Museums hold car shows near you

The Auburn Cord Duesenberg museum’s next Cars and Coffee cruise-in is May 20. America on Wheels stages its VW Fest on May 20, with a show open to all Volkswagens, whether air- or water-cooled.  The annual Corvette Homecoming and Chevrolet International car show at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, is June 1-3.

This Saturday the America on Wheels Museum holds VW Fest from 10 a.m to 3 p.m. The event is open to all Volkswagens, show quality or a work in progress. Show cars are $10 registered or at the gate and get a goodie bag in addition to museum access.

The National Corvette Museum holds a C4 gathering through Saturday that is packed with seminars, roads tours and activities focused on this era of Corvette. On-site registration will be available.

Also on Saturday, the Blackhawk Museum hosts ‘Z Gathering’ for the Northern California Z Owners. The show will display of the oldest Datsuns to the newest Nissans and is open to Roasdters, 510’s GTR’s and G Coupes. Then on June 5 the museum holds it’s ‘F1rst Sunday’ Cars & Coffee from 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.

On Monday, May 29 the California Automobile Museum holds the 8th Annual Vettes & Vets and American Muscle Car Show. The show is free to the public and honors servicemen and women while paying tribute to the Corvettes and American-made muscle cars.

The Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum holds 1st annual Pennsylvania Concours d’Elegance on June 24 to support research into birth defects and developmental disorders. The event includes a preview gala on Friday June 23rd at 6:30 pm, then apPremier judged concours event, public car display and family-friendly activities and silent auction.

Museums in motion

The Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum’s Demo Days have been a big hit with visitors, who not only get to see cars inside the museum, but who get to venture out to the three-acre parking lot behind the facility in Philadelphia to see some of the museum’s cars in action. Weather permitting, the plan is to feature a selection of cars to show pre-selector shifting technology — including an MG K3 Magnette, Squire roadster, Peugeot 402 Darl’Mat Le Mans and Delahaye 135S —on May 27.

This Demo Day will be followed by another on June 10 with a Le Mans theme and parking lot runs by a Ferrari 375MM, D-type Jaguar and Cunningham C4-R.

Meanwhile, the California Agriculture Museum in Woodland plans a military parade and trail ride May 26-28 at Santa Margarita, along with its version of Demo Day — featuring plows instead of cars.

However, not all such “museum in motion” programs involve visitors as viewers. On June 3, the Blackhawk Museum in Danville, California, will organize a trip to the Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival. On June 23 and July 7, the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville holds a driving experience with visitors getting to drive some of the museum’s vehicles. The Kansas City Automotive Museum stages its second Scavenger Cruise this weekend.

The AACA Museum offers tours to Cuba in early June, to England in early September and to Italy in November, and the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum in Knoxville, Iowa, will award a raffle winner with a trip for two to Australia that includes tickets to the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic races. Contact the various museums for details.

And while the cars at the museum may not be in motion, the pictures will be on May 21 when the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles stages movie night featuring The Speed Merchants, the story of the 1972 world sports car racing championship narrated by Mario Andretti and Vic Elford.

New exhibits

Exotics@ACM _ Seductive Supercars opened last weekend at LeMay — America’s Car Museum in Tacoma, Washington. Throughout the month, the Kansas City Automotive Museum features an exhibit of high-performance Chrysler products including a 1970 Plymouth ‘Cuda 440 six-pack, a ’57 Dodge Royal Lancer convertible, ’57 Chrysler 300C and assorted Dusters and a Shelby Charger.

Three new exhibits opened at the AACA Museum. Garage Finds: Unrestored Treasure that Survived Time runs though October 8; Detroit Underdogs are on display through August 27; the 50th anniversary of Camaro and Firebird is featured through October 8.

The British Motor Museum in England opens its “British Motoring Treasures; Fifty Objects” exhibition on May 19. “Designed for Delivery: The Early American Truck” opens May 20 at the Gilmore Car Museum. “Mopar or No Car” runs from June 1 through July 9 at the Simeone.

And the California Automobile Museum wraps up its special exhibit of firetrucks on May 29, however just prior, on May 26, the museum opens “A World on Wheels,” a new exhibit to feature five vintage automobiles set alongside full-scale locomotives in the Railroad Museum’s Roundhouse.  The display will highlight how innovative train technology and design paved the way for the emergence of the automobile that quickly surged  in popularity  for passenger travel.

Let’s party!

LeMay — America’s Car Museum will be the site of three events to benefit America’s Automotive Trust — the Fast & Furious 2017 Wheels & Heels gala is June 3, Cars & Cigars is June 28 and the Summer Ender Fender Bender is September 9.

The 28th annual induction festivities at the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in Iowa are scheduled for June 2-3. The National Corvette Museum hosts a 24 Hours of Le Mans viewing on a 28-foot screen June 17-18.