Toutes les Machines du Monde
North America
Arranged by rating, automobile & motorcycle sites first;
Click on the photo for each museum to visit our photo page for that museum
The Nethercutt Collection, Sylmar, California ★★★★★
This is quite simply the best of the best; a stunning collection of automobiles displayed in elegant style. Fabulous cars in an unbelievable setting. You will see in the photos that there are three separate display areas; a replica of a 1920s high end show room and a separate large display building plus the basement under the showroom. Read the website carefully before you go as a guided tour is an important part of your free visit and you need to make arrangements in advance.
The LeMay Collection, America’s Car Museum, Tacoma,Washington ★★★★★
This newly opened (2012) museum makes a great addition to the existing body of car museums in the US. The LeMay collection of over 3,000 cars is listed by Guiness as the largest private automobile collection in the world. In addition to hundreds of cars from the base collection, the museum hosts several special exhibits at any given time, adding spice to your visit whenever you go. While featuring American cars and the American automobile experience, the collection also includes some foreign examples and one of the special exhibits at the time of our visit featured a number of British cars and motorcycles. The museum is housed in a large and beautiful purpose built facility and the lighting is excellent for viewing and photography. The museum also hosts a number of special events during the year and has extensive grounds for outdoor events such as car shows. Well worth anyone’s visit when you are in the area and for those who live in the Seattle-Tacoma area an annual membership would certainly not disappoint. Highly recommended.
The Barber Vintage Motorcycle Museum, Birmingham, Alabama ★★★★★
What the Nethercutt is to automobiles, the Barber is to motorcycles. Housed in an elegant building adjacent to beautiful Barber Motorsports Park a few miles east of Birmingham, this is a wonderful place to experience motorcycles of all ages and styles. The collection is large and varied and the bikes on display are beautifully restored and displayed. Some years ago, we visited the Barber Museum in its earlier location when it was housed in a warehouse setting near downtown Birmingham. That was a wonderful experience too, but the new setting is just perfect. Don’t miss it.
Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg Museum, Auburn, Indiana ★★★★★
This is a must visit collection. Not only are the cars absolutely gorgeous, but the museum is housed in the original Auburn factory building, which is a National Historic Landmark. We have visited twice, but it was some years ago and our photos are not digital. I’ve borrowed this picture from the museum website. We hope to visit again soon, at which time we will take photos to share on this site.
Wisconsin Auto Museum, Hartford, Wisconsin ★★★★
We came across this fine museum entirely by chance. Wisconsin has been the home of a number of automotive manufacturers including Nash, Hudson, Tucker and Kissel, which was based in Hartford. The Museum is located in a very attractive period building and proved well worth the visit. Lots of great cars you won’t necessarily see in other collections.
Blackhawk Auto Museum, Danville, California ★★★★
A beautiful, albeit small, collection. Located in an upscale shopping mall and feeling more than just a bit full of it’s own importance, it is nonetheless a nice group of cars. The black building interior and rather harsh spotlighting of the cars makes photography more challenging than I’d like, but the collection is first rate and the individual cars are truly stunning.
Sterling McCall Cadillac Museum, Warrenton, Texas ★★★★
In rural Texas a ways east of Austin we happened to spot this place and pulled in for a visit. Sterling McCall is a long time Texas Cadillac dealer and car collector and the museum displays lots of cars, not all of them Cadillacs, in a stylish setting. We had a nice time and had the place all to ourselves as we were the first ones to sign the guest book in several days. The caretaker was delighted to see us.
Solvang Vintage Motorcycle Museum, Solvang, California ★★★★
A very nice collection of around a hundred vintage cycles ranging from the 1900s up to 2001. Star of the collection is one of only ten Britten motorcycles ever made, and the only one that has never been raced. Many of the bikes on display have a racing heritage and excellent posters and other memorabilia are also shown. A high percentage of the bikes are either from Europe or were raced there. There are some Harleys, Indians and other American bikes, but the majority of the collection reflects a European style road racing heritage. A very nice little museum and well worth a visit. Solvang is located about 125 miles north of Los Angeles and just a short distance inland from Santa Barbara.
Snook’s Dream Cars, Bowling Green, Ohio ★★★
A real drive by, never heard of it before, kind of experience and a real hoot. Owned and operated by Bill Snook and his son Jeff, it’s an amazingly eclectic gathering of british sports cars and Americana, but lots of fun if you happen past.
National Packard Museum, Warren, Ohio ★★★
Located in part of the former factory in the hometown of Packard Motor Company, this small but interesting museum tells the Packard story and gives you a close up view of some beautiful cars. Lots of period photographs and ad copy add to the experience.
R.E. Olds Transportation Museum, Lansing, Michigan ★★★
This is an Oldsmobile museum even though R.E. Olds was forced out of the Oldsmobile company just a few years after it was formed. It also features the REO cars and Diamond REO trucks, including the original “REO Speedwagon” fire trucks, that Ransom Eli Olds went on to develop. Lansing’s a nice town and this is a nice little museum.
National Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola, Florida ★★★★★
A great place to spend a day or two exploring the US Navy’s collection of historic war planes. A huge facility with both indoor and outdoor displays of aircraft. Lots of interesting displays and plenty of room to roam. This is our favorite of the US aviation museums we have visited.
National Museum of the US Air Force, Dayton Ohio ★★★★
Another must see for aviation buffs, although the naval aviation museum at Pensacola is considerably larger and, we think, more interesting. This museum is very dark inside and thus a difficult place to photograph.
National Air & Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Washington D.C. ★★★★
This is the ten year old annex to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum on the Mall in Washington D.C. It was built to house some of the enormous overflow from the collection that could not fit in the original space. It is a wonderful spot to visit, with lots of interesting exhibits. Your visit is free although there is a charge for parking.
War Eagles Museum, El Paso Texas ★★★★
www.war-eagles-air-museum.com/
Another fine airplane museum that is well worth a stop if you are passing through El Paso. We first visited here in 2002, but returned again in 2014 so we could get some digital photos to share with you. This is a wonderful collection of not only airplanes, but period automobiles as well. It’s a bit crowded as the collection continues to grow, but everything is lovingly maintained and many of the planes and cars are in flying/driving condition. Actually located at the airport in nearby Santa Teresa, New Mexico, it is most easily reached from El Paso.
Wright Brothers National Memorial, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina ★★★★
Site of the first heavier than air flight in 1903. A small but attractive visitor’s center that was built for the centenary in 2003 includes a reconstruction of the Wright Flier, films and artifacts, and the preserved site of the flights is just outside. An effective but very low key memorial to the historic first flight.
Tillamook Air Museum, Tillamook, Oregon ★★★
You can see this museum from the highway, which is how we found it. Housed in a WWII blimp hanger, it’s a unique spot. Funky and small but surprisingly interesting and very well organized. Stop by here on your way to the cheese factory.