<VV> Gilmore Museum in Kalamazoo

[Kent Sullivan]

A few of us made a tour of museums somewhat near Detroit during the 2007
convention, including the Gilmore. I liked it a lot. HOWEVER, it was very
sad to see no heating/cooling or humidity control in the buildings, and dirt
floors in many or most of them.

The ACD museum was terrific, of course... My favorite though hands-down was
the Studebaker museum. Very tastefully done without being over the top.

--Kent
-----Original Message-----
From: virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org
[mailto:virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org] On Behalf Of Bruce Schug
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 5:30 AM
To: VirtualVairs; Seth Emerson
Subject: Re: <VV> Gilmore Museum in Kalamazoo


On Aug 15, 2012, at 2:28 AM, sethracer at aol.com wrote:

> Next year, the Corsa Convention arrives at Kalamazoo, MI. One of the 
> big attractions will be the chance to visit the Gilmore Car Museum. 
> I'm sure the Convention folks will have something scheduled, since it 
> is such an attractive  venue. But for a short description, including a 
> link for more info, check out  this short article from Autoweek. See 
> you in Kalamazoo next summer.
> - Seth  Emerson
>
> _http://www.autoweek.com/article/20120813/CARNEWS/120819932?utm_source
> =Daily
> Drive20120814&utm_medium=enews
> letter&utm_term=missedarticle7&utm_content=20120813-Gilmore-Car-
> Museum-surprises&utm_campaign=awdailydrive_
> (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20120813/CARNEWS/120819932?utm_source
> =DailyDrive20120814&
> utm_medium=enewsletter&utm_term=missedarticle7&utm_content=20120813-
> Gilmore-
> Car-Museum-surprises&utm_campaign=awdailydrive)

The Gilmore Museum is a great place. I was there last year for the first
time and was very impressed. They have several rare cars including a '47
DeSoto Suburban, a Tucker and a '46 Stout Scarab. The Corvair that is in
their collection wasn't on display when I was there. The museum is actually
in Hickory Corners, a few miles from Kalamazoo. It is out in the country and
has plenty of room for parking and expansion.

The Gilmores had a department store in downtown Kalamazoo and a car
dealership or dealerships. Then, there was a marriage into the Upjohn family
that brought further wealth. Upjohn was a major employer in the area and is
now a Pfizer facility.

There should be plenty of interesting countryside around the area for a
rally although it is pretty flat. It will be interesting to see where the
host hotel and other venues will be. The excellent Auburn Cord Duesenberg
museum is about two hours away, south southeast, just off I-69 and shouldn't
be missed.

Perhaps there will be a drag race at nearby Martin US 131 Dragstrip!

Read more about Jim Gilmore:
http://www.mmshof.org/inductees/Gilmore_Jim.html

Bruce

Bruce W. Schug
Membership Chair,
CORSA South Carolina
CORSA member since 1980
'67 Monza, "67AC140"
bwschug at att.net