On June 2, the Porsche Museum in Germany hosts a special display of more than 120 privately owned 914 models and opens its special exhibition celebrating the mid-engine sports car on its 50th anniversary.
The exhibit opens that day with a series of panel presentations on the car’s development and history. Until July 7, the museum will feature 12 exhibits showcasing the 914, including special 914-based vehicles by designer Albrecht Graf von Goertz and by French coachbuilder Heuliez.
“In the mid-1960s, Porsche was striving to expand its position in the market with a sports car in the promising segment beneath the 911,” the museum said in announcing its exhibit. “However, such a project would not have been viable for the small company on its own.
“The Zuffenhausen-based car manufacturer found a partner in Volkswagen, since at the time VW was looking for a successor to its then rather outdated Type 34 sports coupé, better known as the Karmann Ghia. Ferry Porsche and VW director Heinrich Nordhoff shook hands on a joint project in the mid-1960s.”
But the program nearly ended when Nordhoff died unexpectedly in 1968. Ferry Porsche and Nordhoff’s successor, Kurt Lotz, worked out a new agreement including the VW-Porsche sales company, and the 914 was produced and sold as the 914 with a 4-cylinder engine from Volkswagen (the company’s first engine with fuel injection) and as the 914/6 with a 6-cylinder engine from Porsche. (The cars were sold by Porsche dealers in the U.S.)
Two special 914 S models with 8-cylinder boxer engines from the Porsche 908 race car were produced, one for Ferry Porsche and the other for Ferdinand Piech, head of Porsche vehicle development.
Porsche produced 115,631 of the 914 models from 1969-75 and 3,338 of the 914/6 vehicles.
Supermods featured at NE museum
Supermodified racers have been a mainstay of motorsports in the northeastern U.S. and the North East Motor Sports Museum in Loudon, New Hampshire, has opened a special exhibit honoring the cars, the stars who drive them and those who prepare the cars and those who promote the races.
The exhibit runs through October 2019 and includes a cut-down supermod built by the Volante brothers and raced by Gavin Couper in the 1960s, the Ed Perkins-built roadster that crashed at Thompson Speedway and hasn’t been seen for more than 40 years, one of only two V6 supermods driven by “Torrid” Ted Parker, the Shea Concrete-owned that Ross Wood drove to four championships, as well as cars driven by Ed West and Ollie Silva, and Bentley Warren’s 1969 Oswego Classic trophy.
Mustang museum hosts Fords-only car shows
The Mustang Owner’s Museum near Charlotte, North Carolina, has announced monthly “Fords at the Museum” car shows to be held the last Saturday of each month from 7 a.m. until 10 a.m. starting June 29.
The museum has more than 50 Mustangs on display. Among the favorite with visitors is a 1965 fastback on loan from the Marina family.
Jesus Marina’s father lived in Mexico City when the Mustang was introduced and, at the time, only cars made in Mexico could be sold in that country. So he traveled to the U.S. at the end of 1964 and bought the fastback in Tropical Turquoise.
Jesus, who was 8 years old when his father bought the Mustang, inherited the car and spent 6 years restoring it. The car has a 289cid V8, Cruise-O-Matic transmission and the Rally Pac option.
Summer camps at the Simeone
For the second year, the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia offers a series of summer camps. Depending on the session, the camps are designed for those 6-11 or 11-15 years of age.
Subjects include car engineering and a junior S.T.E.A.M. program. The week-long sessions start June 17 and run through August 9. Cost is $200 per week.
For more information, visit the museum summer camp website.
Seal Cove celebrates 10th anniversary
The Seal Cove Auto Museum on Maine’s Mount Desert Island celebrated its 10th anniversary this week.
Special events this weekend
The IMS Museum presents the 21st annual Indianapolis Historic Racing Exhibition on May 23-25 when around 70 Indianapolis 500 racing cars are expected to return to the track for exhibition laps and to be displayed in the museum parking lot inside Turn 2. The event is open to cars that raced at Indy between 1911 and 1994.
Rapid Response, a documentary movie exploring motorsports safety, makes its world premiere May 24 at the Indiana State Museum’s IMAX Theater in Indianapolis.
Demo Day at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia features “The History of Le Mans, Part 1 – Patriotic Pride” and will feature a 1927 Bentley 3-liter Speed, 1929 Stutz Supercharged Le Mans, 1929 duPont Le Mans Speedster, 1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Le Mans and, a as bonus, a 2019 Ford GT. The event begins at 11 a.m.
Britain’s National Motor Museum and the Montagu home at Beaulieu will host a major exhibition of sculpture from May 25 through July 14. “Sculpture at Beaulieu” will feature more than 350 works by more than 60 sculptors.
From May 25 to June 2, the British Motor Museum encourages families to explore car design with the “Back to the Drawing Board Mini Trail.” At 1:30 p.m. daily, costumed characters Victor or Patsy will lead family-oriented museum tours.
Muscle Car City in Punta Gorda, Florida, hosts its monthly auto flea market from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on May 26.
The California Automobile Museum in Sacramento hosts a Memorial Day Car Show on May 27.
Mark your calendar
The Museo dell’Automoibile di Torino in Italy opens a new exhibition, “Over the Future – 30 Years of IED in Turin” on May 29. The exhibit, which celebrates the IED design company and the cars it has styled, runs through September 2.
The Canadian Automotive Museum in Oshawa, Ontario, offers a free downtown automotive walking tour at 1 p.m. on May 31 to explore why Oshawa became known as Canada’s Motor City.
On June 1, the Newport Car Museum in Rhode Island celebrates its second anniversary by introducing eight new vehicles to its collection, including a 1956 Porsche 356A Speedster, a 1964 Shelby Cobra 289 factory competition car, a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T Hemi and a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle 465 LS6.
The Murphy Auto Museum in Oxnard, California hosts its monthly “Muscles & Mojo at The Murphy” car show on June 2 from 7 until 9 a.m.
The Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, Connecticut, will stage its second “Barracudas, Sting Rays & More Show Cars from the Sea” car show on June 8.
The Vauxhall Heritage Centre in Luton, England, opens its collection of 75 vehicles only once a year. This year that event is June 9 and features the 50th anniversary of the Bedford CF van and the 40th birthday of the British-built Astra model.
LeMay Collections in Tacoma, Washington, stages LeMay Motorcycle Days from June 13-23 with 200 motorcycles on exhibit and with rounds of motorcycle soccer.
The AACA Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania, stages its annual Father’s Day Weekend car show with a car coral and flea market. At 3 p.m. on June 15, the museum also presents a special program on the restoration of Tucker 1044 and at 10 a.m. on June 16, a program on the Tucker Tin Goose.
“Daredevils: A Century of Spine-tingling Spectacles,” a special summer exhibit, opens June 15 at the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee.
The Blackhawk Museum in Danville, California, will stage its annual Father’s Day car show on June 16.
Author Dan Albert will discuss his book, Are We There Yet? The American Automobile Past, Present, and Driverless, from 2:30 to 4 p.m. June 22 at the Simeone Foundation Automobile Museum in Philadelphia.
The Miles Through Time museum in Toccoa, Georgia, hosts its second annual car show from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. on June 22.
The Lions Drag Strip Museum in Rancho Dominguez, California, holds its grand opening June 22.
The Murphy Auto Museum in Oxnard, California, hosts its seventh annual vintage trailer show from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on June 29, with more than 40 vintage trailers and campers on display.
LeMay – America’s Car Museum in Tacoma, Washington, will be the finish line for the 2019 Great Race and plans to celebrate with a “Shine Time” car show on June 30.
The British Motor Museum hosts its seventh annual “BMC & Leyland Show” on July 7, featuring vehicles produced by the British Motor Corporation, British Leyland and The Rover Group. Featured will be the 90th anniversary of the BSA front-drive car, the 60th of the Morris Oxford Farina, the 50th of the Austin Maxi, the 30th of the Rover R8 and the 25th of the Rover SK3. The show also celebrates Triumph National Weekend.
“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.
The North East Motor Sports Museum in Loudon, New Hampshire, will honor NASCAR champion and New England native Joey Logano at a special event July 19.
From the 1960s into the 1990s, the Hale Farm & Village in Cleveland hosted a car show. On July 21, the tradition returns with a car show that will include vehicles from the Crawford Auto-Aviation Collection and those from private collections and other entrants parked among the farm and village’s historic buildings.
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 Dollie Cole, Corvette enthusiast and widow of former GM president Ed Cole, into its hall of fame on August 30.
“Legends of Speed,” a showcase of nearly two dozen historic racing cars, opens November 2 at the Phoenix Art Museum.
Does your local car museum have special events or exhibitions planned? Let us know. Email [email protected].