History Walter P. Chrysler Museum Closing

I was there the same day as 31 Dodger. It was a special event and a special day.

 

It is very expensive to operate a museum. Most museums operate at a break-even or worse, even with good attendance. When support dwindles it is a sign of a lack of interest so why absorb losses. It still ****s.

 

darn......Nice collection AND..I derived great pleasure from pointing out that Ol` Walt spelled his own name wrong when engraving his tools....

 

im going to visit my son this December. we were planning on a museum visit. we have been there a few times over the years. they do move the cars around putting them on display through out the main headquarters. I hope the collection and all of the artifacts are saved for future generations.

 

Considering the condition Fiat is in, this is no wonder.
What do you expect from a firm that sold Chryslers relabeled as Lancias in Europe.
Sad.

 

The same as a company that sold Mitsubishis relabeled as Dodges in the USofA?

Without Fiat the museum would have closed 9 years ago, along with a few other buildings in that area. It's a bummer it's closing but at least it's not next to a shopping mall right now.

 

It sure as hell ain't gonna be for engineers....

 

As a supplier to CJD-Fiat, I was fortunate to attend a private Museum tour and to have dinner literally next to these wonderful machines!

And yes it is true what Desmo Dog said, Without FIAT, that museum would have closed many years ago (It was supposed to close 4 years ago) The lack of support from the City and the expense to run the Museum contributed to its demise.

I did ask Museum management what will happen to the vehicles and was told that CJD-FIAT has several warehouses where they store the overflow of collectable and experimental vehicles for safekeeping.

 

It is too bad that Fiat is closing the museum but it isn't their history so they don't really care

 

Walter P Chrysler museum closing!?! I object, it's preposterous i tell you, i demand a recount, seriously have they lost their marbles? Hmm?


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VERY appropriate for today....

 

This reminds me of the closing of the Briggs Cunningham Automotive Museum of Costa Mesa, CA. in 1987. Very abrupt and no fanfare. Not only did the collection get sold off but the large building itself was s****ped clean from the earth and many smaller buildings were built in its place. The property now looks as though the Cunningham Museum was never there.

 

This sat on a tower at the fire station in my town for years before going to the museum.

 

I'm certain that siren would clean the wax out of your ears !

 

Dam bean counters its always got to be about the BUCK and not the p***ion that we all have

That's just the way that History gets lost with people who don't give a hoot

Big time Bummer, DND

 

So it's the companies fault that not enough people go to the museum to support the costs to run it?

 

Sorry to read that Chrysler Museum is closing. I got to see the Cunningham Collection back in the 1970's, most of that collection is now in the Collier Collection in Florida. Bob

 

I hate seeing this kind of stuff happen. Sadly though it is happening all across our great land. Great Clips, Chinese buffets and Petco store strip malls are popping up everywhere in place of what used to be historical buildings.
For some reason office spaces and parking garages have become more important than history.

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its all set. our family is going the last weekend they are open in December. I hope to see a large crowd of hamb members there.

 

What a loss for all of us. Thanks for the pics, 31 Dodger.

 

Here are a few more....

 

It sure did. Here is what the local paper said when it was removed:

TRENTON - The city gave a World War II relic to history this week.

The Chrysler Victory-Bell Siren, posted at the King Road fire station for almost 45 years, will be displayed at the Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills.

Chrysler and Bell Laboratories of New York developed the sirens in 1942.

Throughout the World War II era, they were meant to deafen, or at least frighten, any enemy troops who might find their way to the United States.

"During the Cold War era, because nothing could match its power, they realized it had a place in communities for civil defense," said Pat Adanti-Joy, spokeswoman for the museum.

The siren that was removed Monday from its 75-foot tower was produced at Chrysler's Trenton Engine Plant.

It was installed in August 1958 and remained in service until the 1970s, when an alternate radio system was introduced.

The siren, about the size of a small car, is powered by a Chrysler 331 Hemi engine and produced the loudest continuous noise ever created by a machine.

It has a sound radius of more than nine miles and emits about 140 decibels at 100 feet away.

Adanti-Joy said that although the siren would be restored, its powerful volume might lead it to never be set off again.

"It's been said that you couldn't stand next to it because it was so loud," she said. "And when it was going it would vibrate so much that you couldn't reach over to turn it off."

The self-contained, gas powered unit was designed to operate without electricity, water or other public utilities, allowing it to operate in any cir***stances.

Adanti-Joy said the siren would undergo a yearlong restoration process before it goes on permanent display at the museum.


This Chrysler Victory-Bell Siren, posted at Trenton's King Road fire station for almost 45 years, was removed from its long-time home Monday morning. The historic civil defense siren will go through a year-long, restoration process and be displayed at the Walter P Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills.

 

WOW! Amazing info !

 

Complete bummer. Wish I could have seen it.

 

maybe they don't know just how much we appreciate this museum. how do you get some sort of social media thing going so we can get the word out. there are millions of car people out there. no one likes bad press and a good public shaming may do the trick.

 

Must have been testing the Hemi design for future use in Top Fuel dragsters.

 

I've been a museum director/curator. From 1980-1984. We had a good collection of vintage printing presses, Linotypes, hand set type, casting machines, bindery equipment and related items. All of this was in an original building going back to 1902. This was the first newspaper published in Oklahoma - The State Capital. A weekly and a daily. Just before the famous land run of 1889.

You can google State Capital Publishing Museum and go to pictures.

Yeah, it's sad to see a good museum, a piece of our history get killed off. Especially by some off shore corporation or their off shore boss men. Vultures.

Museums are educational/cultural/artistic ins***utions and as such are rarely, if ever, totally self supporting. Like a university. They must be supported by outside funding of some type.

Just one more example to despise most big corporations....

 

All I will say is that just ****s.Any further comments would probably just get me banned.
Good luck.Have fun.be safe.
Leo

 

Last visited the museum in 2012, nice collection of cars. The company I work for actually designed the building in the 1990's. I only worked on some minor Civil site work for it. Definitely remember the air raid siren on King Road, as Trenton is my hometown.

 

It is really a shame when a company that size cant keep the collection open for history's sake, boo on you

I worked at the Nethercutt museum and it is right out of his pocket, and it is free to anybody because it was his p***ion to let people see great items of out past

R.I.P. J.B. Nethercutt

DND