USA Today recently named Newport Car Museum one of America’s 10 Best New Attractions for 2017. The museum was the only nominee from New England on an original list of 20 attractions selected by a panel of travel experts.
PORTSMOUTH, R.I. — It’s Hoods Up at the Newport Car Museum this weekend, Jan. 13 and 14. Visitors can see the engines that power the cars that make up the remarkable collection housed in Portsmouth. That’s mighty appealing to car geeks. Normally the hoods are down.
But since the museum celebrates cars as art, it's a destination easy for anyone to appreciate. And some 15,000 visitors already have. The museum opened in June with its private collection of more than 60 automobiles, from six decades of auto design, in five galleries. They celebrate Corvettes, a Ford/Shelby collection, fins, world cars and a Mopar collection.
Last week, USA Today named Newport Car Museum one of America’s 10 Best New Attractions for 2017. A public poll determined the winners. The museum was the only nominee from New England on an original list of 20 attractions selected by a panel of travel experts. It also was the only automobile museum.
The museum is in a former missile manufacturing facility on the Raytheon campus in Portsmouth with easy guest parking. The founders are Gunther and Maggie Buerman and it's their collection that fills the galleries.
Need to rest a spell while enjoying the cars? There is mid-century modern design furniture on display and meant for sitting. And some have fun shapes that make reclining an adventure.
There are six racetrack simulators to experience the cars in a different way. Vroom!
The fact that the Buermans have gathered so many rare cars with low mileage is something special. These are cars that were in demand in their day, and for the most part were driven. People couldn't wait to drive their Mustangs and T-Birds. But these autos were not so abused. They are pristine.
They are also rare. In this collection, any particular model is of the most sought after version of that car. For example, the Hemi engine in the 1970s was very rare, not like today. Back then you would pay handsomely for the very expensive engine. People, many of them young men, just didn't have that kind of money to buy a 'Cuda with a Hemi. But there it is among the Mopar collection, a stunning purple, called Plum Crazy, 1970 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda.
The Dodge DeSoto is a car many who visit automobile museums will never have seen. And it looks like it's in the showroom back in 1957. It's spotless. And it's flashy. The wheels were painted gold, the trim had gold accents and there was gold thread woven in the seats and carpet. It's a remarkable vehicle. And there are no ropes to keep you at a distance from these cars. You can walk right up to them and get a good look.
This car is a convertible version of the 1957 DeSoto Coupe that Buerman bought as his first car for $295 in 1961.
Also notable: the Ford/Shelby exhibit’s 427 SC Cobra. Corvette lovers will appreciate the 1954 Corvette, one of the earliest models in the C-1 series noted for its clean lines, and the Big Block Corvette, a 1967 C-2 series with a 427 engine.
Like fins? You never see more dramatic ones than on the 1959 Cadillac Series 62 convertible, known for having the biggest fins ever on a car. "The fins are fully pronounced at 107 cm," according to the museum, "while the car’s four after-burner tail lights, wrap-around wind screen and two fake jet engine reverse lights show the extent to which designers looked to the sky."
Not quite as flashy but classic is the 1954 Buick Skylark. They didn't build many at all, perhaps because Buicks were very expensive then, a notch below a Cadillac. That is a rare beauty.
Video screens offer more information in each of the galleries, all presented in a most entertaining way.
If you go: Enter at 1847 West Main Rd., Portsmouth (401) 848-2277. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets cost $18 for adults, $15 for seniors, and $8 for children 5 to 15. Group sales and private parties also booked. Movie night is held at the museum the second Wednesday of each month for $8.
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