HomeNews and EventsHuge Shelby collection being opened as Southern California museum

Huge Shelby collection being opened as Southern California museum

Our weekly roundup of car museum news and notes

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A new museum devoted to cars created by Carroll Shelby opens in mid-October in Irvine, California, when Ted and Rae Segerstrom welcome visitors to the Segerstrom Shelby Event Center and Museum.

The 41,000-square-foot facility was purchased by the Segerstroms in 2016 and renovations began in 2019. More than 80 vehicles will be on display.

“It has been a dream of ours since 2009 to create a place of celebration, education and preservation of Shelbys, and we are extremely excited to open the doors to the public and share the love and passion we have for Carroll Shelby, his cars, antique neon signs and gas pumps,” the couple is quoted in a news release.

“We first met Carroll in January 2004. We were fortunate to see Carroll at various events throughout the years and get to know this iconic man. We are thrilled to share our collection with his fans, performance car enthusiasts and younger generations who are yet to learn how Carroll shaped the history of the performance cars and automotive industries.”

The Segerstrom collection is reported to be the fourth largest of Shelby vehicles. Among those moving to the museum are three low production serial number Cobras, including 1002; the only two 1968 1/2 GT500KR convertibles in Meadowlark Yellow with black tops and interiors, 4-speed manual transmissions and air conditioning; a fully restored 1966 GT350 factory drag car; the only remaining 1968 1/2 GT500KR Hertz convertible; the 1969 GT500 in Jade Black and with a Drag Pack; and an early production 1999 Series I CSX5000.

A grand-opening gala is scheduled for October 14, with the doors opening to the public on a Thursday through Sunday basis from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. starting October 18, and with additional morning hours for school tour groups.

Ted Segerstrom is part of the fourth generation of a Southern California farming family that became involved in real estate development. He and Rae also have become involved with the Carrol Shelby Foundation and the Shriners Hospitals for Children.

Saratoga welcomes second wave of Porsches 

The second installment of the Saratoga Automobile Museum’s exhibition of Porsches from the collection of Steven Harris has opened and runs through Spring 2022, according to the facility in upstate New York.

The first portion of the exhibit was termed “Rare Air” and included 16 air-cooled Porsches. This second installment is called “Porsche Rennsport” and includes 14 RS models, from a 1973 911 Carrera RS to a 2019 991.2 911 GT2 RS.

Also featured is photography of the cars by James Lipman.

Museums staging 007 exhibits

The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles and the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, England, each is doing special exhibitions in conjunction with the release of the new James Bond movie No Time To Die

In LA, “Bond in Motion” opens September 25 and will include more than 30 cars, motorcycles, boats, submarines and helicopters, “the largest official gathering of vehicles from James Bond films in the U.S.,” the museum notes.

The exhibit at Beaulieu is “Bond in Motion — No Time to Die,” which opens October 15 and features cars, gadgets and costumes from the new film. Among the highlights will be a full-scale model of the folding-wing glider, suspended above the silver birch Aston Martin DB5. Also on display will be the DBS Superleggera driven in the film by the new agent, Nomi.

ACD Museum gets roof-repair grant

ACD roof leaks in at least 80 places | Museum photo

In 2018, the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum launched a $5 million capital campaign to address the needed preservation and rehabilitation of its historic building in northeast Indiana. That campaign reached its halfway mark with the recent announcement of a $500,000 grant from the federal Save America’s Treasures Preservation Fund, which gets its money not from taxes but from continental shelf oil leases. The ACD was eligible for the grant, administered by the National Park Service, because its building, former home to the Auburn Automobile Company, is a National Historic Landmark.

The museum said its roof leaks and new HVAC equipment is needed. 

According to KPCNews.com, work on the roof will begin in March and run through September 2022. The local news outlet reported that museum staff has been using 80 buckets to catch water leaking into the building’s third floor.

“We actually have to arrange the cars and artifacts around the leaks,” museum leader Brandon Anderson is quoted.

Gilmore Garage Works offers training 

Automotive paint application among the skills taught at Gilmore Garage Works

There’s more on the Gilmore Car Museum campus in Hickory Corners, Michigan, than red barns full of classic cars. There’s also a building that is home to the Gilmore Garage Works, an automotive education program for area high school students. 

With backing from the Baum Family Foundation, the program offers free classes on Tuesday and Thursday evenings beginning September 21 and this year will be led by John Chapman, a mechanical engineer who recently retired after 35 years at Eaton Corporation where he designed, validated and launched OEM engine parts.

“This educational program not only nurtures a passion for history and all things mechanical, but introduces these students to a unique environment that gives them guided, hands-on experiences in a fully-equipped shop setting, and introduces them to tools, techniques, and safety standards across subjects like restoration, repair, maintenance, engine building, welding, fabrication, electrical wiring, and paint and body,” the museum notes in its announcement. 

“The experiences may motivate students to pursue further education, training, and a career in the skilled trades, or might provide a newfound confidence that ignites a lifelong passion as a DIYer in the collector car hobby.

“Just as important are the life skills these students learn from the work and from their mentors, such as communication, collaboration, pride and self-confidence. These skills will endure as the longer lasting benefits of this program.”

Michelotti World opens October 6

It seems fitting that it wouldn’t be difficult to confuse the names of Michelotti and Michelangelo, as both were outstanding Italian sculptors, albeit in very different times. From October 6 through January 9, MAUTO, the National Museum of Automobiles in Torino, Italy, will stage an exhibition it’s calling “Michelotti World.”

“Giovanni Michelotti is one of the most admired stylists in the world,” the museum notes. “His style is among the brightest of the 1950s-70s, with notable examples even during the years between the war. Some brands (including BMW) still consider his contribution indelible today. 

“On the centenary of his birth, MAUTO sets up an important solo show dedicated to the designer from Turin. For the first time, a large portion of the Michelotti archive will be shown to the public. Sketches, technical drawings, shape plans, scale models will be visible at MAUTO, together with a selection of the most representative cars. These, together with paper documents, unpublished films and an evocative scenographic layout, will tell the professional and human story of the designer.”

Michelotti worked at Vignale, Bertone and Ghia and did vehicle designs for Cunningham and BMW, among many others. The exhibit is being staged with cooperation from Michelotti’s son, Edgardo, who provided access to the family archives.

Special events this weekend

“Stirling Moss, The Champion that Wasn’t” is the theme for the September 18 Demo Day at Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia. Cars taking part in the parking lot exercise session include a 1953 Jaguar C-type and 1956 D-type, 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing, 1956 Maserati 300S and 1958 Aston Martin DBR1.

The Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, hosts a cars and coffee cruise on September 18, beginning at 7 a.m.

The Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum in northeast Indiana stages its third “Duesies & Movies” drive-in theater event of the season September 18, showing Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

“Giugiaro — Designer of the Century” is the topic of presentations from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. September 18 at the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Michigan, where several Giugiaro-designed vehicles also will be on display.

The California Automobile Museum in Sacramento hosts its monthly Third Saturday car show on September 18.

1917 Fokker DR.I triplane debuts | Museum photo

It’s Foreign Auto Festival weekend September 18-19 at the Owls Head Transportation Museum in Maine, with events both days from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. In addition to the featured car club — the Down East Land Rover Club — the event will include the debut of the museum’s 1917 Fokker DR.I triplane and several biplane demonstrations.

Mark your calendar

The Seal Cove Auto Museum in Maine hosts a program at 6 p.m. on September 23 with author Jeff Mahl presenting “The Great Auto Race – New York to Paris 1908.”

The annual Saratoga Motorcar Auction at the Saratoga Automobile Museum in upstate New York is scheduled for September 24-25.

In conjunction with the new James Bond movie, No Time To Die, the Petersen Automotive Museum stages “the largest official gathering of vehicles from James Bond films in the U.S.,” with the exhibition opening September 25. 

Paul Page and his book, Hello, I’m Paul Page. It’s Race Day in Indianapolis, will be at Autobooks-Aerobooks in Burbank, California, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on September 25.

The Saratoga Automobile Museum in upstate New York hosts its Fall Auto Show on September 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the parking lot of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. 

With the SCCA Runoffs taking over the track, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum will have altered hours from September 30 through October 3, will close at 1 p.m. on September 30 and will be closed all day October 1 and 2. 

CruiseFest on Fulton Avenue, an annual event that benefits the California Automobile Museum in Sacramento, is scheduled for October 2, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Special features of the cruise this year are Save Mart’s 12-foot tall, 454cid Chevy V8-powered “mega-motorized shopping cart,” and the 7th of 14 officially licensed replica Batmobiles, this one owned by Bob Goldsand of Meadow View, California.

AutoFest 2021 is scheduled for October 3 at the Newport Car Museum in Rhode Island.

The Saratoga Automobile Museum in upstate New York hosts a private screening of No Time To Die at the Bow Tie Cinema theater at 7 p.m. on October 7. 

The Saratoga Automobile Museum in upstate New York is the site October 9 for the 10th Vintage at Saratoga gathering of BMWs produced in the 20th Century.

The Saratoga Automobile Museum in upstate New York hosts a Corvette car show from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. on October 13.

The AACA Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania, resumes its annual “Night at the Museum” fundraiser on October 6 with a theme of “Cars and Country Music.” Troy Engle and Southern Skies will perform at the event that serves as the kickoff to “Fall Hershey.”

The Newport Car Museum stages its German Car Weekend on October 9-10 with five marque car clubs present and with discounted admission for people showing a key to a German vehicle.

Herzog Motorsports, the Missouri-based racing team that has won in a variety of events, from off-road racing in Baja to Jimmie Johnson’s transition to stock car racing, will be honored October 15-16 in a special event at the Speedway Motors Museum of American Speed in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The Blackhawk Museum in Danville, California, hosts its 30th anniversary All British Motor Show from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. on October 17.

School half term in the UK means special youth-oriented programs October 23-31 at the British Motor Museum at Gaydon, where Professor Pickle and Doctor Pumpkin will share the science of lights and mirrors. 

The British Motor Museum at Gaydon stages the Great British Model Railway Show on October 30 and 31, featuring 30 scale-model railroad layouts in various gauges.

The Tunnels to Towers Foundation’s 9/11 Never Forget mobile exhibit will be at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, November 3-9.

The new Savoy Automobile Museum in Cartersville, Georgia, midway between Chattanooga and Atlanta, has announced December 8 as its opening day for visitors. The museum is on a 35-acre site and includes three buildings with 65,000-square-feet of display space and a cafe. It is part of the Georgia Museums Inc., which includes the Booth Western Art Museum, Bartow History Museum and Tellus Science Museum.

Does your local car museum have special events or exhibitions planned? Let us know. Email larrye@classiccars.com

Larry Edsall
Larry Edsall
A former daily newspaper sports editor, Larry Edsall spent a dozen years as an editor at AutoWeek magazine before making the transition to writing for the web and becoming the author of more than 15 automotive books. In addition to being founding editor at ClassicCars.com, Larry has written for The New York Times and The Detroit News and was an adjunct honors professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

1 COMMENT

  1. “the only two 1968 1/2 GT500KR convertibles in Meadowlark Yellow with black tops and interiors,”

    Just to be picky, the color of the Yellow GT500KRs is not “Meadowlark Yellow”. That was a standard Ford color, but the yellow ERs were a “Special Order Yellow” (with the paint code WT6066). Lots more information on these very special cars can be found on the Coral Snake pages:

    http://www.thecoralsnake.com/WT6066.HTML

    Chris Tann (WT6066 GT500KR Coupe #03655)

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