California Automobile Museum Photos and Information

1928 Willys Knight at the California Automobile Museum in Sacramento, California

Are you a Sacramento native or a traveler just swinging by The City of Trees? If so, consider making a stop at the California Automobile Museum, especially if you love cars, history, and good times. The museum opened on May 1, 1987, as the Towe Ford Museum, though its history dates back much further. The museum now boasts multiple exhibits, some permanent and others rotating, and even offers classes and events.

See a complete California Automobile Museum photo gallery here.

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See the 1957 Chevrolet Cameo Carrier at the California Automobile Museum at the times below

The California Automobile Museum is open from 10am to 5pm from Wednesday through Monday, with last admissions at 4pm. Every third Thursday of the month, the museum is open until 9pm, with last admissions at 8pm. The museum is closed on Tuesdays, as well as the following holidays: Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. The museum closes at 3pm on the 4^th of July, Christmas Eve, and New Year’s Eve.

Cost of admission to the California Automobile Museum is as follows…

Adults	$9
Vintage (65 and over)	$8
Military (Active and Retired with ID)	$8
Youth (5 – 18)	$4

Children 4 and under get in free. Parking at the museum is also free.

Specialty pricing days include…

• Free Museum Day, which is the first Saturday in February
• St. Patrick’s Day, on which you can get half-off admission from 1 – 4pm if you wear green
• Mother’s Day, on which the museum has a Tea and Talk
• Father’s Day, on which dads get in free
• Memorial Day & Veterans Day, on which active military and retired veterans get in free
• Collector Car Appreciation Day (July 10^th), on which you get in free if you show up in a classic car
• Grandparents’ Day, on which grandparents get in free with a youth ticket purchase
• Halloween, on which you can wear a costume and get in half off

The California Automobile Museum is located on 2200 Front Street in Sacramento, California. Call (916) 442-6802 or email [email protected] to learn more.

Hours and Admission | Exhibits | History | Photos

The 1913 Ford Model T Touring is a permanent exhibit at the California Automobile Museum

Permanent Exhibits at the California Automobile Museum

As of press time, the California Automobile Museum boasts four permanent exhibits.

• Make a Move is an exhibit about the “innovations that created the automobile.”
• Cars of the Stars is an exhibit about “famous owners and famous vehicles.”
• Going Green is an exhibit about “alternative fuels and energy efficiency.”
• Car Club Cavalcade is an exhibit that has “local car clubs on display every month.”

There are currently more than 140 vehicles on display. Among the vehicles on display are the museum’s oldest, an 1880 Columbia “Penny Farthing” Bicycle, as well as a 1908 Ford Model T Touring Car, a 1925 Cadillac Coupe, a 1938 Buick Special 4DR Sedan, a 1947 Lincoln Continental Convertible, a 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air, a 1956 Ford Thunderbird, a 1961 Volkswagen Beetle, a 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 302, a 1985 Ferrari 308 GTS, a 2001 Nissan Xterra FCV, and the museum’s youngest, a 2011 Nissan LEAF.

The current rotating exhibit as of press time is The Pickup Truck: Where Utility Meets the Everyday. The upcoming exhibit is Live Free: California Motorcycle Culture, which will be coming on September 24, 2016, and remaining through February 19, 2017.

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Originally, the California Automobile Museum focused on Ford models, like the 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 302

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California Automobile Museum History

The California Automobile Museum actually began as the Towe Ford Museum in 1987, because of the nature of its first exhibit. The idea for the museum came to life during a meeting in 1982, when a group of gearheads set out to build the first permanent auto museum in the west. After a year of hard work, the group established the California Vehicle Foundation, which adopted the slogan “On the Road to a Car Museum.”

Eventually, the foundation got its first donation: a 1938 Buick Special 4DR Sedan, which is still on display nearly 30 years later. The Buick was donated by president of the Golden One Credit Union, John Joyce. Things really started to heat up when Edward Towe of Montana reached out to the California Vehicle Foundation in 1985 about the world’s largest Ford collection, to see if the upcoming museum would be a good home for it. The foundation worked hard to find a location for the museum (a 72,000-square-foot warehouse) in Sacramento and got the collection from Montana to California in 1986. In September of 1987, the museum officially opened to the public as the Towe Ford Museum.

The 1990s offered up a bit of trouble for Towe and the museum by way of the IRS, and the Ford collection ended up going to auction. That could have spelled the end of the museum, but instead the museum began to display more vehicles of various makes and models. By 2009, the Board of Directors voted to change the name to the California Automobile Museum, and the rest, as they say, is history.

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California Automobile Museum Photos

The News Wheel photographer Morgan Pritchett snapped these awesome photos from the California Automobile Museum. Check ‘em out!

1920 Chevrolet FB50 Baby Grand Touring

_{Photo: The News Wheel Photo: The News Wheel} 1896 Ford Quadricycle 1917 Ford Model T Form A Truck 1913 Ford Model T Touring

1913 Ford Model T Touring

1904 Ford Model B Touring

1913 Ford Model T Touring 1921 Ford Model T Snowmobile 1913 Ford Model T Touring 1926 Austin Seven _{Photo: The News Wheel
Photo: The News Wheel} 1921 Ford Model T Snowmobile 1913 Ford Model T Touring 1929 Ford Model A Town Car 1931 Ford Model A Deluxe Roadster

1915 Dodge Brothers Touring

1931 Ford Model A Pickup

1914 Ford Model T Couplet 1915 Dodge Brothers Touring 1929 Chrysler Imperial Model 80 Custom Locke Roadster 1931 Ford Model A Pickup 1930 Marquette Coupe

1928 Ford Model A Mail Truck

1928 Ford Model A Mail Truck 1928 Ford Model A Cutaway Engine 1932 Ford Hardtop 1931 Ford Model A Victoria 1935 Ford Pickup

1931 Ford Model A Victoria

1974 Toyota Hilux

1974 Toyota Hilux 1974 Toyota Hilux 1974 Toyota Hilux 1971 Star Streak 1971 Star Streak
1971 Star Streak 1985 Ferrari 308 GTSI 1985 Ferrari 308 GTSI 1982 Porsche 911 SC 1982 Porsche 911 SC
1979 Pontiac Trans Am 1979 Pontiac Trans Am 1979 Pontiac Trans Am 1978 Dodge Lil Red Truck 1978 Dodge Lil Red Truck

1977 Mercedes-Benz 450SL

1966 Shelby Cobra 427

1977 Mercedes-Benz 450SL _{Photo: The News Wheel} 1968 Chevrolet C10 Fleetside 1966 Shelby Cobra 427 1966 Shelby Cobra 427

1965 Corvair Stinger Replica

1963 Buick Wildcat Hardtop Sedan

1969 Ford Mustang Boss 302

1963 Buick Wildcat Hardtop Sedan 1963 Buick Wildcat Hardtop Sedan 1961 Volkswagen Beetle 1961 Volkswagen Beetle 1961 Volkswagen Beetle
1969 Ford Mustang Boss 302 1969 Chevrolet Camaro RS Z/28 Cross Ram 1968 Chevrolet C10 Fleetside 1957 Chevrolet Cameo Carrier 1957 Chevrolet Cameo Carrier

1960 Studebaker Champ

1956 Hudson Metropolitan Coupe

1957 Buick Super 2DR Riviera Hardtop 1956 Ford F100 Stepside 1956 Ford F100 Stepside 1960 Studebaker Champ 1958 Edsel Pacer

1960 Indianapolis Champ Car

1946 Kurtis Midget Racer 1946 Kurtis Midget Racer 1948 Kurtis Burgermeister Special Midget _{Photo: The News Wheel} 1960 Indianapolis Champ Car

1948 Kurtis Burgermeister Special Midget

1957 Triumph TR3 1957 Ford F1 Pickup _{Photo: The News Wheel} 1949 Cadillac 1954 Corvette

1943 Ford Military Jeep

1943 Ford Military Jeep

1951 GMC 100 Pickup

1953 Chevrolet Bel Air 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air 1951 Ford Crestliner 1951 Ford Crestliner 1951 Ford Crestliner
1950 Dodge Woodie Coronet Station Wagon 1950 Dodge Woodie Coronet Station Wagon 1937 Cadillac Series 60 Sedan 1937 Cadillac Series 60 Sedan 1936 Dodge Pickup

1936 Dodge Pickup

1940 Ford Cabover Tow Truck

1936 Dodge Pickup 1940 Lincoln Zephyr 1940 Lincoln Zephyr 1940 Lincoln Town Car 1940 Lincoln Town Car

1928 Willys Knight

1929 Chrysler Imperial Model 80 Custom Locke Roadster

1938 Rolls-Royce 25/30 Sports Sedan

1938 Rolls-Royce 25/30 Sports Sedan 1928 Willys Knight 1928 Willys Knight 1937 Ford Deluxe Pickup 1938 Rolls-Royce 25/30 Sports Sedan

1938 Rolls-Royce 25/30 Sports Sedan

Hours and Admission | Exhibits | History | Photos

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