<– Day 43 – Sat. June 15th: The Crowds Arrive; As Does a Storm | Trip Overview | Day 45 – Mon. June 17th: Three Museums & Steve –>

Me and Mr. Packard @ the Packard Museum.

On Saturday night, June 16th, we drove to Niles Ohio to spend the night. On Sunday we’d eventually reach Auburn, Indiana.

On Saturday night we drove from Cooper’s Lake, Pennsylvania, to Niles, Ohio. Sunday we drove from Niles to Auburn, Indiana.

We began with a leisurely morning, as the National Packard Museum in Warren, Ohio, didn’t open until 1pm on Sundays. Once ready to go, it was a short drive to the museum. It’s located in Warren because that’s where the first Packards were produced. In 1903, the company moved to Detroit.

Upon our arrival, one of the docents at the museum explained its history. The museum was started by a man (who’s name slipped into and right out of my memory) in Warren who couldn’t fit his Packard into a place he owned in Warren. He was a friend of the mayor, who managed to find a run-down building for the man in 1990 and arranged to have it leased to the man for $1 for 40 years. That’s not a bad price!

The man was able to fix up the place on the cheap, but it was more of a storage space than a museum space. Then, in 1999, the Packard Automobile Club descended upon the space to celebrate the 100th year of the Packard. A great party took place for a week. By the time the revelers left, 5 more Packards filled the building. Afterwards, steps were taken to turn the space into a formal museum.

Here are some pictures from the museum:

The outside of the Packard Museum.

I never expected to see a couple Austin Cars.

A wire braider. We learned that from our trip to the Vintage Wiring of Maine shop.

A couple of Packard’s late concept cars.

Hmm … I don’t think Ann is looking at the pretty cars.

On Monday we plan to drop by the Natmus museum, the Auburn/Cord/Duesenburg museum, eat lunch with Steve in Warsaw, then stop at the Studebaker museum. I think it’s gonna be a GOOD day!

<– Day 43 – Sat. June 15th: The Crowds Arrive; As Does a Storm | Trip Overview | Day 45 – Mon. June 17th: Three Museums & Steve –>