Journal: Which Car Would You Pay To Go See?

Which Car Would You Pay To Go See?

By Michael Banovsky
May 13, 2016

At a fraction of the cost of owning a high-dollar classic car, visiting races, shows, events, and museums is a great way to indulge your passions without making too much of a dent on your wallet. I will often go somewhere to see a single machine that interests me—and whatever else I see is a bonus.

As in: it’s worth it to visit the Porsche Museum, if the only car you’ll look at is Porsche No. 1. The Simeone Museum, for the first Shelby Daytona Coupe. The Collier Collection at the Revs Institute, for the Targa Florio-winning Porsche 718 RS60. If you’re in Los Angeles, the first BMW Art Car, painted by Alexander Calder, is in town—and depending on how fond you are of that car, the rest of the Petersen Museum may just be a bonus.

Events like historic racing festivals are often even better, especially if you’re able to get a bit closer to the action in the paddock or on-track, and the object of your affections will be worked out between practices, qualifying, and the race. But plan your travels and budget wisely: your partner may not be as accommodating for your love of Soviet supersonic passenger aircraft as mine is.

Which vehicle, upon seeing firsthand, immediately made admission into a race, show, event, or museum visit totally worth it?

Image source: revsinstitute.org, Ted Gushue, sinsheim.technik-museum.de

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Bobby Richard
8 years ago

The car I would (and actually did) pay to see is the Mercedes 300 slr uhlenhaut (coupe). Saw it at the Benz museum in Germany

bolt5
bolt5
8 years ago

Ditto for the Peterson – first time this year. Amazing coach work exhibit.

Was able to visit the BMW museum in Munich last year – highly recommended.

Don’t forget Harrah’s in Reno. They have Fuller’s Dymaxion car.

Guitar Slinger
Guitar Slinger
8 years ago
Reply to  bolt5

Two insider secretes nicely hidden away from the mass publics view … yet accessible albeit with some limitations

1) The Clive Cussler collection , Denver . Only open during the summer months .. very limited hours .. a very well defined and focused collection [ all the cars that appear in his novels ] and well worth the effort … because gentlemen there are some serious and rare gems in his collection

2) The Shelby Museum in Boulder CO . If its a Shelby .. its either there or will be at some point . At one time they had the largest number of Shelby Daytona coupes ever assembled at one time on display

QuattroGB
QuattroGB
8 years ago

Kinda funny how this came up, becuase i just came back from L.A just to see that bmw csl painted by Alexander!!! And yes everything else was a bonus, from the icon fj44 to the porsche prototypos, i almost died and went blind from joy. I recommned everyone to visite the Petersens!!!

John V Bowman
John V Bowman
8 years ago

No single vehicle makes we say “wow! now I can go home.”, yet these are close: Car – Gilmore museum in MI – V16 caddys and other ’30’s saloons make it special. Bike – Barber – Seeing all of my child-hood dream bikes on display. Air – Air and Space museum – ME 262

Guitar Slinger
Guitar Slinger
8 years ago

To be honest there is no one car I’d pay to see though there are several collections I either have or would be willing to pay to visit including the Simeone [ I don’t appreciate Mr Simeone’s blatant attempts to codify and homogenize the collector world but I certainly do appreciate and respect the collection he’s put together ]

But now that I’m of a ‘ certain ‘ age having seen [ and or driven ] most of the cars I find interesting and important … what I’d be happy to lay my money down for as stated on the page is to spend a week at Novo garage ,.. both for the cars as well as to witness first hand the level of craftsmanship that goes on there . Because .. as wisdom trumps passion … Doing .. has become more important than … Having

Guitar Slinger
Guitar Slinger
8 years ago
Reply to  Guitar Slinger

BWTM … now … give me the opportunity to Drive one of the remaining McLaren CanAm cars …any one will do … and watch my wallet/checkbook fly open with enthusiasm

Matthew Lange
8 years ago

Seeing five of the six Bugatti Royale’s lined up together at the Goodwood Festival of Speed a few years back was quite something.

Guitar Slinger
Guitar Slinger
8 years ago
Reply to  Matthew Lange

Ahhh … a moment of comeuppance for the severe ‘ trumping ‘ y’all gave me on the Date Night page … [ and you did good sir… even the good lady of the house agrees ]

I’ve driven …. not one .. but two of the remaining Royales … one for a relatively extensive period of time back in the day … but as a small source of comfort … it was to say the least … errrr … a somewhat disappointing experience to say the least .In my opinion y’alls Rollers of that era being the much better car … to drive

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