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The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

car museums

Peter Mullin’s Legacy

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A moment to remember: Best of Show award, Pebble Beach, 2011, goes to the Art Deco 1934 Voisin C-25 Aerodyne of Peter and Merle Mullin. Hugues Vanhoolandt photo.

Peter Mullin passed away on September 20th at the age of 82.

VeloceToday has reported many times on the Mullin Automotive Museum he created, beginning with the opening in April of 2010. It was a commemoration of the art deco design era when exquisite art and magnificent automobiles were elements of an artful, futurist culture.*

Over the years, we have been fortunate to have four of the most seasoned, respected and knowledgeable automotive writers visit the Mullin and report back to us in detail. Larry Crane explained the museum’s display of Bugatti furniture; the late Eric Davison searched for something really different; Hugues Vanhoolandt was given a special tour and did his magic with his camera; finally, another museum traveler, Brandes Elitch, opined on the opulent Citroen celebration.

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Stanguellini’s Marvelous Museum

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Standing by the Stanguellini Ala d’Oro is the photographer’s wife, Leah Adams.

A note. We are working on a multi-part story on the restoration of Howard Banaszak’s Stanguellini 750 Bialbero (read Part 1) which will continue in January with some amazing news. In the meantime, we remembered this article about the Stanguellini Museum from 2003, and asked Howard if he had any updated photos that we could use to illustrate it. He referred us to his nephew, Rob Adams, a British car enthusiast who visited the factory recently. Photos thus ensued and will keep the fires burning on the Stanguellini front.

Story by Lorenzo Marchesini
Photos by Rob Adams

Situated in Northern Italy at the foot of the Apennine mountains, Modena is located about 15 miles west of Bologna. Modena is famous for the Italian Military Academy, a centuries old University, numerous churches and piazzas and of course as the epicenter of “Motor Valley”. As in most of Italy, the Modenese are fond of their wines, in particular Lambrusco, and their cuisine. It was here that the famous “tortellini” was invented.

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The Stanguellini Ala d’Oro

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Stanguellini's Ala d'Oro bodied Fiat 1100. Photo by Graham Gauld.

From the VeloceToday Archives, March 2012. Some time ago, reader Bill Spear emailed a photo taken from Life magazine back in the 1950s. We don’t know when or where the photo was taken but he had no idea what the car is or who built it. So of course he sent it to us. But after that was published, we hear more about this post war classic Stanguellini.

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Lane Motor Museum in Nashville

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Story by Brandes Elitch
Photos courtesy Lane Museum

From the VeloceToday Archives, February 2018

Last October I had a chance to visit the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, which had been on my list of things to do for some time. With over 300 European cars displayed on two levels, it is likely the largest museum collection of European cars in the U.S. What I found compelling is that the Lane is full of the kinds of things I like: production cars or prototypes that are obscure, rare, technically advanced for their time, designs full of passion and creativity that fulfilled all the things a collector or historian would want, but not necessarily successful in the marketplace because of various eccentricities of design or presentation. At the top of that list for obscurity would be the Tatra, of course, and while the Lane lacks the Type 77, it has just about every other Tatra.

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Fahr(T)raum Museum in Austria

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Text and photos by Aldo Zana

Salzburg, Austria, is a town immersed in music and culture, permeated with old Europe’s spirit. The Northeastern environs, the Salzkammergut, the beauty of gentle hills, perfectly cared-for meadows and yards, small villages dominated by church clock towers topped with onion-shaped domes and romantic lakes like the Mattsee are magically nostalgic.

True to the understatement of its founding family and the Austrian low-key approach to past glories, a new car museum opened on the Mattsee shore, focused on Austro Daimler and Steyr cars. [Read more…] about Fahr(T)raum Museum in Austria

The Petersen Automotive Museum of Los Angeles

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Story by Brandes Elitch
Photos courtesy The Petersen Automotive Museum of Los Angeles

According the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Bureau, a record 48.3 million tourists visited Los Angeles in 2017, which is a pretty amazing number. One of the most visited areas is the stretch of Wilshire Boulevard between Fairfax and La Brea avenues called “Miracle Mile,” the home of four, soon to be five, major museums, and a ten minute walk to the famous Grove and Farmers Market. [Read more…] about The Petersen Automotive Museum of Los Angeles

The Lane Motor Museum in Nashville

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Story by Brandes Elitch
Photos courtesy Lane Museum

Last October I had a chance to visit the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, which had been on my list of things to do for some time. With over 300 European cars displayed on two levels, it is likely the largest museum collection of European cars in the U.S. What I found compelling is that the Lane is full of the kinds of things I like: production cars or prototypes that are obscure, rare, technically advanced for their time, designs full of passion and creativity that fulfilled all the things a collector or historian would want, but not necessarily successful in the marketplace because of various eccentricities of design or presentation. At the top of that list for obscurity would be the Tatra, of course, and while the Lane lacks the Type 77, it has just about every other Tatra. [Read more…] about The Lane Motor Museum in Nashville

REVS, Cunningham, the Glen and Me

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Briggs Cunningham in the 166 Ferrari at Bridgehamption in May 1953. The author would follow the legend from Watkins Glen to Costa Mesa and finally to Naples Florida. Courtesy Briggs Cunninham III.

By Eric Davison

Bruce, Eric and Mary Davison at the Revs Institute.


[The re-opening of the Revs Institute prompted Eric Davison to pay a visit with his wife Mary and son Bruce. Davison has an unusual and long history of involvement with the early years at Watkins Glen, as recounted in his eight part Memoirs of Watkins Glen for VeloceToday. For Davison, this visit to the Revs Institute brought it all together. It began when Davison’s father brought young Eric to Watkins Glen, beginning a three generation span of Davison car enthusiasts. Next week, Revs welcomes the Davisons, where the Bu-Merc and Ferrari 166 are on display once again. Ed.]

Cunningham, Colliers, and the Glen [Read more…] about REVS, Cunningham, the Glen and Me

Museo dell’Automobile, Part 2

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Last of the Red Hot Alfas, Maseratis, and Ferraris.

Story and Photos by Jonathan Sharp

Last week we took our readers to the top floor of the Museo dell’Automobile in Turin. This week, Jonathan and Jose Sharp complete the tour, taking us down to the first floor and the ground floor. Click on photos to see much larger image.

The first floor which contains the exhibit “Man and the Car,” is spread over eight rooms. It explains “the relationship the modern world (meaning us) has with the car.” This display contains a wide selection of automotive jewels, and the culmination of this portion of the museum is the display of Formula cars. [Read more…] about Museo dell’Automobile, Part 2

Musings at the Mullin

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Photo by Hugues Vanhoolandt.

As we have all learned, Eric Davison has been around cars for a very long time, from his Watkins Glen days with his father to haunting car and art museums with his wife. So when we found he was going to the Mullin, we asked him to bring back a report on something off the beaten path. Said Davison of the assignment after he returned, “It sounds so very easy but when you are in the Mullin Museum and basically overwhelmed by the magnificence of the cars and of the building’s French decor and the general ambience, the task becomes more complicated.” So did he succeed and bring back a few surprises? We think so—
[Read more…] about Musings at the Mullin

Making the Mummies Dance

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Fred Simeone in the Alfa Monza s/n 221112 which placed second in the 1933 Mille Miglia, is followed by Curator Kevin Kelly in the 8C 2900B MM Spyder s/n 412031 which won the Mille Miglia in 1938.

A hands on approach brings ancient Alfas to life at the Simeone Foundation

By Pete Vack
Photos by Harry Hurst

Thomas Hoving assumed the directorship of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1967 and began a number of building projects and renovations. He brought new life to the aging Museum and was often said to be “making the mummies dance”, a phrase he used to title his best selling memoirs.
[Read more…] about Making the Mummies Dance

The French at the Schlumpf

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schlumpf
Panhard-Levassor CD Coupe. With only 702 cc, this CD (for Charles Deutsch) coupe won the Index of Performance at Le Mans in 1962 driven by the team of Gilhaudin and Bertaut.

Photos by Lorenzo Marchesini

There are collectors and there are Collectors, those whose passions lead to strange obsessions, like the Asphalt Museum in Sacramento founded by Scott Gordon. On to the median, we can visit Brian and Sue Radam’s British Lawnmower Museum. And if we really want to get nit picky, we can call on Graham Barker, from Brisbane Australia, whose belly button lint collection is the best in the world. But few collections are in the same class as the Brothers Schlumpf.
[Read more…] about The French at the Schlumpf

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