Gilmore celebrates its 50th anniversary

The Gilmore Car Museum celebrates its 50th anniversary with a car show Saturday to honor its founder, Donald Gilmore, at the museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan. The show, “The Donald Gilmore Classic,” showcases cars from 1896-1942 and includes a driving tour today and a swap meet Sunday.

Cars and Coffee will be held at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum’s Education and Exhibit Plaza on Saturday from 9 to 11 a.m. in Auburn, Indiana. The Cars and Coffee will also play host to one of the museum’s display cars, a 1912 Auburn 30L Special.

America on Wheels holds its Dutch Dubbers VW Car Show on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the museum in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The car show will give out awards and participants can enjoy vendors and a swap meet among other things.

Saturday, Muscle Car City will hold its monthly car show from 9 a.m. to 1  p.m. on the museum’s grounds in Punta Gorda, Florida. The following weekend, the museum holds its automotive flea market and car corral.

Upcoming Car shows (with and without coffee):

On May 29, the Petersen Automotive Museum holds its monthly Breakfast Club cruise-in at the museum in Los Angeles.

The California Automobile Museum holds its seventh annual Vettes for Vets and American Muscle Car Show on Monday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Registration is still at a discounted rate until the day of the show. The museum also hosts “Cruise Fest on Fulton Avenue” on September 10. The show is set to include live music, a beer garden and food trucks.

The Gilmore Car Museum plays host to the 30th anniversary of The Classic Experience on June 3-5. The event includes a driving tour, a Grand Classic Concours d’Elegance, and “The Experience” car show, all presented by the Classic Car Club of America Museum. The show features automobiles from 1915-1948.

The Blackhawk Museum in Danville, California, holds its “Day at the Races,” on June 4, which provides registered museum participants with parking next to the paddock at Sonoma Raceway during the Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival. Other features include use of the Simeraceway hospitality pavilion complex, and the opportunity to do laps in the participant’s own classic or collector vehicle during the SVRA’s lunch session, and a tour of the Simeraceway driving center.

The Owls Head Transportation Museum in Owls Head, Maine, kicks off its 2016 car show season June 4-5. Alongside the car show, open to vehicles pre-1996, the museum intends to demonstrateas many vehicles as possible from their ground vehicle collection, and beat last year’s record of 75.

The British Motor Museum stages its “National Metro & Mini Show” on June 5. The show is set to include a “Car Gymkhana,” allowing participants to match a pre-set time around a track, other highlights include a concours, a non-concours with classes including Most Non-Functioning Accessories, Worst Interior, Biggest Area of Rust, Craziest Engine Bay, and more.

The Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Michigan plans Cars and Coffees on June 5, August 27 and October 15.

LeMay-America’s Car Museum has its next cruise-in on June 9 in Tacoma, Washington. The cruise-ins are free and feature a DJ, food and the option to enter to win prizes and the people’s choice award. The remaining dates are July 14, August 11, September 8 and October 13. The museum holds its ninth “Classic and Vintage Commercial Show” on June 11-12, featuring more than 400 classic vehicles built before 1997.

The National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, celebrates its 22^nd anniversary in conjunction with “R8C Museum Delivery” over labor day weekend, September 1-3. The anniversary and R8C consist of car shows, seminars, road tours, and the Corvette Hall of Fame Induction ceremony will take place. This year, Bob Bondurant, Ralph Kramer, and the late Donna Mae Mims will be inducted.

Exhibits

This Saturday the AACA Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania, opens its newest exhibit, “Early Off-Roaders,” set to run through October 15. The exhibit celebrates the 50^th anniversary of the Ford Bronco in addition to the 75^th anniversary of the Jeep.

Located in Nashville, Tennessee, the Lane Motor Museum opens a new exhibit, “Macchine Italiane: A Tour of Italy’s Motoring Spirit,” to open Thursday and run through May 22, 2017, featuring more than three-dozen vehicles — race cars, motorcycles and bicycles that demonstrate Italian design and engineering from 1936-2012, with cars that range from the Fiat 500 to the exotic Lamborghini Urraco.

Running through September 11, the California Automobile Museum at Sacramento features “The Pickup Truck: Where utility meets the everyday.” The new exhibit looks at the transition of the American pickup truck from a work vehicle to a personal vehicle with examples from the 1920s through modern day.

On display through September 15, the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum’s traveling exhibit, “The Women Workers of the Auburn Automobile Company,” will be home at the museum in Auburn, Indiana. The exhibit comprises photographs of women working in the Auburn factories and has been traveling around the community for the past 12 months in an effort that focuses on having some of the women in the photographs identified so their legacies could be preserved.

Running through October 15, the AACA Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania, features an exhibit with vehicles of the Mods and Rockers, two conflicting British youth subcultures of the 1960s.  The exhibit examines the overall culture and choice of vehicles of these two groups.

The LeMay, America’s Car Museum opened a new exhibit May 7, “BMW: Propelling a Century of Innovation,” to highlight some of the brand’s vehicles that have amassed a strong sub-culture, such as the 1973 BMW 3.0 CSL, 1988 BMW E30 M3 and the forward-looking 2016 BMW i8, which are all in the display.

The World of Speed Museum in Wilsonville, Oregon, celebrates the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 with its first major exhibit, which opens June 10, showcasing 33 Indy racing cars, including Mario Andretti’s 1981 STP car, Al Unser Sr.’s 1967 car and Al Unser Jr.’s 1984 car. The exhibit will include memorabilia from some of the Pacific Northwest’s greatest drivers and car engineers, including Art Pollard, Len Sutton, Rolla Volstedt and Parker Johnstone. Suits, helmets, shoes, gloves, models and photos will be featured, along with World of Speed’s complete collection of Indianapolis 500 race programs.

Educational opportunities:

The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Museum’s series of monthly “Sprint Car 101 forums” will be held at the museum in Knoxville, Iowa, on Saturday, June 11 and July 16.

May 24, the chief curator of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, Leslie Kendall, is set to talk about scooters and how they were derived from children’s toys and how their simplicity has enabled them to play a vital role in transportation around the world.

The Simeone Museum in Philadelphia is holding a Le Mans Choice Demo Day on May 28. The museum has selected 27 cars with Le Mans history allowing the public to vote on the museum’s website for four cars they wish to see demonstrated. Voting ends Tuesday at 9 a.m. while the winners will be announced the following day.

The next class in a six-part series on the foundations of automotive photography at the Museum is June 4, followed by July 30, September 17 and October 29.

The Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan, offers Model T Ford driving classes. Each class is taught by long-time Model T owners and enthusiasts. Class dates are May 25, June 11, June 29, July 16, July 31, August 10, August 21, September 18, and September 28 with classes at from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The LeMay Marymount in Tacoma, Washington, also features a Model T driving class, June 4, as well as July 9, August 13 and September 10.

The next Science Saturday at the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada, focuses June 11 on “Roving Mars,” “Journeying to the moon” on July 9, and “food in space” on August 13.

Summer Camps for Kids:

The Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum hosts a number of Children’s Activity Days in June and July. The museums “camp” runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and immerses campers, ages 10-12, in hands on activities, presentations, and interaction with the museums exhibits. The dates are Tuesdays June 7, June 14, and June 21 and Wednesdays July 13, July 20, and July 27.  The price is $50 per student per day.  This not only includes lunch but also includes something each day that campers will take home to share with family and friends.

Registration is open for the LeMay: America’s Car Museum summer camp.  Children will be able to use the racing simulators and slot car track in the ACM Speed Zone in preparation for a team race on the final day of camp while learning what makes race cars fast, safe, and fuel-efficient through daily challenges. Local race car drivers will also be on hand to showcase their vehicles and equipment used to give tips and advice. The first session is for ages 12-15 and duns July 25-29 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The second session is for ages 8-11 and runs August 8-12 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

And it’s not just cars:

On Saturday, the Greene Eagle Winery in Cortland, Ohio is hosting “Music, Comedy and Wine” featuring comedians “Big Chuck and Little John,” to benefit the National Packard Museum.

The NCM Motorsports Park on Bowling Green, Kentucky, holds Sportbike Track Time on May 28-29. The event runs a variation of the “Grand Max Straight,” which provides maximum safety for riders on a tight and technical layout.

The following weekend, guests are invited to “Just Track It” in their car on the full 3.15-mile track. Drivers must be licensed, 16-years or older, have an SA rated helmet, and convertibles must have a roll bar.

The LeMay-America’s Car Museum holds its Wheels and Heels annual Gala on June 4. Casino Royale is the theme and features sultry sounds on the Anderson Plaza, blackjack, or guests can spin the roulette wheel while sipping martinis, shaken not stirred. Funds raised at the Gala will benefit the museums education programs and the Hagerty Education Program at the museum.

Additionally, the museum holds its fifth annual Vintage Motorcycle Festival, the MEET, on July 30.

On June 18-19, the National Corvette Museum hosts a live feed of the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in the museum theater with live timing and scoring along with refreshments and hourly updates from the Corvette race team. Registration is $100.

The World of Speed Museum holds its 2016 Spark Gala on September 17. The event is an effort to raise funds for the museum’s educational programs.

October 21-22 the Simeone Museum in Philadelphia will host Corvette Racing Program Manager, Doug Fehan, and 2-time Le Mans winning driver, Tommy Milner, for a 2-day celebration dedicated to Corvette Racing. Highlights of the event include dinner, a meet and greet, Demo Day, memorabilia auction, and autograph session.

On tour:

The My Garage Museum in the Mid America Motorworks’ facility in Effingham, Illinois, has teamed up with Corvette Adventures to host multiple guided road tours June 9 to June 11, from Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, through Amish country, historical sites, cheese factories, wineries, breweries, and local restaurants.

The California Automobile Museum has several car-themed tours scheduled. The next tour goes to France from June 15-24 for the 24 hours of Le Mans, including a celebration of the 50th anniversary of Ford’s victory and the 25th anniversary of Mazda’s victory in the race.

the National Corvette Museum holds its seventh annual “One lap of Kentucky” fund-raising event in October over the course of three weeks: October 11-15, 18-22 and 25-29. The event previously has been a one-day Corvette excursion led by the state troopers, but the event this year is open to enthusiasts of all different years, makes and models, and it is a multi-day drive visiting Kentucky’s significant landmarks.

The AACA Museum tours Cuba, October 14-22 with a focus on people to people interaction along with the Cuban car culture. Following Cuba, the museum takes guests on another tour, “Italy and Automobiles,” November 6-13. Highlights of the tour include a visit to the Lamborghini Museum and Factory, the Ferrari Museum, and a tour of several private collections.