Tucked away in a little town in a forgotten corner of the Empire State is quite a remarkable collection of automobiles…
Courtesy classiccarmuseum.org
The Museum’s claim to fame is that they have the largest collection of Franklins in the world, which makes sense, as they were assembled just up the road in Syracuse.
I know that Franklins are somewhat outside our purview here, but here’s a 1933 Olympic that you can sit inside (hey, I sat inside a legit classic! What’s next?).
At over a hundred cars, I can’t highlight each and every one, so let’s look at some of the more unusual models.
A White Horse Delivery truck–I can sorta remember getting the milk from Sunny Hill Dairy in one of these, along with the Missourian being thrown from an Isetta. It always bugged me not knowing what it was, and I knew that was not a Divco, although the museum has one of those, too
1957 Pontiac Safari–One of the nice touches of the museum is that they have mannequins dressed in period appropriate clothing posed next to most of the cars.
1958 Packard Wagon–They have an entire section on wagons (versus viewing them as parts cars).
A 1961 Valiant wagon. I wonder if it rolled down the in Fenton, Mo on February 23rd, the same day I showed up down the road in Cape Girardeau.
Does it pick up Glenn Miller?
And something for the patina fans.
This is quite literally a homemade car by a Chenango County blacksmith circa 1907.
A Chenango Camp Trailer, made in Norwich.
A 1952 Enterprise, swoopy enough for Bill Shatner.
Another Playboy.
Of course, they have Broughams! This is a 1947 Hudson Super Six Brougham Convertible…
…and look at what parked next to me at lunch.
Northeast Classic Car Museum
24 Rexford St.
Norwich, NY 13185
(607)-334-2886
Looks like that museum is worth the trip just for the Franklin’s alone. And a Packardbaker wagon. Damn!
I love the homemade car. Makes me wonder how many other talented people took an old carriage and converted it to ICE back then.
That wold make for a nice trip from Toronto. I’ve never seen a Franklin or a White Horse van. Hopefully they have a REAL Packard or two as well.
Nice museum. I would love the station wagon collection.
I’m blanking on that unidentified 40s interior shot. Anyone?
Shot in the dark, here…
How many manufacturers offered the painted woodgrain dashboards in that period? Then, there’s the split windshield. Dare I hope for a ’49-ish DeSoto?
If only there was a shot of the pedals. The Safety Clutch for the Fluid Drive transmission would nail it down.
Great post, Jana!
I need to get out more. 🙂
I was thinking Hudson until I realized that it didn’t have the typical chrome-plated steering column and shift lever. It doesn’t really look that DeSoto-ish to me either, but I don’t have an alternate suggestion.
I was able to rule out Mopar and Studebaker just from memory. The crest in the steering wheel hub looked a bit Cadillac-y, but there were a lot of companies using crests of some sort back then.
I beleive that the woodgrained metal dashes were fairly popular in the 1940s. The dash shown here is a work of art, whatever it’s from.
1946-1947 Cadillac from what I can tell, the steering wheel and radio era gave a strong Cadillac vibe.
Yup, a ’46 or ’47 Caddy. In the PS3 game L.A. Noire, a red Caddy convertible of this vintage was my favorite ride.
Image from igcd.net:
Love the Studebaker,so elegant and the Packard and Pontiac wagons.Thank you Jana
This is definitely my kind of car museum. Thank you!!!
Those are some well composed shots. I visited this museum in the summer of 2011 and had a hard time photographing the cars. The rooms are dimly lit with spotlights shining on each car, which makes for a lot of contrast, shadows and harsh reflections.
When I visited, they had an exhibit of cars that were named after animals. When I have an opportunity, I should make time to share my photos as well.
Yes, Lighting was an issue.
I think the dash was from a 40’s Buick, and yes, they have plenty of ‘Real’ Packards.
PS – I put the shots I didn’t use on the Cohort.
That Enterprise is a strange looking critter, did someone see a Ner a car and get inspired?Love the blacksmith special reminds me of the copper Dodge at Southwards, they have a patina special T Ford the very first car Len Southward collected among hundreds, its yet to be restored
Thanks all. Yes, I wondered about the enterprise as it looked like a handful. I’ve got some more posts coming up this weekend on some finds there…
I just had a look at the cohort ya gotta love a shark nosed 39 Graham nice collection. If the Enterprise is anything like a Ner a car it would be ok those were as stable as
Nice. I often worked within ~20 minutes of this place for 9 years and never knew it was there. I wish I had, now it’s a 1700 mile drive. If I get back up for a visit, though, I’ll definitely put it on the itinerary.
Nice museum! A friend at my church has two Franklins, a 1928 sedan in barn-find condition and (I think) a ’31 Pirate convertible sedan that he has been slowly restoring himself. Amazing cars!
I also love the ’55 Stude Speedster, the ’58 Packard wagon and the Valiant wagon.
Oh, here’s a pic of a Franklin Pirate for those who’ve never seen one (from conceptcarz.com). What a beaut!
I’m really loving the Packard wagon and the Valiant wagon. And the 1960 Chrysler wagon in the background.