Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CLASSIC CARS IN MICHIGAN
More than sand dunes, beaches and Mackinac Island fudge, Michigan is synonym-
ous with cars. While the connection hasn't been so positive in recent years, the
state commemorates its glory days via several auto museums. The following fleets
are within a few hours' drive of the Motor City.
Henry Ford Museum
(
Click here
)
This Dearborn museum is loaded with vintage
cars, including the first one Henry Ford ever built. In adjacent Greenfield Village you
can ride in a Model T that rolled off the assembly line in 1923.
Automotive Hall of Fame
( 313-240-4000;
www.automotivehalloffame.org
; 21400 Oak-
wood Blvd; adult/child $8/4; 9am-5pm Wed-Sun)
Next door to the Henry Ford Mu-
seum, the interactive Auto Hall focuses on the people behind famed cars, such as
Mr Ferdinand Porsche and Mr Soichiro Honda.
Gilmore Car Museum
( 269-671-5089;
www.gilmorecarmuseum.org
;
6865 Hickory Rd;
adult/child $12/9; 9am-5pm Mon-Fri, to 6pm Sat & Sun)
North of Kalamazoo along
Hwy 43, this museum complex offers 22 barns filled with 120 vintage autos, includ-
ing 15 Rolls Royces dating back to a 1910 Silver Ghost.
RE Olds Transportation Museum
(
Click here
)
Twenty vintage cars sit in the old
Lansing City Bus Garage, including the first Oldsmobile, which was built in 1897.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Around Detroit
Stunning Americana and good eatin' lie just down the road from Detroit.
Dearborn
Dearborn is 10 miles west of downtown Detroit and home to two of the USA's finest mu-
Oakwood Blvd; adult/child $17/12.50; 9:30am-5pm)
contains a fascinating wealth of Amer-
ican culture, such as the chair Lincoln was sitting in when he was assassinated, the pres-
idential limo in which Kennedy was killed, the hot-dog-shaped Oscar Mayer Wienermo-
bile (photo op!) and the bus on which Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat. Don't
worry: you'll get your vintage car fix here, too. Parking is $5. The adjacent outdoor
Greenfield Village
(adult/child $24/17.50; 9:30am-5pm daily mid-Apr-Oct, Fri-Sun Nov &
Dec)
features historic buildings shipped in from all over the country, reconstructed and re-
