There’s not really a Porsche 550 Spyder leading the pack of Silver Arrows at the Mercedes-Benz Museum. But to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Porsche Museum, its friendly crosstown rival created this photo montage and is offering free admission to Porsche employees from January 31-February 10.
“Good friends are always welcome,” the Mercedes museum said in its invitation to the Porsche employees.
“We send our sincere congratulations to the Porsche Museum and hope our museum ally continues to be as successful as it has been to date,” said Christian Boucke, head of Mercedes-Benz Classic. “With the Porsche Museum and Mercedes-Benz Museum, Stuttgart boasts no less than two internationally acclaimed automotive museums. One of the vital reasons many visitors from around the globe come to our city to visit both institutions.”
Since 2016, the two museums have collaborated with discounted admission rates for those visiting both facilities. But the link between the two brands far pre-dates the new museums: In 1906, Ferdinand Porsche was technical director at Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft in Austria and later moved to Untertürkheim as a member of the executive board.
Several vehicles he developed, including the 1924 Targa Florio racing car, the 1927 12/55 hp and the 1928 Type SS are on display at the Mercedes-Benz museum.
Museums benefit from Shelby Mustang auction
Only 37 examples of the 2015 Ford Shelby Mustang GT350R were produced. One of them was owned by Bruce Meyer, who donated it for sale at the recent Barrett-Jackson collector car auction, where it sold for $500,000, which will go to The Henry Ford (museum) in Dearborn, Michigan, and the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. The car was purchased at the auction by well-known collector and museum supporter Ron Pratte.
Meyer was founding chairman of the Petersen’s board of directors and several of his racing cars will be featured at the Petersen in its new exhibit, “Winning Numbers: The First, The Fastest, The Famous,” which opens February 23.
Corvette museums welcomes federal employees
During the partial federal government shut down, the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, will offer free admission to federal employees and up to three members of their immediate family.
The museum also announced that is has purchased more than 203 acres of property adjacent to its Motorsports Park. The museum held an option on the property since 2010 and closed on the deal January 23, 2019, it said.
“While no immediate plans are in the works for the land, the Museum wanted to secure it for future development,” it said in its announcement.
“In the meantime, the property will continue to be utilized for farming purposes.”
The purchase nearly doubles the Motorsports Park property’s footprint.
EU committee would exempt museum vehicles from accident insurance
There has been a controversy within the European motorsports community over proposed legislation that would extend the need for accident liability insurance from the road to the race track. That same law would apply to cars in museums.
However, the EU’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection committee has proposed a compromise amendment that would exempt small vehicles such as electric bicycles, vehicles used solely on racing circuits, and vehicles not likely to be in traffic, including those undergoing restoration, stored away for seasonal use, or on display in museums.
Hemmings Daily has been following these developments closely and reports that the committee’s amendment, which passed by a 34-1 vote, is expected to go to the full European parliament sometime in February.
Special events this weekend
“Tucker: How It All Began” is the subject of a gallery talk on January 26 from 10 until 11:30 a.m at the AACA Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania, where speakers will include Tucker historian Mark Lieberman and John Tucker Jr., Preston Tucker’s grandson.
From January 24-27, the museum also will have a display of cars at the Pennsylvania Auto Show in Harrisburg.
“The Car Detective” is the theme for Demo Day from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. January 26 at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia. “What does it take to be a real car detective?” the museum asks. To help provide answers, featured cars for the day are the Stutz Black Hawk Challenger, a Duesenberg Grand Prix racer, a Mercedes-Benz 300SL and a BMW 328.
Zombie apocalypse? You’ll see more than fiberglass-bodied sports cars if you visit the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, January 25-26. The museum will be the host site for the Vette City Con, a horror/pop culture/sci-fi event.
Muscle Car City in Punta Gorda, Florida, stages its monthly auto flea market Sunday from 7 a.m. until 1 p.m.
The winter speaker series at the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan, continues Sunday afternoon with author and historian Jim Craft presenting “The Good Roads Movement.”
The Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum in northeastern Indiana offers its annual “Duesy of a Day” bridal show Sunday, from noon until 3 p.m.
Mark your calendar
As part of its 25th anniversary celebration, the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles will offer free admission through February 2 to LA United School District students in grades K-12 and will offer special STEAM-base programs on science, arts, match, etc.).
The California Agriculture Museum in Woodland, California, offers free admission February 2 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The museum claims the nation’s most unique collection of tractors and agriculture artifacts.
The Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana, is extending the run of its “Ten Cars That Changed the World” exhibit through February 3.
Cancelled by weather in January, the first Sunday Drives program of the year at the California Automobile Museum in Sacramento has been rescheduled for February 3. The museum’s special exhibit, “Hitting The Road: Road Trippin’ Through the Ages,” closes February 25.
“From Gas Station to Space Station: How NASA Conquered Low-Earth Orbit” is the title for a special exhibit running through July 30 at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where the museum and NASA celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.
The California Automobile Museum in Sacramento hosts “Tinker Time” beginning at 11 a.m. the first Saturday of each month, including February 2. The theme for 2019 is car design and it’s a “hands dirty” learning experience using modeling clay, “just like the professionals do,” the museum notes.
“The Goodwood Story” will be presented February 2, as part of the speaker series at the Blackhawk Museum in Danville, California, where Harry Sherrard, who was involved in the revival of racing at the Goodwood Estate, will discuss Goodwood’s history, from the founding of the Dukedom of Richmond in 1672 by King Charles II to the estate’s history with the Royal Air Ford and the current Goodwood Revival and Festival of Speed.
The Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum in northeast Indiana hosts The Bootleggers Ball from 6 to 9 p.m. on February 9.
A 1968 Fiat 500 F will be featured as the Museum of Modern Art in New York City opens its “The Value of Good Design” exhibit which runs from February 10 until May 27.
“Pint with the Past” is a beer tasting fundraiser February 16 at the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan.
In conjunction with the February 16-24 school holiday in England, the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu will host a Hands-on Half-Term event featuring its Chitty Chitty Bang Bang 50 Years exhibit with students invited to make like Caractacus Potts and create their own balloon cars and then see how fast they’ll go.
During the same dates in February, the British Motor Museum at Beaulieu will offer special children’s programs on jet-powered cars daily from 11 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., with children building third own “jet powered” (O.K., it’s the air emerging from a balloon) cars.
LeMay – America’s Car Museum hosts its Bootleggers Blowout party from 8 to 11 p.m. on February 22.
February 23 is Trivia Night at the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana, where the first of 100 questions will be asked at 7 p.m. Teams are asked to register in advance by calling the museum.
The Seal Cove Auto Museum in Maine hots its Brass Club speakeasy gala on March 9 from 7 until 9 p.m.
The 31st induction ceremony at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in Daytona Beach, Florida, takes place March 11-12. Inductees will be Augie Duesenberg, Dario Franchitti, Phil Remington, Don Schumacher, Kevin Schwantz, Tony Stewart and Linda Vaughn.
The Miles Through Time Automotive Museum in Toccoa, in Georgia, stages a car club cruise-in on March 23.
“RADwood: Cleveland Goes Rad” is the title for an exhibit/experience running through March 24 at the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum in Cleveland. Staged in partnership with RADwood car shows, the exhibit will celebrate 1980s and ‘90s car culture and will showcase vehicles, clothing, music “and everything in between.”
LeMay Collections at Marymount in Tacoma, Washington, hosts the LeMay Tea Party on March 30.
The AACA Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania, is organizing a bus trip to the New York International Auto Show on April 27.
The NASCAR Hall of Fame museum in Charlotte, North Carolina, opens a special “RCR 50: Only in America” exhibit featuring 50 years of Richard Childress Racing in May.
The National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, has opened registration of its Museum In Motion trip to the 24 hours of Le Mans race in 2019. The dates are June 6-17 and the trip includes four nights in London and three nights in Paris.
“The Car. The Future. Me” is the title of an exhibit scheduled to open July 13 at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon, UK, to explore “futuristic car design and (to) challenge your idea of how we will interact with the cars for the future,” the museum said.
The Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Michigan, inducts new members Sergio Marchionne, the late chief executive of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles; Janet Guthrie, the first woman to qualify as a driver in the Indianapolis 500; Richard “Dick” Dauch, co-founder of American Axle Manufacturing; and Patrick Ryan, creator of the first auto dealership finance and insurance department, on July 18 in Detroit.
On August 3, the British Motor Museum will be the site of the Classic Mini Mosaic world-record attempt that is expected to draw more than 600 classic Minis. The following day the museum will be the site of the National Metro & Mini Show.
The National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, inducts racer Briggs Cunningham, Corvette designer Tom Peters, and enthusiast Dollie Cole, who also was the wife of then-GM president Ed Cole. into its hall of fame on August 30.
Does your local car museum have special events or exhibitions planned? Let us know. Email [email protected].
