Montana Auto Collection
Too many to list, but too much to miss, is a visit to the Montana Auto Museum in the Old Prison Museum Complex. Over 200 cars are on display from classic Chevys and muscle cars to a Schacht high wheeler. Listed by USA Today as one of the Top 10 Car Museums in the country the Montana Auto Museum offers a splendid display of automotive history.
The Thermador Car Cooler is just one of the unique things you will see during your trip through time or down memory lane. It was a popular type of automobile “air conditioner” before the advent of the more efficient compressor refrigeration units used today.
The reservoir held about a gallon of water, which would provide cooling for about 100 to 150 miles of driving. Circa 1930’s-1960’s.
Speeds of over 20 mph . . . Exceptionally stable – Buoyancy blocks of expanded foam inside the hill render the craft virtually INSINKABLE! Enormously strong hull despite light weight. All parts resistant to corrosion by salt water! Automatic transmission works off accelerator and disengages if rider should dive or fall off, bring boat to a complete standstill. No exposed moving parts inside hull. Carries two persons (max load 260lbs) sitting astride as on land motor scooters. Light and easily transportable, can be carried on top of a car of inside a station wagon! Simple to launch easy to start!
The 1886 Benz was the first successful internal combustion-engine motor vehicle. Karl Benz developed the engine in January 1886. Gottlieb Daimler and engineer Wilhelm Maybach’s converted a carriage and added Benz’s petrol engine the same year.
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Daimler-Benz Motor Company eventually would use the brand name Mercedes-Benz on their automobiles.
Designed for use with Model T Fords was the Staude-a-Tractor. This was a conversion kit along with several other makes. IT remained popular for several years as “poor man’s tractor”. The various models sold for around $200.00 The idea looked good, but these car-tractor conversion kits were so unsuccessful that today it is difficult to find one, even as a museum piece.
On your trip through time see a DeSoto Airflow, Model T’s, V-8 Fords, Chevy Bel Air’s, a Ford Mustang GT500 fastback ‘Eleanor’, and a Chevelle Super Sport. A 1915 Seagrave Fire Truck, a Diamond T logging truck, a Vincent Amanda Motor Scooter, a Detroit Electric Car from 1913, and a 1964 Chevrolet Corvette Show Car customized in 1989, are just a few that will make a motor head drool.
See old photos of camping and look at the Cozy Camp Pop-up Trailer from 1933.
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