Presley Motors is the new home of the King's cars at Graceland

Several years ago I had the opportunity to visit the Elvis Presley Automobile Museum at Graceland. It was fun to see the cars and all, but it was a dark, impersonal place that didn’t allow flash photography. That all changed with the opening of the brand-new Presley Motors Museum. The museum is part of the new, $45-million “Elvis Presley’s Memphis” entertainment complex that just opened in March, and it is a much better venue to display the King’s cars. In addition to the car museum, you can see archived Elvis memorabilia, watch Elvis movies, browse several gift shops, eat a peanut and banana sandwich in one of the restaurants, or buy tickets to tour the Graceland Mansion.

Cars on display at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

A new president takes office this week in our nation’s capital. And it so happens that we were recently in Washington, D.C., so I’m using this as a tie-in for a car-related story. The Smithsonian’s Museum of Transportation is usually included on lists of car museums, so naturally we had to go here. Truth be told, there weren’t many cars to look at, though. Cars are presented as appliances here. They have a collection of cool cars hidden in their catacombs, but they aren’t available for public viewing. Really, all of Washington, D.C. comes across as anti-car culture. The streets are jammed with hideous red and silver taxicabs, police cars, and black SUVs. Personal cars are typically rough, beat-up hoopties that reflect the harsh traffic and parking issues that clog the streets. I snapped a few pictures, though, and there are a few interesting things if you squint hard enough.

Bellissima! The Italian Automotive Renaissance inside Nashville's Frist Center for the Visual Arts

Nashville might not be the first place that comes to mind when you’re thinking about fine Italian automobiles, but that’s just what’s on display in the Frist Center for the Visual Arts during their current exhibit, “Bellissima! The Italian Automotive Renaissance, 1945–1975”. This is an art museum, so the cars are presented as art. That makes sense, because most of these coachbuilt automobiles have transcended the term “vehicles” and moved right into the “works of art” category. There are 19 cars and two motorcycles on display, and each one is among the most valuable and exclusive cars in the world. This ain’t your normal Friday night car cruise.

Gateway Classic Cars opens Nashville showroom

They don’t hold many car shows once winter comes along, so you have to find the old cars where you can. Luckily, St. Louis-based Gateway Classic Cars opened up a showroom in Nashville this year, so you can check out the inventory in indoor comfort. The large, well-lighted showroom offers a nice selection of mostly driver-quality classics, and if you find something you like, they’ll be happy to sell it to you. The inventory is always changing, so just because you see something here doesn’t mean it hasn’t already been sold and replaced. Let’s take a look at some of the stuff that was available during my recent visit.

Floyd Garrett’s Muscle Car Museum. We need to go back there!

We were headed down to Dollywood for a little family fun, and as we passed through Sevierville, Tenn., I blurted out, “Floyd Garrett’s Muscle Car Museum. We need to go back there!” It’s a good thing we did, because this place is the real deal. This is a pretty well-known collection of cars, so stumbling across it like we did was a major stroke of luck. The museum claims to have 90 muscle cars worth a total of $8-million. If they told me they were worth more, I’d believe it. There were plenty of big engines, unusual options, and rare vehicles in this bunch. If you like vintage iron, you won’t be disappointed here.

Inside the Coker Tire/Honest Charley Museum

We recently went on a little Spring Break trip to Chattanooga, Tenn. There are lots of fun things to check out there, including restaurants, caves, trains, and scenic mountain views. But for me, one of the highlights was the Coker Tire Museum, which houses the private car collection of vintage tire mogul Corky Coker. This is a pretty serious collection of mostly rare and unusual vehicles on display in an old factory. Oh, and no off-ball tires purchased at the local farm implements store here—everything sits on the perfect-style tire. Former Hot Rod Magazine writer Steve Anderson gave us the grand tour.

Let's hook up at the International Towing and Recovery Museum and Hall of Fame

There are people who love every kind of vehicle. Take the tow truck. In theory, this is just a tool to clear wrecks and drag inoperable cars from one place to another. But there’s more to it than that. Tow trucks have a lot of character. Their operators form a bond—a passion—for their trucks and everything that has to do with the towing industry. For some, operating a tow truck is more than just a job. It’s a way of life. And so, it should come as no surprise that there is an International Towing and Recovery Museum and Hall of Fame. We checked it out during our visit to Chattanooga, Tenn., so I wanted to show you some of the interesting trucks that were on display inside.

Art's Corvettes isn't all Corvettes

For car aficionados, Bowling Green, Ky., is known for the National Corvette Museum and the Bowling Green Corvette Assembly Plant. But if you can divert your gaze away from the museum for a moment, you may notice Art’s Corvettes, a classic car dealership that’s located right across the street. The location and name of this place might fool you, because there is a lot more here than just Corvettes. Art’s is an equal opportunity old car peddler, featuring everything from Chevys to Fords. I took a look inside the other day, and here’s some of the good stuff.

The new Kansas City Automotive Museum puts KC on the classic car map

If you’re a regular here, you know that I’ve taken you to major automotive museums from California to Michigan. But in 28 years of living in Kansas City, I was never able to show you a public car museum that wasn’t in business to sell cars. That changes right now, with the opening of the Kansas City Automotive Museum in Olathe. This isn’t a huge museum, but it has some high-quality cars and interesting Kansas City automotive history. And as nice as this place is, it’s just a start. They’ll continue to refine and improve this location until they move into a larger facility sometime in the near future.

Eclectic mix of cars awaits you at the Lane Motor Museum

When you come to this website, you probably expect to see big ‘50s cars, Corvettes, Kustoms, hot rods, and muscle cars. You will see none of those in this story. Today we’re visiting the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, Tenn. This 132,000 sq.-ft. facility was formerly a Sunbeam bakery, but today houses more than 330 mostly vintage European cars from the private collection of Jeff Lane. But these aren’t the typical Mercedes, Porsches, and Ferraris that you might expect. The Lane Museum contains an eclectic mix of microcars and Communist dictator limousines. If it’s quirky and interesting, you’ll probably find it here. Let’s take a tour.

American Pickers, a vintage auto factory, and a car cruise at Marathon Village

Every other Sunday, there’s a really small car cruise in Nashville, but the location is cool enough that it should be bigger. It take place at the Marathon Village. And if you like cars or antiques, this is a place you need to check out. You see, Marathon Village is actually an old factory that built a car called the Marathon from 1907 to 1914. It’s also the site of Antique Archaeology, which is the store Featured on American Pickers on the History Channel. Add all the little shops and the overwhelming sense of history, and you have a must-attend event.

One last trip to the KC Classic Auto Display in Lenexa

When I first moved to Kansas City in the 1980s, one of the first places we visited was KC Classic Auto Display in Lenexa. My dad and I were always on the lookout for old cars, and they had a bunch of them in the old industrial warehouse off 435. The place is pretty fun to look through, as they always have a fun mix of both high-end and affordable cars in their inventory. As I’m nearing the end of my time here in Kansas City, my dad and I decided to take one last visit and check out what’s on sale now.

Potato chips and untouched classics at the Auto World Museum in Fulton, Mo

What do potato chips have to do with a rare and unusual car collection?  Well, in the case of the Auto World Museum in Fulton, Mo., they have everything to do with it.  You see, William Backer, of Backer’s Potato Chips fame, loved rare Classics.  So in the 1950s, he embarked on a journey that would result in what is likely the finest auto collection in central Missouri.

One of the reasons my dad and I decided to go to this museum is because we had been there before, and I thought it would be fun to see it again.  So we headed east, straight to the old K-Mart building on the main drag in Fulton where we thought the museum would be.  Turns out, that’s a Tractor Supply store now.  After punching the address into the GPS, we discovered that the museum moved into a large, 18,000-sq/ft facility in 2006.

A rare look inside the Evans Garage private auto museum

This week, the good folks at Lincoln gave me a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a really spectacular car collection. Evans Garage, located in San Diego, is a private museum and meeting space that contains some very rare and interesting cars. But not everyone can go there. Only companies that have people staying in the luxurious Torrey Pines Resort can hold a meeting there. Why? Because William Evans, Jr. owns the hotel, and William Evans, Jr. owns Evans Garage. Those are the rules!

Dreaming of the good life at Drivin' Dreams

Taking a drive through southern Missouri can be an enjoyable opportunity for car aficionados. Once you get away from the big cities, the houses might be few-and-far between. But when you do see one, there are often lots of interesting old vehicles parked around the property.

As someone who lives in a typical landlocked sub-division that is tightly controlled by a homeowner’s association, I’m actually a little envious of people that can spread whatever junk they want all over their property. I’d love to have a lot full of beater cars that I could putz around with.

Attack of the fins!

Na na. Na na. Nananananananana!

I’ll bet reading that sent chills down your spine. Why? It’s the Jaws theme, of course. Scary stuff!

As we know, one of the last things that victims of the massive shark ever see is the ominous dorsal fin skimming over the surface of the water. Which brings us to today’s automotive theme—fins. Usually they aren’t as deadly as an attack from a great white shark (although people have hurt themselves and even died by banging into a car fin), but they’re still an interesting aspect of classic automotive styling, especially in the late ‘50s/early ‘60s.

The Petersen Automotive Museum features '41 Buicks, Italian masterpieces, and automotive history galore

Last week I was in Southern California test driving some new cars. I really wanted to hit one of the many local car cruises that this area is known for, but there just wasn’t time at night to pursue that. Luckily, I had one more shot to check out some vintage vehicles on my way to the airport when we stopped in at the legendary Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

I’ve wanted to go to the Petersen for a long time. I mean, it was founded by the guy that started Hot Rod Magazine. Any car lover worth his salt should go there at least once or twice in his lifetime. There’s some real automotive history here

San Diego Air and Space Museum features historic aircraft, and a special connection to Ford

Since the car events are a little on the light side in Kansas City during the winter months, I’ve tried to bring you stories from various places outside of town. In the past couple of months, we’ve visited car museums in St. Louis, the auto show in Detroit, and auto collections in San Diego.

This is the last story in the San Diego series, and although the San Diego Air and Space Museum isn’t strictly an automotive collection per se, it does have some things that I think may be of interest to the readers of this blog.

The San Diego Auto Museum is interesting, but not overwhelming

I just got home from a little field trip to sunny San Diego. And although there are all kinds of beaches and attractions that would appeal to normal people, I went ahead and spent my leisure time checking out a few car-related destinations.

One of them was the San Diego Auto Museum. Located in an area with several other museums in Balboa Park, the San Diego Auto Museum is a combination of spectacular and not-so-spectacular.

The San Diego Auto Collection features beautiful cars for a beautiful city

As a lifelong Midwesterner, I really am awe-struck when I visit cities like San Diego. It really is beautiful there, with the vastness of the ocean to the west, and the rugged mountain ranges to the east. Things like palm trees and lemon trees are fascinating to me. Even the stucco and terra-cotta architecture stands as a reminder that you ain’t in Kansas anymore.

But then, you look out of the airplane window at all the congestion. From one end to the other, there are houses and buildings crammed in so tight that if they were any closer they’d be on top of each other. The traffic’ll suck the life out of ya’. And if my little Kansas City-area house was worth what it would be in San Diego, I could live in a mansion on Ward Parkway. There’s definitely a price to pay to be surrounded by all that beauty.