This is likely the ultimate daydream for many of us. Think about it…if you own an old shopping mall and have just over 2,000 classic cars (that’s no typo), creation of something like The Orlando Auto Museum is something many of us would aspire to do. Like the tourists coming to Orlando, Florida, these 2,000 cars come from all over the world.
Somehow I managed to take several hundred pictures. There was simply that much to see during my four hour visit. To better enjoy the experience, the cars are (mostly) presented with minimal commentary.
Let’s start with the big, white elephant and go from there…
Taking up the center section of the mall, the museum has a variety of themed rooms. There is the Chrysler Lounge, the Great Gatsby Room, and rooms for the cars from Israel, England, France, Italy, Germany, and Russia.
Yet down the center aisle is what started off as a 1975 to 1978 Cadillac Eldorado. This car was stretched (or, more likely, several were pieced together in the 1980s) such that this Cadillac holds the Guinness World Record for being the longest car in the world at just over 100 feet long.
Or 30.54 meters, if you prefer.
It has 12 axles, seats 75, and has a putting green, a hot tub, and a helicopter landing pad on the trunk. It’s fully operational, but only in a straight line. There is no way one could turn this puppy using less than 10 acres of real estate.
So, onto the less customized stuff…
Nearby was The Welcome To The 20s room where this 1924 Packard 233 was enjoying the visitors.
Moving forward a room and a decade, this 1930 Studebaker.
I’m presenting these in the order taken, thus this 1974 or so AMC Matador from an adjacent movie car nook. It was claimed to have been used in the first season of The Dukes of Hazzard, but the interior looked too nicely trimmed for an old police car. An orange 1969 Dodge Charger was parked nearby.
There were quite a few cars at the museum claiming to have been used in movies and on television.
1927 Duesenberg Model X.
A Sabre, from Israel.
A Studebaker Lark built in Israel from a knockdown kit.
A 1930 Citroen C6.
1967 Gaz M21 Volga.
The orange car next to it is a 1982 Moskvich; there were other Moskvich cars elsewhere in the museum.
1954 Zim Limousine
Let’s go west to England.
For me, this is the definitive Rolls Royce. All others pale in comparison. It’s all in perspective and when we were most impressionable.
1954 Lloyd
1956 Bentley Hooper S1
This Mini was sitting next to the Bentley. The size difference was overwhelming.
There was another, larger room of vehicles claimed to be used in movies and television. I’ll let you be the judge, as I have one caveat…
The Ferrari from Magnum,P.I.
The Volvo from The Saint.
Mr. Bean’s Mini. Now, here’s where my curiosity kicks in. I visited this museum in June. It is September 24 as I write this. A few days ago, commenter extraordinaire Scott MacPherson, who hails from New Zealand, posted pictures on social media from a car museum in England. Mr. Bean’s car was there. Were both Mini’s used in the show and it’s a coincidence? Or, has creative license been taken somewhere along the way? I cannot imagine Rowan Atkinson having had the need for multiple Mini’s on his show, but I could be wrong.
A Pontiac Trans-Am from Knight Rider.
A GM van from The A-Team.
A Ford Taurus from Robo-Cop.
A Lada from one of the James Bond movies.
Now, back to the core of the museum.
An MG sedan.
Given the open cargo area, and the frequent precipitation in England, some taxi rider’s skivvies could easily get soaked.
Now enclosed, this is a true reflection of progress in the taxi market!
Presented as a 1960 DAF.
A final year Packard, using a Studebaker body.
Sitting in line between several Russian cars and the obnoxious stretched Cadillac was an otherwise unremarkable Volkswagen Golf. However, it’s here as this was Princess Kate Middleton’s first car.
This Moskvich is one of the additional Russian cars referred to earlier.
There were quite a few of them.
Plus a few Volgas.
The wood on the side of this 1948 Chevrolet is from the factory. Information at the museum stated only around 100 or so 1946 to 1948 Chevrolets were so equipped.
There were many Dodges and Plymouths of this era to be seen; most were convertibles, such as this one.
Stay tuned for Part 2, coming soon.
Wow, what a great museum! Thanks for all your efforts.
Except, I would have ignored that stupid Cadillac. Ridiculous.
I don’t know if you said it on purpose, but the Cadillac is a look alike Tchaika, made well into yht 50s (or even 60s?)
Never heard of a Tchaika. If it looks like the caddie, same opinion.
Thanks. I enjoy putting pieces like this together.
Yes, I was torn on the Cadillac. Had it not held a world record I likely would have not included it. And my overall thoughts are somewhat reflected in the “white elephant” statement and later calling it obnoxious.
Pretty amazing collection! The Soviet and other mundane European cars are not so common in museums based on my limited visits. The ZIM is rare, at least with that badging. The M in the name referred to Molotov, of cocktail fame. But when he “lost favor” the car was quickly renamed. Oh, and the Israeli Sabre is a Sabra.
The Sabre vs. Sabra could have been either spellcheck or the typist.
In some of the pictures you can see microcars on shelves. That is perhaps the best reflection of the quantity to be found here.
My 2 cents, the woody Chevy appears to be a business coupe as the gas intake is at the side, quite forward. The grille looks to be a 46 or 47, not a 48.
Personally, I’d sooner see fewer cars with fuller documentation than a huge collection crammed in bumper to bumper. I don’t think you can fully appreciate any one car in a setting like this. But that’s just me, and I thank you for the post!
Thank you.
And I agree with you. It was sensory overload, but in a good way. And the automotive geek in me was annoyed there was often little to no accompanying information with the cars.
I think this is like The Metropolitan Museum of Art. One cannot possible cover everything in one day, maybe not in one lifetime. You just have to pick one area and focus on that.
I agree with Mark W. that better presentations with fuller documentation would be preferable but having 2000 cars to see is great fun nonetheless.
Some of the 2000 were easy to pass up. Part 2 will likely be longer and you’ll see why I said that. These pictures mostly came from one camera and the remainders will be from another.
Wow what an accumulation. I was wondering where the money came from, since these sort of things never turn a profit. Apparently the collection of Israel born real estate developer Michael Dezer and part of it used to be England’s Cars of the Stars museum, so that explains the leaning toward Israel and the UK.
I think we need to put together a CC mission impossible team to liberate that Porsche 356, putting one of those on static display is a sin. I’m sure Paul could make better use of it.
So that’s why so many of them have British number plates.
I’m sure Paul could make better use of it.
I prefer to be able to see out of a car. Why are its windows all frosted??
The whole place was interesting as the museum only took up a portion of the building. Perhaps the most notable facility also in the building was the Bass Pro shop.
Oddly, I don’t think I noticed the Porsche at the time. Then again, it was mingling with lots of other cars vying for attention.
Thanks for the tour Jason. Looking forward to part too.
A few thoughts:
The Eldorado limo needs to be articulated, like a really long bus or locomotive.
Claims on the movie cars are dubious at best:
Magnum’s (the original series) car was a 308 GTS… That 308 looks close, but there seems to be something off about it.
The cop car supposedly from Dukes of Hazzard as a Matador? It’s been a VERY long time since I watched any of those episodes, but an AMC? I don’t recall those being the cop cars. I thought that Plymouths were used on that show.
I also don’t recall Mr. Bean’s Mini being lime green, but then I think I’ve only see that show once.
As to the museum section “France”, I know this comment is likely get me kicked off of this site, since you all refer to a Citroën as a “Goddess”, but I just don’t see it. Sorry. These cars are just too weird looking to me. The only Citroën that seems at all normal is the 1930 Citroën C6. Sort of a Model A vibe going on with that red car.
The less said about the bug-eyed Packard-Baker, the better.
Oh, and what is that yellow car with the ‘eyes’ too close together?
Nash Healey
Thanks Doug. I knew I’d seen one before, but just could not place it.
Claims on the movie cars are dubious at best:
+1
This museum is a tourist trap and clearly not conceived of to be one that appeals to serious automotive enthusiasts. The presentation, the dubious provenances, the questionable taste in the condition of some, the poor documentation, etc.. Frankly, it rather turns me off. Pass.
Researching the place prior to going didn’t show too many tourist trap tendencies other than it being in Orlando and at the north end of the area where tourists not at Disney tend to congregate.
Information was often lacking to nonexistent or just wrong – to the point of a recreation of a GM truck some folks had used to leave Cuba was signed as being a Ford.
My general takeaway from the museum was something I was holding for Part 2. There are goods along with the bads.
Admittedly “trap” is a bit harsh; I actually meant to change it to “attraction” as soon as I got home from my bike ride, but it’s too late now. But my general point holds.
Mr. Bean used more than one Mini, though not all survived, it seems.
https://www.mini.com/en_MS/home/heritage/mr-bean-mini.html
I see I’m not the only person who doesn’t care for the “face” on Nashes of that period.
We are so on the same page, even about Citroen.
You know how some things stick in your brain, even though you don’t want them to do so? That’s how I remember the AMC being used on the Dukes. The AMC was only used in the second part of Season 1, before they jumped to the ’77-’78 Monaco/Fury.
The AMC got air time.
Lol at the Pope photobombing the Italian exhibit.
Isn’t Lloyd a German make?
Yes.
🙂
Well, I suppose they could have selected Chef Boyardee or Julius Caesar instead. It’s nice that they chose a higher path.
WOW! I’m salivating. Thanks.
There is more to come – sometime.
The woodie Mini Traveller looks like an Italian Innocenti because of the grille.
I think that there are a number of interesting cars there, and I’d be happy to spend an afternoon wandering around. Responding to Jason’s initial paragraph, YES it would be fantastic to be in a position to fill an ex-shopping mall with cars and to open a museum. Sign me up (in an alternate universe. somewhere out there in the multiverse, I am surely doing this.).
It’s kind of a shame that they felt the need to create “movie cars” that pretty clearly aren’t such, but more likely should be called tribute cars. To add to what RetroStang Rick commented, the Volvo from the Saint is definitely not that. The real car – which was Roger Moore’s personal car that he brought to the production – is now in the Volvo museum in Sweden.
https://www.media.volvocars.com/global/en-gb/media/pressreleases/225569/volvo-cars-brings-sir-roger-moores-1800-s-to-techno-classica-classic-car-show
It also has driving lights, which this tribute is oddly lacking (it’s not like they’re that hard to find…). And what are those wheels they’ve stuck on that poor car?! Oh my.
The visit there has me thinking about what I would do in such a situation. I do like the separate rooms for separate nations and there is nothing if not variety here. Overall, I liked the place and certainly enjoyed my visit, but the older I get the more I find myself critiquing things.
Regarding movie cars…many of them left me flat. However, there is more to come simply because…well, I’ll say later. I hinted at it in the text, but it’s subtle.
The cars are mostly fine, but the manikins are disturbing.
Wow, the American wing was well represented with Magnum’s Ferrari, KITT, and Mr. T’s Vandura. But no General Lee? Tsk tsk.
There was. I mentioned it with the AMC picture but refrained from posting a picture. Here it is…
It’s a lot to take in all at once, a bit of sensory overload. And difficult to write about I’m sure. I think I prefer places like either The Lane (also a huge place stuffed with vehicles but more of a rotating collection that’s kind of neat since it’s just one guy who can afford to buy whatever vehicles he wants to own (and drive) with loads of historical stuff and tangents as well. A lot of that one is kind of the largest Forbidden Fruit Stand on the planet…Or my other choice is stuff with exquisite collections such as the Blackhawk Museum in Danville, CA.
Really, my attention span isn’t what it used to be, although I’ll happily stroll amongst a collection of a thousand or more stationary displayed vehicles in neat rows any day of the week, albeit none of them shiny and often with parts missing or disfigured…The upside is you are allowed all the touching you might want to (or dare to in some cases) partake in.
Interesting and fun .
I too would love to visit but likely never will .
-Nate