The museum showcases an extensive collection of historic locomotives, classic cars, and unique transportation artifacts that highlight Virginia’s transportation heritage. For today’s story, I will focus just on a few of the automobile collection. Future stories will focus on the other parts of this large museum collection.
First up is the 1923 REO Phaeton Touring Car, seen at the top. The REO Motor Car Company was founded in 1905 and produced automobiles until 1975. The founder, Ransom E. Olds is credited with being the father of the stationary assembly line used to build the first mass produced automobiles.
The 1930 Graham Sedan has many innovative features like laminated safety glass, hydraulic brakes, and external timing chain. Graham produced cars from 1927 until 1940 when the factory was taken over for WWII production and after the war, Graham production never restarted.
The 1970 Dodge Charger R/T is one of only 112 sun roof equipped made. It won the 2001 MOPAR Nationals Best in Show.
This 1913 Detroit Electric Car, Clear View Brougham, Model 42 had a top speed of 25mph and a range of 75 miles. It has 14 6-Volt batteries.
The 1949 Packard Super Eight came with luxury options like rear seat reading lights, variable speed wipers, and cigar lighter. Packards were produced until 1956.
The 1950 Studebaker Land Cruiser brings back old memories for me. My neighbor up the street purchased one and the front end always reminded me of a rocket ship. Produced after WWII, it had two innovations. A “hill lock” that helped the car from rolling backwards on a steep incline and had an automatic antenna for better radio reception.
Lastly, the 1955 Studebaker President Speedster model which was first produced from 1927 through 1942 then reintroduced from 1955 until 1958.
Nuts and Bolts: The museum is open all year from Tuesday through Saturday10AM to 5PM and Sunday 1PM to 5PM. Admission is Adults $12, Seniors over 60 and Youth (13-17) $10, Children (3-12) $8, and Children 2 and under is free. There is plenty of free parking directly in front of the museum. Street address is 303 Norfolk Avenue SW, Roanoke Virginia 24016.
