THE CANTON CLASSIC CAR MUSEUM
Open: Daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Location:
Phone:
The museum is currently home to 45 rare classic and special interest automobiles. The museum also holds thousands of pieces of historic memorabilia on display to complement the cars. The museum features a 1937 Ahrens-Fox Quad fire engine; a 1937 Packard hearse; and a 1957 BMW Isetta to name a few. In addition the museum features vintage toys, steam engines, movie posters, and historic photographs.
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Excerpt from a past edition of OhioTraveler
The roads around Ohio can take funny turns and lead to unexpected and delightful discoveries.
Recently, a legend of the road and a wannabe came to the same crossroads. The wannabe elbowed his way through a crowd to meet the man he used to watch on TV as a kid.
I was the wannabe and the man’s hand I wanted to shake was Neil Zurcher's.
If you ever heard of “One Tank Trips”, read Ohio Oddities or watched TV in northeast Ohio, Neil Zurcher needs no introduction. Not only did my wife and I meet and chat with Neil and his lovely wife Bonnie, we’ve kept in touch since.
If you know Neil Zurcher, you know of the little red and white convertible – a 1959 Nash Metropolitan.
I asked him about it and he said, “The classic car idea was a good one...at first. It brought instant recognition when I walked into a strange place, problem was as time went on the car became almost better known than I was and created a few problems. When we took it with us on trips we eventually reached the point where we had to bring along an extra person to just watch the car and keep souvenir seekers from cutting out pieces of the top or stealing knobs on the dash or attempting to steal the hood ornament.”
When Neil retired from TV in 2004 he loaned the car to the Canton Classic Car Museum where it still is today along with an earlier model car he used for his television segments. So for nostalgia more than anything, I took a road trip to Canton.
Before I tell you about a museum for auto enthusiasts – “IT’S MORE THAN JUST CARS!” – I have to tell you about the personality behind that quote.
Every tourist attraction should have the energy, passion and knowledge of Char Lautzenheiser, Director of the Canton Classic Car Museum. She has stories that make you ask for more and humor that still brings a smile to my face. When I walked out of there several hours later, I knew I’d forever remember “Char’s Cars!”
“I actually came with my dad the first week the museum opened in 1978. He was a “car guy” so being an only child I had the best of both worlds,” said Char. “I learned about cars from my dad and cooking from my mom!”
This year marks Char’s 25th anniversary of officially being with the museum.
“Most people don’t have the opportunity to work their passion; I certainly do! In fact I love cars so much both of my sons are named after cars. My dad said I have diesel in my blood …he just might have been right,” said Char.
The Canton Classic Car Museum was established 33 years ago by the Marshall Belden family. He loved cars and his wife loved collectibles. So the museum is truly more than just cars. It bares the auto enthusiasm of Mr. Belden and the “finds” Mrs. Belden brought back from road trips.
“So much more than just cars!”
There are period fashions, puppet collections, vintage toys, tin signs, wonderful automobilia, pictures galore, oriental rugs – more than can be mentioned – and of course, 45 classic and antique cars.
The cars range in age from a 1901 Curved Dash Oldsmobile Runabout to a 1970 Plymouth Road Runner and lots in between. There are one-of-a-kinds like a fully bullet proof 1937 Studebaker owned by the Canton Police Dept. It even has bullet proof windows with gun ports in the middle of the glass. It’s known as the “Flying Squadron” but those at the museum affectionately call her “The Bandit Car”.
It’s a car, no it’s a boat. It’s both! It’s a 1962 amphibious car built in Germany.
The museum also has one of only 196 Cord 812 which were built in 1937. Another 1937 car, a Packard, was referred to as an “Invalid Car” where the back seat was an actual wheel chair. Other unique cars throughout the museum are the 1963 split window Corvette – the only year they built the split window, a 1914 Benham – one of only 19 built in Detroit.
Considered a rolling work of art, a 1937 Packard hearse’s rear is hand carved mahogany to resemble curtains. They only built 3 of this magnificent 12 cylinder car. Don’t miss the 1957 BMW Issetta. If you think smart cars are new, check this out. It has a one cylinder engine and gets about 77 MPG! Elvis Pressley sent one home when he was in Germany in 1957.
The museum will make you feel like you’re at home whether you are sitting in the gift shop glancing through a book or sitting on the antique chairs. Whether you play the juke box, pin ball or antique shooting game, you’ll find something to make you smile!
The building used to house the Monnet and Sacher Ford garage. It was once the largest Ford dealership in the country. Originally, in 1914, George Monnet and Joseph Sacher had a bicycle retail and repair shop at this location, and then they heard a rumor that the first coast to coast highway (The Lincoln Highway or Route 30) was going to go straight through Canton only 6 blocks north of their building. Quickly, they realized that automobiles were the future so out with the bikes and in with the horseless carriages!
The rest is history.
Learn more legends of the road and visit the Canton Classic Car Museum. It is located at Market Avenue at 6th Street SW in Canton, Ohio 44702. Admission is $7.50/adult, $6.00/senior and $5/child 6-18 years-old. For more information, call 330-455-3603 or visit
www.cantonclassiccar.org.