MILLBURY, Ohio — As Tammy and Mike Bartlett have spent over two decades collecting cars, their passion has grown from storing their collection in one garage, to building a larger one, yet outgrowing both spaces.
Now the pair is showcasing their collectables in a museum for the public to view. The Millbury Classic Cars and Trucks museum, 26929 Cummings Road, features close to 85 cars and trucks on display, said co-owner Tammy Bartlett, along with vintage and neon signs, gas pumps, bikes, and mannequins.
“It really never intended to be a car museum in the beginning, but as our collection and our love for purchasing cars just kept growing,” she continued, “we've decided, you know, it would be really nice to share everything with the public.”
Besides the classic car museum in Bowling Green, Snook’s Dream Cars, Bartlett said there’s nothing quite like this in the northwest region of Ohio.
“We have close to 10 cars that are movie replicas,” she added. “We have the Scooby Doo van, the DeLorean from Back to the Future , the Batmobile, and Herbie, the Love Bug, from Herbie Goes Bananas .”
With the amount of car shows and car experts in the area, Bartlett said she and her husband wanted to share their memorabilia with people that have the same eye for classic cars and trucks.
“We have a very large truck collection,” the co-owner shared. “Not very many of local car shows have a ton of trucks that are displayed. We have trucks from 1954 through the early ’70s. … I do love the trucks, because that was kind of where I fell in love with cars.”
The museum has even had a few local nursing homes come to visit, she said, adding that when these groups and other visitors come by, “It’s really neat when people stand here and just talk for a long time about the memories, or [say], ‘We used to have that.’ Or, ‘My dad used to drive that.’”
Even if cars and trucks aren’t for you, the co-owner said the other collectibles in the museum — like their vintage signs — have been a guest attraction as well.
“We had a family come through. It was [a mom] and her children,” Bartlett added. “She said, ‘We heard about it. We heard it was cool. And none of us are really car people, but we were intrigued to come anyway.’ Because of all the other stuff that they heard about.”
The museum’s offerings don’t stop at visits and tours, she shared, but include other events as well.
Its first car show is set for Aug. 17 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Bartlett said, with a $5 registration for all cars, a 50/50 raffle, and basket drawings. Proceeds from admission to the museum ($12) will be donated to the Lake Township Fire Department.
Glen Chandler, better known as Cruisin Zeake, has been hosting car shows for nearly 20 years. He will be holding a Cars and Coffee event at the museum on Sept. 14 from 8 to 10 a.m, along with a drawing for a Matco Rat Fink tool box with proceeds benefiting Hospice of Northwest Ohio.
“They are really knocking it out of the park,” Crusin Zeake said about the museum’s owners, describing their Wood County operation as “must-see.”
The raffle for the tool box, which is limited edition and no longer avalible for purchase, has less than 100 tickets left according to the Crusin Zeake website. One can purchase tickets at Fast Lane Auto located at 611 Ford St. in Maumee between the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tickets are also avalible through Chandler, who can be reached at 419-509-5066 or at any of his shows, the next of which in the Toledo area is Aug. 18 at Toledo Memorial Park.
Chandler, a 75-year-old retired Jeep worker and Oregon resident, is known for his work spinning oldies at the car shows he works around the area. Since restoring a 1965 Ford Mustang his wife won at an auction in the ’90s, the northwest Ohio car community has been his community, and he said he is excited to see where the Bartletts venture takes them.
“The museum is awesome. It's more than what people would realize. It’s starting to be where people are taking bus trips to come up there. It’s just growing real good. They’re doing a great job.”
The memorabilia in the museum is something you don’t get to see a lot of, he added, making the addition of this space a great one for the Millbury community and beyond.
The Millbury Classic Cars and Trucks Museum is open Thursday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with adult general admission for $12, senior citizens and children for $8, and free for children under 5.
To learn more about the museum and its upcoming events, visit its Facebook page.
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