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Gateway Auto Museum

"The John Hendricks Collection"

Gateway Canyon, Colorado

The Gateway Automobile Museum is home to one of the finest Collection of American Automobiles in the country. More than 50 vehicles are displayed in a manner that tells the story of how the Automobile has impacted our lives over the past 100 years. The Collection is owned by Discovery Channels founder, John Hendricks. The Museum is located at the Gateway Canyon Resort, in Gateway Canyon, Colorado. The area is Amazingly Beautiful.  The Resort lies within the red rock canyons of Western Colorado, about an hour southwest of Grand Junction. We made the drive from Mesa Verde, taking Scenic Byway CO-141 N. It is a true drivers road with sweeping curves, endless straight a ways, hills and descents often crossing streams through the red rock country

A narrative movie featuring Walter Cronkite along with 7 Galleries have been created to help illustrate a Century of Automobile History beginning with the "Mass Mobility Gallery" and ending with the the "American Muscle Gallery". I do love  those Muscle Cars, but the 1930's Glamour Cars and the Chrome laden Finned Cars from the 50's and early 60's have always been my favorites. Displayed in the "Hollywood High Style Gallery" is everything that you expect, including makes from Cadillac, Continental, Packard, and of course Auburn, Cord and Duesenberg

1953 was a Banner Year for the once Great General Motors. Buick turned 100 years and introduced the Skylark to help Celebrate their 50th Anniversary (shown is a 1954 Skylark). The Fiberglass '53 Corvette went into production in less than a year after it debuted in the General Motors Motorama Shows.  Oldsmobile offered it's Fiesta Convertible and Cadillac introduced it's Eldorado. All of these '53 models were Custom Built - Limited Production cars. As with many Special Cars of that Magical Era they began life as creative ideas that would later become styling exercises, known as Concept Cars. GM's Harley Earl is credited with creating the industries First Concept Car, the Buick Y-Job. Many more would follow throughout his stay with General Motors

The "Mona Lisa" of the Gateway Auto Museum is the One of a Kind 1954 Oldsmobile F-88, a Past Harley Earl Concept Car. With the anticipation of success with the introduction of America's 1st Sports Car in 1953, the Corvette, General Motors thought that maybe Oldsmobile and Pontiac might benefit from  a Fiberglass Sports Car of their own. It wasn't meant to be. The Corvette sold poorly in 1954, so poorly that the left over '54  models were sold as 1955 models. Fortunately the F-88 was not scrapped as was the case with most Concept Cars at the time. The Museum purchased the F-88 at auction with much fanfare in 2005 it sold  for an unheard of price of 3.24 Million Dollars. Considered a Work of Art by the Museum, the F-88 is displayed in it's own Gallery with a rotating table and a collection of historical information detailing it's design and acquisition by the Museum

Besides a Wonderful Collection of Automobiles the Museum has recreated a Really Cool Road Side Diner as part of their "American Muscle Gallery". A Great looking Diner but I was a little disappointed once inside. I never saw a waitress, the Coca-Cola dispenser wasn't working and the Food was Cold and had a Plastic Taste to it. I can see why no one else was eating there...  I soon decided to pass on Diner Food and opted to eat at "The Paradox Grille", located in the Resort. We had BBQ Colorado Pork Ribs and an Angus Burger, Sooo Much Better!