California Automobile Museum

The California Automobile Museum is a special place in Sacramento, California where people can see many amazing cars. It has a big collection of over 150 cars, including classic cars, race cars, muscle cars, and early models. These cars are shown in a huge space that is about 72,000 square feet, which is almost like six football fields put together.

The museum’s goal is to keep these cars safe and share their stories with everyone. By looking at these cars, people can learn how automobiles have changed our lives and made travel easier and more fun. It’s a great place for anyone who loves cars or wants to discover the history of how we move around.

History

The California Automobile Museum was the first automobile museum on the west coast to be created permanently. It started in 1983 as the California Vehicle Foundation and opened to the public in 1987 as the Towe Ford Museum. It showed the largest collection of Ford cars in the world, thanks to Edward Towe, a banker from Montana.

The first car given to the museum was a nice 1938 Buick sedan, donated by John Joyce, who was the president of Golden One Credit Union. This car is still on display today. In 1997, the museum changed its name to the Towe Auto Museum because it began showing cars from all brands, not just Ford. Then, in 2009, the museum’s board decided to rename it the California Automobile Museum to match its growing mission over the years.

Exhibits and attractions

About 40% of the 150 cars in the museum belong to the California Vehicle Foundation, while the rest are borrowed from private collectors. These cars show the types of vehicles driven in California over the past 120 years, arranged in order by time. Besides the permanent displays, the museum also has "rolling exhibits" that change often, featuring special groups of cars like Japanese models or tiny cars. Guides are available to give free personal tours if you want one.

The museum has special events called "Sunday Drives" where you can ride in a museum car for free every third Sunday of the month. You can also sit in five different cars every day.

Some famous cars you can see include:

• One of the 40 remaining 1997 General Motors EV1
• A 1982 Porsche 911 SC Targa once owned by singer Linda Ronstadt
• A 1978 Kawasaki KZ1000C used by the CHiPs police show
• A 1974 Plymouth Satellite once owned by Gov. Jerry Brown
• A 1966 Shelby Cobra 427 once owned by Road & Track editor Tony Hogg
• The 1963 Shelby Cobra Replica from the movie Ford v Ferrari
• A 1956 Cadillac Eldorado once owned by actress Rita Hayworth
• A 1951 Nash Rambler Convertible used by Marilyn Monroe for her movie "Monkey Business"
• A 1940 Lincoln Town Car once owned by Henry Ford's wife Clara Ford
• A 1933 Lincoln KB once owned by Bank of America founder A.P. Giannini
• An 1896 Ford Quadricycle Replica
• An 1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen Replica
• 1909 Model T touring car