its 10th Old Ford Rally on July 15. The event, which is expected to feature 400 classic vehicles, including commercial vehicles and tractors, is the largest of its kind in England.
England’s Beaulieu offers, for the first time, woodworking courses at the Shipwrights’ Workshop at Buckler’s Hard led by expert sawyer Barbara Czoch. Courses are offered July 15, August 11-12 and September 15-16.
Mark your calendar
The Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, California, will stage an “Under the Hood Day” on July 17 with Larry Crane talking about French engine design at 10:15 a.m.
Col. H. Donald Capps, U.S. Army (ret.) will offer a photographic exploration of the Jeep’s role in World War II, from early development through the Allied victory in a program July 18 at 1:30 p.m. at the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana.
The AACA Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania, offers Model T driving experience classes July 18, 21 and 28 and August 4 and 11, September 8 and 9 and October 20.
The Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Michigan, welcomes its Class of 2018 at a gala ceremony July 19. Those being enshrined are Kiichiro Toyoda, founder of Toyota; Tom and Ray Magliozzi of Car Talk radio fame; Frank Stronach, founder of automotive supplier Magna International; and Mike Jackson, chairman of AutoNation dealerships.
The Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, offers a special tour of the Nissan Heritage Collection on July 20. For details, see the museum’s website.
America on Wheels in Allentown, Pennsylvania, stages Classics & Cruisers on Hamilton between 6th and 9th from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on July 21.
Tacoma Power’s Electric Vehicle Ride & Drive takes place July 21 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. at LeMay – America’s Car Museum in Washington State. At 2 p.m., the museum opens its CARnival, a family oriented car show that will include a Hagerty Youth Judging program and viewing the Disney Pixar movie Cars 3 on a 40-foot outdoor screen.
The Owls Head Transportation Museum in Maine hosts a truck and tractor show July 21-22.
It’s the new All-Years Corvette Show and Swap Meet at the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan, on July 22. The museum also hosts a collector car cruise-in every Wednesday evening throughout the summer months.
The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles hosts a Japanese Car Cruise-in and Super Street Meet starting at 9 a.m. July 22. More than 300 street, show and track vehicles are expected.
It’s “Supercar Saturday” on July 28 at the Brooklands Museum in England, where high-performance vehicles — vintage and modern — will take part in runs up the Brooklands Test Hill and on-track demonstrations.
The Kansas City Automotive Museum’s second annual The Great Car Show is scheduled from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. on July 29 at the National WWI Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri. As many as 450 vehicles can be accommodated.
The Seal Cove Auto Museum in Maine stages “The Fine Art of Murder,” a murder mystery dinner event, starting at 6 p.m. on July 29.
It’s the inaugural “Pride of Our Rides” car show August 4 at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia where museum volunteers, those who help with Demo Days and other museum programs, will stage a show of their own cars. The show is scheduled to run from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.
England’s Beaulieu Museum hosts its Simply Japanese car show on July 29 and a new Supercar Evolution event August 4-5.
The British Motor Museum offers its fifth annual Classic Van & Pick Up Show on August 5.
The Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia has added a second session for its Race Car Summer Camp, July 30-August 3. The camp will use motorsports to explore STEM subjects, and each camper will design and race a CO2-powered car. For information and registration, visit the museum website.
The Seal Cove Auto Museum in Maine presents a watercolor workshop with artist Judy Taylor on August 8-9. The workshop will feature vintage antique auto advertising and will use a 1931 Franklin as a “live” model. To register, visit the museum website.
August 9 is “It’s Not All About the Cars” day at the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, California, where tours of the museum’s art collection will be featured.
Ed Garten, vice president of the Society of Automotive Historians and dean emeritus and professor at the University of Dayton will present “The Volkswagen Beetle: From Hitler to Hippie to Icon” at 1:30 p.m. on August 15 at the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana.
The Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia has scheduled its 10th annual Motorcycle Exhibition for August 18-September 8 and promises a display of more than 40 historic bikes spanning 90 years. Themes this year include Indian Motorcycles 1902-1953 and Italian Motorcycles 1938-1988.
The LeMay Collections at Marymount in Tacoma, Washington, will stage its annual car show on August 25 with more than 1,500 vehicles available for viewing, along with antique dolls, pin cushions, radios and more.
“Riverside Revisited” is the theme of a special tribute celebration of the historic racing circuit scheduled for September 8 at the Automobile Driving Museum in El Segundo, California, just south of the runways of LAX.
The Kansas City Auto Museum will be among the participants in the American Royal BBQ Car Show, scheduled for September 15 at Kansas Speedway.
WhatNASCAR really needs to do is to figure out how to make their races competitive again – like in the "old days". Who wants to sit and watch cars run in circles for hours for a few minutes of real racing. Cars separated by intervals of 3 or 5 or 15 or ?? seconds is BORING!