Armchair Travel:The Gilmore Car Museum

Vintage Hearse at the Gilmore Car Museum

Hello and welcome to the J.Q. Rose blog!

A handsome detective,
a shadow man,
and a murder victim kill
Lauren’s plan for a simple life
Available at Amazon

Are you wondering why I put an old hearse at the top of the page? Well, in case you didn't know it, my family was in the funeral business. Growing up as a funeral director's daughter, I had plenty of fodder to write a mystery that takes place in a funeral home! Deadly Undertaking was so much fun to write drawing upon my experience. Readers enjoy the twists and humor I wove into this quirky murder story set in an unusual location. Having funeral director brothers for resources was a bonus! Thank you Jim and John. 

I found this gorgeous old hearse at the Gilmore Car Museum near Kalamazoo, Michigan. If you live near the area or if you have time to take a day off, please make the trip to visit this amazing place. From my video, you'll see it isn't a stuffy old museum full of dinosaur cars. My daughter was delighted she came along and of course, my grandsons and son-in-law were in heaven seeing all the cars and engines.

The museum's mission is "to collect, preserve, exhibit, and interpret the history of transportation in America; to connect people with the heritage and social impact of the automobile; and to provide an understanding of the past, embrace the present, and imagine the future."

They certainly deliver on their mission displaying "Ford Model A's to Cadillacs, Pierce-Arrows to Duesenbergs, Studebaker to Chevrolet, and more." 

Even if you aren't a car buff, I think you'll appreciate the beauty and art work of these magnificent vehicles. Here are just a few of the models we saw and appreciated.

Now relax and enjoy a short video I made when we visited the museum in September with our daughter and her family.

You Tube VIDEO: A Stroll Through the Gilmore Car Museum, Kalamazoo, Michigan

You Tube VIDEO: A Stroll Through the Gilmore Car Museum, Kalamazoo, Michigan

Check out the earlier blog post I wrote about the museum here.
Do you love the old cars? What's your favorite? Please leave a comment below. Thank you.

Gilmore Car Museum - Ridin' Along in My Automobile

The following video brings back the good old days of muscle cars and classics accompanied by Chuck Berry's song, Ridin' Along in My Automobile (No Particular Place to Go)

Do you wanna reminisce? Then take a trip to the Gilmore Car Museum, Hickory Corners, Michigan, near Kalamazoo. What an adventure into the history of cars! We were there for the third time this past weekend. I never tire of it. Visitors now enter through the new heritage center which connects to the old restored barns housing all the historic vehicles. From Ford's model T's, Checker cabs (made in Kalamazoo), Franklin air-cooled cars, muscle cars, classics, racing cars, and more. 

So many captains in the industry are profiled I wish I could remember them all. Did you know the Dodge Brothers who founded the Dodge Company were "real hellions?" Henry Ford failed in his first two attempts to build cars? Henry Ford burned all the scraps of wood from car making and collected the charcoal for sale as the Kingsford Charcoal Company? Electric cars were popular with women at the turn of the 20th century? Kalamazoo is known as the "other motor city?"

Not only the mechanics of the car are on display, but also the pure beauty of design. Cars are works of art. Go visit if you get a chance and you too will learn to appreciate the automobile even more.