The answer to what makes a car museum special depends on who is asking. For some people, it might be as simple as seeing their first car again and having all the old memories flooding in. For others, it might be the opportunity to see and learn about something they didn’t even know existed.
For me, it’s the latter. Don’t get me wrong; whenever I see my first car anywhere, I have the chance to reminisce. However, I prefer to see things I’ve never seen before, and when I visited the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum in Pinellas Park, Florida, there was no shortage of things I had never seen.
The museum is about 14,000 square feet and specializes in showcasing engineering achievements. For example, did you know they made an all-wheel-drive Mustang in 1965? I didn’t, but I saw it on display at the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum.
Tampa Bay Automobile Museum is also the museum where I first learned about the Mathis Automobile. The Mathis is a French vehicle and on display in the museum is a 3-wheeled concept car that, at first glance, may make you think of a BMW Isetta or a Who car from Dr. Suess.
Despite my effort, this was the only Mathis I had been able to track down in the states until Susan sent me the information on a 1935 Mathis. A seller, who happened to be the second owner, sent the info on a 1935 Mathis EMY4S to the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum via snail mail. Thanks to Susan and Oliver from the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum, the 1935 Mathis is now on display at Miles Through Time Automotive Museum and is the only two known Mathis vehicles in the states.
The museum is self-guided and almost hidden in an industrial park. I’ve visited this museum a few times, and each time, there are one or two guys there that are eager to answer questions and can prolong your visit as long as you enjoy hearing their stories. There were a few times I wished I had been recording them so I could reshare the story. But unfortunately, my memory has let me down, and the ability to regurgitate the vast amount of the history I heard is out of my reach.
Tampa Bay Automobile Museum is open every day except Tuesday, so if you plan accordingly, you should have the opportunity to visit one of the Tampa Bay area’s hidden gems.
Sean Mathis, Founder, Miles Through Time Automotive Museum
