Gilmore Museum

For many years, I've driven by the Gilmore just outside of Hickory Corners, MI, on the way to Gull Lake. By many, I mean a lot. Since my dad had his trailerable sailboat, so, had to be in the late 1970s. Back when we had our blue-and-white Chevvy Blazer. With the removable back seat we used in the backyard of our first house on Greenway to watch Magic in Jud's glory season, enjoying an unseasonably warm spring.

But, I digress...

Every now and again we'd drive by and there would be a "meet" of some sort. These are events at which people show their cars (of whatever flavor: British, hot rod, American icons, etc.) and camp on the grounds.

A lot of people camped on the spacious grounds. There were rows and rows of vehicles and campsites.

So when Smithsonian sponsored a "free day at the museum" event at member museums across America, Linda's membership at the Smithsonian covered our entry fees. Why not have a free day, and scout it out as a potential photo shoot safari?

199 frames later, I'm hooked.

So rather than bombard Instagram and text and email with a mess of pics, I thought, well gee, I could always put things on the blog, right? Then I won't be inflicting needless pain on those to whom car pics are, well, meh.

Here goes. First up, as one enters the main hall (there are several buildings in the complex), this bronze sculpture occupies a central position:

One of the "other buildings" is an original, fully-renovated Shell station. The lab was a happy accidental happenstance!

Next up, in a train station on the grounds, also fully renovated, is a collection of many, many hood ornaments. One of my favorites:

And who could not appreciate the Dodge Ram from 1930?

There's a building dedicated to motorcycles. There's a junker out front that I thought looked pretty neat:

Of course, there were Harleys. And a Triumph 650 like the one I rode (briefly). And a Honda 50 (I owned a Trail 90). And a Ducati (I had one of those, but not nearly as nice as the one there!!). Here's a vintage Harley:

Getting back to cars, there is an outbuilding that is presented as a Cadillac dealership. Inside are... yep. Caddies. Here's an in-the-grill shot of the 1930 V-16 Roadster:

There are a couple of barns (Gilmore insisted the overall look and feel of the museum mimic that of the rural setting in which it was located, so barns were the order of the day. Hmmm.... have to shoot those next time I visit!). In any event, there's a Cord upstairs in one of the barns containing many vintage American, and some foreign, vehicles. This is a 1937 Cord 812 Beverly Sedan:

I'm sure there are Cords a-plenty at the museum in Auburn, Indiana. Wait... another field trip???

Anyway, a couple hours into the shoot  -  er, uh, I mean the museum visit - we headed on over to the diner. Coneys and Chicago dogs on the menu! Oh yeah!!! Yes, a beautifully restored, fully functional diner - from New Jersey, as I recall:

Then, rested and refueled, time to hit ... more cars!!!

This is a 1911 Pierce Arrow, 48-SS 7 Passenger Touring. It was common in the day to sport two spares, one on either running board, and to mount the rear-view mirrors in this fashion, on top of the spares. Made in Buffalo, New York:

Yes, this marque was well-represented with many models on display:

Which, I am sure, never needed one of these (Model A Ford wrecker winch):

I was drawn to the copper gas tank on this 1903 Pierce Stanhope. The car was an unusual concept in that the driver sat behind and above the passengers (and steered via a tiller...yes there will be a Gilmore Two blog post!!):

Fear not, gearheads of my era. Yes there are Vettes a-plenty. Oh and this on the side of one very special BRGreen fire-breather:

So I will be reporting back to my photo buddies, yeah, go to the Gilmore. You won't be disappointed! As a side note, the gleaming floors represent the meticulous upkeep of all the facilities, and all the exhibits. We walked by one exhibit at which an employee was wet-mopping underneath one of the cars. She had to lay down to reach the hard places. That spoke volumes to me about the quality of the entire experience.