Location | 56516 North Bay Drive, Chesterfield Township, Michigan[1] |
---|---|
Coordinates | 42°43′04″N 82°48′17″W / 42.717745°N 82.804647°W |
Type | Automobile museum[1] |
Key holdings | Chrysler Turbine Car[2] 1934 Duesenberg Model J Tucker 48[1] |
Collection size | Over 90 cars About 20 musical instruments[1] |
Visitors | 5,000 (in 2014)[1] |
Founder | Ted Stahl[1] |
Owner | Ted Stahl[1] |
Website | https://www.stahlsauto.com/ |
Stahls Automotive Collection is a private automotive collection in Chesterfield Township, Michigan, US.[1] It is the personal collection of Detroit native Ted Stahl, the chairman of fabric-based heat printer GroupeSTAHL in St. Clair Shores.[1][3]
The collection contains over 90 cars housed in a 45,000-square-foot (4,200 m2) garage,[1] most of which are from the Art Deco era and the Great Depression.[4] The collection focuses mostly on American cars, including former makes such as Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, and Packard in addition to cars built by Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, and Ford.[1][3] Stahls purchases vehicles largely based on their degree of innovative engineering and their importance to the development of automobile design.[4]
The oldest car in the collection is an 1899 De Dion-Bouton tricycle, and the first one that Ted Stahl purchased is a 1930 Ford Model A Roadster Deluxe. Among the most prominent cars in the collection are a 1934 Duesenberg Model J, a Tucker 48, and a handful of cars built for films, such as The Great Race, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and The Reivers.[1] In 2021, the collection acquired a Chrysler Turbine Car, one of only nine to survive and one of only two in a private collection (the other belonging to Jay Leno).[2]
In addition to the cars, the collection also includes about 20 musical instruments, including a Wurlitzer theater pipe organ.[1] There is a separate "music room" featuring orchestrions and other automated musical instruments.[5]
The collection is open to the public at no charge on Tuesday afternoons, the first Saturday of each month, and every Thursday excluding the third Thursday during the summer.[1] Regular events at the collection include an annual Autos for Autism fundraiser, which benefits the Ted Lindsay Foundation,[6][7] and a Veterans Day open house.[8]