Vintage Automobile Museum of New Jersey
1800 Bay Avenue, Building 13
Point Pleasant, NJ 08742
(732) 899-0012
http://www.vintageautomuseum.org
My review on TripAdvisor:
Open: Sunday 12:00pm-4:00pm/Monday-Wednesday Closed/Thursday Please check the website/Friday & Saturday 12:00pm-4:00pm
Admission: Free but donations accepted
I got to go to the Vintage Auto Museum of New Jersey on a return trip to Point Pleasant. Both the Vintage Car Museum and the New Jersey Museum of Boating share the same building and are both open on Friday afternoon. So viewing their collections is a little easier.
What I like about the Vintage Car Museum is the selection of cars that they have on display. These are the cars of the early silent films and the beginning of ‘sound pictures’. Most of the cars date from the late 1880’s to show the development of the automobile through its early years. From the early automation of steam engines to gas powered cars, I could see Victorian men and women driving these early cars to the flappers and underworld bosses driving the get away cars of the past. These are cars that you will see in the movies.
The cars on display are in pristine condition with accompanying signs so you will have a full description of the make and model of each automobile. There is a small selection of cars so the collection is easy to see in one afternoon.
On the side walls there are secondary collections of driving accessories, pictures of cars and a small collection of toy cars in one of the cases. It is the perfect museum for car buffs or for visitors interested in the history of automobiles. It is perfect for those who love the silent films and early American engineering. These pristine cars are lined like jewels on a carpet that are meant to impress.
The Mission Statement:
(From the museum pamphlet)
Our mission is to provide an educational and entertaining family attraction, preserving, sharing and taking pride in an automobile heritage that truly encouraged and shaped the growth of New Jersey and our country and its impact on our society.
The front of the Vintage Automobile Museum of New Jersey in Point Pleasant, NJ
The front of the gallery
The front gallery of the museum
The front gallery of the museum
The history of the Museum:
(From the museum pamphlet)
The automobile has been a part of our culture for well over 100 years. Above all other inventions, the automobile is responsible for our development as a society. The automobile allowed people to leave their farms for the first time to visit the big cities and it allowed city dwellers to visit farms to see their first cow. There is no doubt that the automobile represents freedom, affluence, power and art.
In 2000, members of the Vintage Automobile Club of Ocean County, NJ having hosted many car shows, wanted to bring antique cars to a central viewing place. The result was the founding of the Vintage Automobile Museum of New Jersey, a venue suitable for displaying the many cars built around the world for the past 125 years. In addition to having vehicles on display, we have other artifacts. Photos, tools, signs, gas pumps and even a barber’s chair are all there for everyone to enjoy.
The some of the cars on display that enjoyed are the:
The 1896 Ford Quadricycle
The 1896 Ford Quadricycle
The Quarter Midget Racing sign
The Quarter Midget Racer on display
The 1903 Oldsmobile Model R car on display
The 1915 Ford Model T sign
The 1915 Ford Model T car on display
The 1923 Packard Phaeton
The 1923 Packard Phaeton on display
The mini Doyle sign
The 1922 Ford Model T Huckster Wagon sign
The 1922 Ford Model T HucksterWagon on display
What I loved about these cars was the beauty of them and the rarity of their make and style. These cars look like they are ‘showroom ready’ to drive out of the building. I love the care that their owners give them and the look of their design. It is also the history and the age of these cars of the collection that make them impressive to look at and admire.
The collection of toy vintage cars that are in the collection.
Visiting a Museum: The Unique, Unusual, Obscure and Historical 