Walter P. Chrysler Museum facts for kids
1915 Dodge Brothers Touring Car
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| Established | 1999 |
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| Dissolved | 2016 |
| Location | Auburn Hills, Michigan |
| Type | Car museum |
| Collection size | 65 vehicles |
The Walter P. Chrysler Museum was a special place in Auburn Hills, Michigan, where you could see many amazing cars. It showed off important vehicles made by famous car companies like Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth, Jeep, AMC, Nash, Hudson, and Rambler.
The museum was open from October 1999 to December 2012. It briefly opened again in 2016 before closing for good in December 2016. It was named after Walter P. Chrysler, who started the Chrysler car company.
Contents
Exploring the Museum's Cool Design
The Walter P. Chrysler Museum was designed by Giffels Associates. It covered 10 acres of land right next to Chrysler's main office in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The building had three levels and about 55,000 square feet of space to show off cars. Its outside looked shiny with red granite and black glass, matching the nearby Chrysler Headquarters and Technology Center.
Work on the museum started on November 19, 1996, and it opened its doors on October 5, 1999.
What You Could See Inside
The museum had 65 old, custom, and concept cars. Concept cars are special cars made to show new ideas and technologies. There were also fun interactive displays and exhibits that told the story of Chrysler's designs, new technologies, and how cars changed culture.
A tall, two-story open area called an atrium had a cool rotating tower. This tower held platforms with concept cars hanging from them! From the atrium, you could go to two floors of exhibits and a simpler lower level.
Discovering Car History on the Lower Level
The lower level showed the first 50 years of the car industry. It focused on Walter P. Chrysler and his company. You could see many rare cars from the early 1900s. A special wall showed a timeline of important people and older car companies like DeSoto, Hudson, Nash, Plymouth, Rambler, and Willys-Overland.
Amazing Cars on the Second Floor
The second floor featured the first Chrysler Hemi engine from 1951. This area also had displays about how cars are styled, electronics, special turbine technology, safety features, and how cars save fuel.
Jeeps and Trucks in the Garage Area
The lower level, which looked like a big garage, held cars from the 1960s and 1970s. It also had a collection of Jeep vehicles and trucks.
Why the Museum Closed Down
The museum welcomed about 90,000 visitors each year and made money at first. However, it started to lose money, about $1.5 million from 2010 to 2011. Because fewer people were visiting, it closed to the public on December 31, 2012.
The museum's collection of cars was sold to the Chrysler Foundation, which is a charity group connected to Chrysler. In 2016, the museum briefly opened again for special events and meetings. But it closed permanently on December 18, 2016.
The building where the museum used to be was changed into office space. The 65 cars from the collection are now shown at special events at the Chrysler Technology Center and other company locations. The U.S. headquarters for Maserati and Alfa Romeo now share the space that was once the museum.
See also
In Spanish: Museo Walter P. Chrysler para niños
