Gilmore Car Museum

 As we travel, Trish and I both enjoy visiting automobile museums.  We have been to many such museums all over the United States, but, we were not prepared for the car Museum we found in Hickory Corners, Michigan.

There is nothing in Hickory Corners, an unincorporated crossroads in rural central Michigan, except the Gilmore Car Museum.  Started in 1966 with a personal collection, the Gilmore Museum is now the largest classic car museum in the United States displaying well over five hundred beautiful classic vehicles.

In addition to the multiple galleries in the main building, there are seven other large buildings with cars on display.  There are no ropes, so you can get up close to the vehicles. They even have open windows so you can see well into the interior.

There is one entire building housing only Packards as well as many other Packards throughout the collection. There is also an entire building filled with Pierce-Arrows, something you don’t see everyday. Trish is photographing the archer on the radiator cap.

The restorations are exquisite and the rarity of some vehicles is spectacular. There is a special gallery of car makes from Michigan that no longer exist.  The largest vehicle we have ever seen was this gigantic Columbia.

It is obvious that most of the large luxury models were driven by chauffeurs and never by their wealthy owners.  If Trish and I were to choose a vehicle to be driven in by a chauffeur, this sixteen cylinder Cadillac would be acceptable.  It was a great visit and we will come again…our eyes got full before we exhausted the collection.