This place is like the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum in that its cars are as much works of art as automobiles. The museum is only 45 minutes from San Francisco, and it’s terrific.
The museum somehow collaborates with the Smithsonian. According to the employee with whom I spoke, most of the cars are privately owned, and the collection changes around from time-to-time.
The vehicles are broken up into two collections: pre-war and post-war, each on a different display level.
Each car is hyper-restored and many have won prestigious awards. Some of the cars – models from Bugatti (one of only twoType 50’s ever built, above), Rolls Royce, Mercedes-Benz, Duesenberg, and Ferrari, for example – are the most classic of all the classics. I did not know that so many beautiful and valuable cars resided under one roof anywhere in the word. Here are some highlights:
1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster.
1936 Mercedes-Benz 540K Cabriolet A. The museum was crawling with 540K’s – four of them, I think. Just seeing one is remarkable enough, but FOUR . . .
Argh! I just couldn't resist. Here's a third, from 1939. Unlike the other two, you can see that this has spare tires behind the right and left front fenders, a reminder that each of these cars was truly bespoke.
1926 Daimler made for the Maharaja of Rewa. Note the dragon horn. I imagine people moved out of the way when that thing blew!
1930 Rolls Royce Phantom II Boattail, also made for the Maharaja .
1911 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost.
Lalique hood ornament on a 1934 Delage.
Custom coach-built 1936 Cadillac V-16. The picture does no justice to this car. Not only is it beautiful, but it’s also enormous – 22 feet long. The chassis was bought by Philippe Baraud, a Swiss playboy. He brought it to Switzerland, where Carrosserie Hartmann in Lausanne fashioned the coachwork. Apparently the car made as big a splash then as it does now. 
1929 Duesenberg.
1947 Delahaye.
1933 Pierce-Arrow Silver Arrow.
1949 Delahaye
1954 Dodge Firearrow II Concept Car, hand-built in Turin by Ghia.
Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing, 1959.
1964 DB4 GT Zagato Coupe.
This is a trio of Alfa Romeo Berlinetta Aerodynamica Technica concept cars from the 1950’s.
The museum has a bevy of Jags.
And my favorite post-war car, a 1950 Ferrari 195 Sport Touring Berlinetta.There was also an Marklin HO scale model train layout operated by the European Train Enthusiasts. It was probably 50 feet long and 10 feet wide. Very impressive. I include a few photos of it below:
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