Visit the Antique Auto Museum at Hershey

A trip to the Antique Auto Museum at Hershey is a journey of discovery and enjoyment for the whole family. The Museum’s highly detailed dioramas present carefully restored vintage vehicles in elaborate scenes that bring the history of the automobile to life. From a tiny machine shop in turn-of-the-century New York to the asphalt apron of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, the Museum’s Sea to Shining Sea exhibit invites the visitor to move through time and space on a tour from the automobile’s blacksmith shop beginnings to a time and place where the car was king.

The journey continues beyond the main exhibit — into a changing exhibit gallery designed to showcase short term displays that range from Model T’s to Muscle Cars. Moving to the Lower Level reveals a new set of spaces to be explored, including Flo Fortnoy’s restored 1941 Valentine Diner (relocated from Wichita, Kansas). It’s a walk-in time capsule of a period when coffee cost a dime and the waitress placed an order for ham and eggs by calling to the cook for “pigs and chickens on a raft.”

Parked next to Flo’s are a dozen vehicles owned by the Museum of Bus Transportation — they’re the largest collection of historic buses under roof in the United States. When viewed along with the 100 foot timeline mounted the rear wall, they tell the story of an industry that carried four generations of Americans across town and across the country. Be sure to see the Lakeland Bus Lines bus from the movie “Forrest Gump” and the wicker-seated 1927 Fageol Safety Coach.

The Lower Level also includes an ever changing variety of vehicles that are too interesting or unique to be kept in collection storage. You may find a bright red Lincoln ambulance, an early “funeral car” (hearse) built from a carriage body and an REO truck), or Larry Porter’s rare collection of Ford “alphabet cars” (Henry Ford’s early cars from Model A to Model T).

For children the Lower Level is a place to get up close and personal with automotive stuff. In the activity room, younger visitors can ride a pedal car, do a crayon rubbing of an antique license plate and engage in a variety of hands-on projects and activities. At the Photo Stop, kids of ages can dress up in period clothing and have their picture taken sitting in a car from the Museum’s sit-in fleet. Current sit-in cars include a 1966 Cadillac convertible, a 1939 American Bantam Roadster and a 1920 Ford Model TT truck.

The finishing touch to any museum visit is a trip to the Museum’s Gift Shop. Featuring clothing, toys, books, and the Museum’s popular personalized license plates and parking places, the Gift Shop, like the Museum in which it’s located, has something for everyone.

Come to Hershey, Pennsylvania and Cruise through time with us at the Antique Auto Museum at Hershey.