What: Clive Cussler Museum
Where: Clive Cussler Museum, 14959 W. 69th Ave., Arvada, CO 80007; phone: 303-420-2795
Parking: Parking is free in the museum lot. Additional free parking is available on the street.
The Cussler Museum is dedicated to the preservation of astounding rare and vintage automobiles from all over the world. `This extensive collection of over 100 significant automobiles, ranging in years from 1906 to 1965, was started by renowned best-selling author, Clive Cussler.
Where They All Came From…by Clive Cussler
Living in Southern California during the nineteen-forties and building a hot rod out of a 1936 Ford Sedan, I fancifully developed a love of old classic cars. I bought a black 1925 Auburn limousine for $18.00 that my buddies and I drove to the football games, dressing like gangsters and carrying beer and wine past the security guards hidden in a violin case.
I recall finding a magnificent old 1915 Renault taxi cab in the back of a garage and begging my Dad to loan me the eighty dollars for the owner who wanted to sell it. My Dad thought I was crazy and refused to loan me the money. In another instance, I tried to buy a beautiful Pierce Arrow Limousine, but the owner wanted more than I could afford and took it out to his ranch where he cut off the rear end and used the magnificent old car as a pickup truck, an occurrence that was quite common in the old days.
Years later, when driving through the Colorado countryside, my wife, Barbara, said, "Look! There's a 1946 Ford club coupe like I had in high school." The car was sitting in the front of a farm with a For Sale sign on it. I paid $400 for it and drove it home, where my son and I restored it in the street. This was the first car of my collection. It still sits among the more exceptional additions that came through the years.
After the Dirk Pitt books became bestsellers, I could afford to buy the more exotic examples of classic autos. I purchased a 1955 Rolls Royce that my wife liked because it was new the year we were married. Then came a 1926 Hispano Suiza cabriolet that I bought at my first classic car auction after I had three martinis. As more cars were added I had to buy a warehouse. One side holds the classics while the other displays fifties convertibles.
When I was saddened by not being able to buy the beautiful Pierce Arrow and saving it from mutilation, I never dreamed that one day I would own over 100 exotic cars just like it, and saved fifty by having them restored to the condition they were in when sitting on the dealership floor.
Someday they'll be looked upon as mechanical masterworks of art and receive the admiration that is given to the Van Goghs and Rembrandts.
Clive Cussler Museum
Guide Line Review
Cussler Museum
We met at the Cussler Museum at 6:00 pm which is only open on Mondays and Tuesdays from 10 am – 7 pm during the summer from May thru September. The museum has been open since 2005. There is plenty of parking around the Museum. However, a motorcoach could unload/load passengers directly at the facility but would need to park on the street. building though not really space for a bus on the lot. The museum is available for special events throughout the year. Admission costs are currently $7 for adults, $5 for seniors and $3 for children under 12. There are restrooms in the museum as well as vending machines with water.
Clive Cussler is a well-known author of mysteries and adventure. Many of the cars are described or “driven” in the more than 50 books that he has written or co-authored. Each car in this location that was used in a book is in a copy of a master book Mr. Cussler has written and is available at the museum. Mr. Cussler is also a collector of artifacts with an amazing record of finding over 60 shipwreck sites and other notable underwater items. His first book was “Raise the Titanic” in 1970 and his first foray into fiction was in 1973 with the first Dirk Pitt adventure novel. Two of his books have been made into movies – “Raise the Titanic” and “Sahara”. Sahara starred Matthew McConnaughay.
The museum actually has two buildings at this location, though only one is open to the public. The other is used for storage of the rest of the collection located here in Denver. There is another collection in Scottsdale, Arizona as well. This collection consists of about 70 cars though there are about 117 cars located here. The collection displayed here changes each year so that patrons can see different cars. There is an annual Clive Cussler’s Collector’s Society Convention that alternates between Scottsdale and Arvada and includes several speakers and book signings. The 2012 Convention will be in Scottsdale.
Norma Bovee introduced the staff – Mr. Cussler’s daughter Terry and granddaughter Amy who are at the reception desk and also the Curator, Keith Lowden. Keith gave us a general overview of the museum which consists of two large rooms currently. Keith has worked on the cars in the collection for 28 years and is involved in the restoration of the cars. All the cars in the collection “run” and Keith has worked on all of them. The collection is selective; cars are shown at car shows and concourses.
Mr. Cussler’s first interest in cars came as a child when his father would take the family into town for dinner once a month during the Depression. Some interesting trivia about these old cars: the brakes had asbestos in the lining (asbestos is outlawed today), most of the cars run on leaded gas (again, this is outlawed today). The oil used to have zinc in it (new oils are synthetic). Since the unleaded gas and zinc added oil are not readily available, the cars may at some time be only to look at, not to run at all.
The main room at the entrance is called the “‘50s Room” and has about 15 cars, all in their original colors, that have been beautifully restored. These cars, when compared to today’s cars, seem huge! There are two Studebakers, cars that used to be thought of as small, a 1961 Cadillac convertible that you would love to take a spin in, a Ford convertible from 1954 that will bring back many memories for “senior visitors” as well as Hudson, Fords, and Chryslers.
The second room has more historic cars that have been restored though the paint colors may not be the original color. These include a 1951 Talbot that was once owned by King Farouk of Egypt; a 1931 Marmon (a Marmon Wasp won the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911); a 1921 Minerva made in Belgium; a 1947 Tatra from Czechoslovakia featuring a rear engine and air scoops by the back side windows to cool the engine.
Add to that, a 1939 Bugatti made in France, a 1936 Avions Viosin with an aluminum skin; a 1937 Cord with front wheel drive and covered lights that must be opened manually and a Lycoming engine. There is also a 1932 Auburn, a 1931 Stutz Boattail with lights that turn with the steering, a 1928 Isotta Fraschini – one of only two known to exist today, as well as a 1925 model, and a 1948 Delahaye from France. Among other cars featured: a 1911 Ford Model T runabout (in black, of course), a 1913 Stutz Bearcat, 1925 Locomobile, 1926 Hispano Suiza, 1931 Bentley, a 1937 Rolls Royce Phantom and a 1948 Talbot. Auburns, Cords and Duesenburgs were all manufactured in Auburn, Indiana. The collection includes an electric car, front-wheel drive and headlights that turn with the steering are not new ideas in automotive engineering.
Many of these cars have several headlamps, much larger than today’s headlights. Why? Roads were not lighted; and obstacles and potholes could be in the roadway. Keith pointed out that Tucker cars had three headlamps and the center light turned with the steering.
If you like cars, this museum is a place not to be missed.
--- Nancy Brueggeman