“Glory Road” has been “a prominent focal point” of the NASCAR Hall of Fame since the facility opened in 2010, and on January 11th that exhibit will be updated by the museum’s first guest-curator, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The exhibit will feature 18 vehicles personally selected by the former NASCAR racing star.
“We are excited to present some of NASCAR’s most iconic premier series championship cars from the eyes of one of our biggest fans and ambassadors, Dale Earnhardt, Jr.,” Winston Kelley, executive director, is quoted in the announcement.
“I have always been inspired by Dale Jr.’s sincere interest in, and appreciation for, the history of our great sport,” Kelley added. “Having Dale guest curate one of our most recognizable exhibits following his days as a full-time driver has always been one of my personal goals. With so much from which to choose, selecting a theme, and narrowing that theme to 18 cars from a list of 75-100 available cars, is a very tough task. I know I can speak for my fellow NASCAR fans in thanking Dale for once again giving back to the sport he so dearly loves.”
“Dale Jr.: Glory Road Champions” will be featured on the facility’s curved-track display space.
“Having the chance to help choose the cars for the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s newest installment of Glory Road was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up,” Earnhardt said. “Everyone knows how much I enjoy learning about the history of our sport and sharing that history with people, and with this, I’m able to play a small role in what we share with fans who visit the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
“I definitely wanted to represent a broad history of the sport as a whole, so we could also see the progression of the cars. It’s really cool when they’re all there together and you can see all that’s changed in the technology from where we started to where we are today.”
Students create vintage-style advertising art
Britain’s National Motor Museum at Beaulieu has a collection of original art used in historic Shell petroleum advertisements. Each year it invites students to visit the museum, examine its car collection and to see the posters and use them to inspire new artwork to be featured in the display. In 2019, those students came from the Oak Lodge School for those with special educational needs.
The high-school age students produced their designs using print, textiles, painting and drawing. School headteacher Sharon Burt noted that the students “worked independently, using new techniques and skills to deliver a very high standard of work that precisely met the criteria of their brief. It was wonderful to see that each student had strong and individual ideas and that that translated into an amazing range of finished posters.”
“The diversity and skill shown in their finished artwork is so impressive and they have brilliantly executed the brief that we gave them,” said Nicky Balfour Penney, manager of the museum’s Shell Heritage Art Collection, which includes advertising posters, original paintings, cartoons and press advertisements, as well as Shell County Guide books.
Museums seek new leadership, and a mechanic
We reported recently that the Seal Cove Auto Museum in Maine has an opening for a new executive director. So does the San Diego Automotive Museum.
And The Henry Ford museum in Dearborn, Michigan, has an opening for a full-time antique vehicles mechanic.
Special events this weekend
The Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia opens its Best of Britain 2020 exhibition with a special event at 6 p.m. on January 3. This also is the final weekend for the museum’s Ford v Ferrari exhibition, which closes January 5.
The Legends of Speed exhibition of historic racing cars continues at the Phoenix Art Museum, where from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on January 3, the hoods on the Lancia D24 and Maserati 450 S will be open to showcase the engines in those vehicles.
Mark your calendar
The British Motor Museum at Gaydon hosts the Historic Rally Car Register’s Open Day on January 11 as the HRCR celebrates the 60th anniversary of the RAC’s first use of forest stages. The day at the museum will showcase “how that diversification has led to a full and multi-disciplined sport today” and will feature rally co-driver Mike Broad in a series of forums covering the various aspects of rallying.
The Newport Car Museum in Rhode Island plans a “Hoods Up” weekend January 11-12 with engines exposed on more than 70 cars.
The Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan, has set the schedule for its 7th annual Winter Lecture Series, which begins at 3 p.m. on January 12, with “The Polar Bears of WWI, A Michigan Connection” featuring historian Mike Grobbel. collector Kevin Fleck will present “Cole Motor Company – The Standardized Car” on January 19 and historian Don LaCombe will offer “The Ford Model T, How It Changed the World” on January 26. The series runs through April 26. To see the full schedule, visit the museum website.
LeMay – America’s Car Museum in Tacoma, Washington, offers a brown-bag lunch program, “If Cars Could Talk in 1939,” a presentation by Vic Varkonyi about the state of automotive technology in the pre-war era, beginning January 14 at 11:30 a.m.
On January 18, from noon until 4 p.m., the LeMay – America’s Car Museum in Tacoma, Washington, plans a family pinewood derby car racing program as part of its Steam Day exploring science and math.
The Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia features British cars — a 1927 Bentley 3-Liter Speed, 1934 MG K3 Magnette, and 1953 Jaguar C-type — at its England at Le Mans Demo Day from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. on January 25.
January 26 will be a Family Sunday at the BMW Museum in Germany, where from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. the museum becomes a MakerSpace with families learning about 3D printing and with children 8-and-older printing 3D pens.
The Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan, hosts its annual Pint with the Past fund-raising gala on February 15 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The Murphy Auto Museum in Oxnard, California, plans at Grand Re-opening Party for February 22 to celebrate its new location.
Tacoma, Washington, museums including LeMay – America’s Car Museum, plan a special K-12 educator workshop exploring science, technology, engineering, art and math on February 29.
“Drive the Blues Away” with a “Viva Las Vegas” night March 13 from 8 p.m. until 11 p.m. at the LeMay – America’s Car Museum in Tacoma, Washington.
The Mustang Owner’s Museum near Charlotte, North Carolina, is making plans for National Mustang Day with several days of activities, including a test and tune on April 16, at Mooresville Dragway; a driver’s choice cruise to various NASCAR race shops or to a winery, distillery and brewery before the Mustang Hall of Fame induction on April 17; a “day at the museum” program on April 18; and a cruise to Mustang specialist Innovative Performance Technologies on April 19.
The National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, re-opens its Performance Gallery on April 22. The gallery closed on November 20 for “a much-needed refresh.”
Does your local car museum have special events or exhibitions planned? Let us know. Email [email protected].
