Marconi Automotive Museum

For some people, the scent of a certain flower or food triggers a flood of happy memories.  For me, it’s motor oil.

I grew up in a duplex between my grandparent’s house and the garage where my grandfather conducted his business as an auto mechanic.  The smell of motor oil brings me right back to those innocent days, sitting on a concrete front porch, watching him fix cars in his grease-stained blue pants and shirt, tools clanging, the occasional swear word echoing from the rafters.

The visual equivalent of motor oil, for me, is the Snap-On tool truck I sometimes see in Southern California traffic. The big Snap-On truck used to make its way up the narrow incline into our yard every few weeks.  When I see one now, I get misty eyed.

So, on a recent visit to the Marconi Automotive Museum and Foundation for Kids, in Tustin, California, my grandfather was, unsurprisingly, on my mind. The first two signs – the sharp smell of motor oil as soon as we walked in and the Snap-On tool box – revealed themselves early in the tour. But the bright orange car below finished off the hat trick. He got a huge kick out of The Dukes of Hazzard.  Here’s the General Lee, in all its glory.  He would have loved it!

A couple more screen-used cars (these shiny black cars are tough to photograph…):

This Batmobile is from Batman Returns, with Michael Keaton and Michelle Pfeiffer.

KITT, the 1982 TransAm from The Knight Rider.

Photo Dump

I believe one of the Marconi’s drove this pink baby in European races. It was sponsored by a condom company!

Not just cars!

The Husband really liked this one 🙂

1937 Ahrens-Fox Fire Engine

OOOOOOOO, Sparkly!

Both The Husband and I were quite taken by Bumpers, the horse made of car bumpers.  Dick Marconi, the founder of the museum, saw Bumpers in Chicago, bought him and had him transported to CA. 

And this tiny little BMW Isetta was probably our favorite car in the group.  Made from 1953-62, only about 1000 out of 161,360 remain.  You can see the hinge on the right, in front of the light, and the door handle on the left–yup, you open the front of the car to get in! And it’s just our size! 😊

We enjoyed our trip to Marconi’s Automotive Museum. The only drawback for me was you don’t really get to properly appreciate the cars that are stacked on the second level.  They may rotate the cars at some point but it would be awesome if they could branch out to a larger facility.  But don’t let that discourage you! If you’re ever in the SoCal area, Marconi’s is just down the freeway from Disneyland.  It’s a nice little hour or two of auto nirvana.