Links to Area Attractions
These are some interesting places to visit if you happen to be in the Great Lakes Area.
Peter Pleitner
GM Heritage Center
Sterling Heights MI
Air Zoo Kalamazoo MI
An incredible, wonderful air and space museum.
Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum Auburn IN
An Art Deco palace and the name says the rest.
Automotive Hall of Fame Dearborn MI
A beautiful facility and resource within walking distance of the IMAX theater at the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village; there is no better place in Southeast Michigan for an important car club meeting, or a meeting place to start/stop a tour.
Classic & Exotic Service, Inc. Troy MI It
This is the area’s premier soup to nuts restoration shop; you wouldn’t guess it but owner Brian Joseph has a personal soft spot for Maseratis.
Ford Piquette Avenue Plant (Birthplace of the Model T) Detroit MI
This is the cradle of the automobile assembly line and as authentic as it can get without the deep pockets of corporate support.
Gilmore Car Museum Hickory Corners MI
In restored, reassembled barns mostly; a large collection, two club headquarters, plus an original diner.
GM Heritage Center Sterling Heights MI
In a light industrial warehouse with offices, large collection, dealership-like display theme.
Hall of Fame Museum Indianapolis IN
At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, fabulous collections and displays, and don’t miss the photo shop upstairs.
Henry Ford Museum Dearborn MI
Classic museum but technology is the theme; lots of amenities plus restaurants, IMAX theater, library, and Greenfield Village is next door.
Lingenfelter Collection Brighton MI
The collection (40% Corvettes, 30% vintage muscle cars, and 30% exotics) is a modern gear-head’s destination museum and is practically next door to GM’s home proving grounds; its spring-well is Lingenfelter Performance Engineering, a prime source for new cars that are faster and better than GM sells to customers, and parts/accessories to make them so.
Michigan Firehouse Museum Ypsilanti MI
A classic firehouse with a beautiful modern museum attached, full of fire fighting equipment and memorabilia.
Michigan Steam Railroading Institute Owasso MI
Big with lots of tracks, rolling stock, engines and diesels, including The Polar Express, aka Lima-built Berkshire #1225 2-8-4 of the Pere Marquette.
National Museum of the US Air Force Dayton OH
At the Wright Patterson Air Force Base; this museum is BIG, too much for a half day, and don't miss the X planes and Air Force Ones via a bus ride across the field.
Pratt and Miller Engineering New Hudson MI
If Smoley Yunick’s Best Damn Garage evolved to the present in the Detroit area, this would be it; deep and creative engineering and management talent on par with the best from the Midlands of England.
R&A Engineering, Inc. Manchester MI
Restoration of fine automobiles; proprietors Bob and Mary Anzalone turn out an amazing variety of breathtaking restorations and maintain some of the best in the area from their cleverly converted dairy farm; with many show winners (one at Pebble Beach), they have done it all, starting with Bob's Riddler award a long time ago.
RM Auto Restoration Facility and Collection/Museum (next door) Blenheim ON
You will need a passport but they are less than an hour from Detroit; best arranged as a group tour and then you will have an unforgettable experience, immersed in the highest level of the collector car scene and the museum alone is worth the trip; during the week, over lunch, you might also get a tour of the restoration shop.
RM Motorsports Wixom MI
This place is all about supporting the motorsports hobby; the talent and facilities are comparable to a top-tier professional team shop from the Reagan era; RM also restores family cars for royalty far far away.
Roush Automotive Collection Livonia MI
Jack Roush used to be Ford motorsport’s go-to arm’s length skunk works owner, then he managed pro racing teams, then he owned teams. The museum’s collection houses 30 years of high performance and racing history designed and built mostly at Roush.
Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Museum Depot Town, Ypsilanti MI
Since 1927, the world's last Hudson dealership that still worked until recently, with new additions for exhibits; on display are cut-away examples of all Hydra-matic transmissions manufactured and cars assembled at Willow Run, which was literally a huge element of our Arsenal of Democracy during WW2, plus the Tucker and let's not ever forget the Corvair.
