Stahls Automotive Collection
Automobile museum in Chesterfield Township, Michigan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stahls Automotive Collection is a non-profit 501(c)3 automotive collection in Chesterfield Township, Michigan, US.[1] It is the personal collection of Detroit natives Mary and Ted Stahl, the chairman of fabric-based heat printer GroupeSTAHL in St. Clair Shores.[1][3]
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1934 Duesenberg Model J
Tucker 48[1]
The interior of Stahls Automotive Collection in December 2021 | |
  Location within Michigan  Stahls Automotive Collection (the United States) | |
| Location | 56516 North Bay Drive, Chesterfield Township, Michigan[1] |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 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 | Mary and Ted Stahl[1] |
| Owner | Mary and Ted Stahl[1] |
| Website | https://www.stahlsauto.com/ |
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 1886 Roberts Electric, and the first one 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 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, 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 many musical instruments, including a Wurlitzer theater pipe organ originally built for the home of the son of Rudolph Wurlitzer.[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]
