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Time Stands Still:
A Trip to the Dells Auto Museum |
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By Steve Litscher
Editor-in-Chief
(Tuesday, June 1, 2004 4:00 PM EST) |
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Think "Wisconsin" and you're apt to conjour images of cows, cheese, farmland and Lambeau Field. Truth be told, there's a lot more to "America's Dairlyand" than beer, brats, dairy and the Packers. Wisconsin is a land of subtle beauty, tens of thousands of lakes, booming metropolitan areas, and plenty of vacation hot spots.
Located just north of Madison (the state's capital) is Wisconsin Dells. Wisconsin Dells is a major hot-spot for tourists "in the know," as it offers a great atmosphere for a summer family vacation by providing plenty of family friendly activities. The kids can play at one of nearly a dozen water parks while Mom and Dad can enjoy adult-friendly activities that include some great night spots.
One of the more popular attractions in Wisconsin Dells is The Dells Auto Museum, which plays host to approximately 25 classic cars and a wide assortment of interesting automotive memorabilia. The Dells Auto Museum is owned and operated by a father and son duo of Dick and Lance Tarnutzer. Together, they have an impressive collection of classic cars, of which they show 25 per summer at the Dells Auto Museum.
"Well, we had 400 cars," says Lance Tarnutzer. "Unfortunately we suffered a major fire at one of our storage facilities a few years ago, and that fire caused us to lose a lot of our favorite cars." Lance is refering to a 1999 fire that quickly consumed a 20,000 square foot warehouse that housed nearly 100 of the Tarnutzer's more favorite cars. The fire ravaged the collection and left a majority of the cars as nothing more than rusty lumps of vintage sheet metal.
"We lost cars like our Plymouth Superbird, some Shelbys, a GTO Judge convertible, a Buick GS Stage 1 convertible and a bunch of other irreplaceable cars," says Dick Tarnutzer. Dick began collecting cars in the late 60's, and has prided himself on maintaining what was once the world's largest collection of Indianappolis 500 pace cars. "But," he says with a strong hint of sadness, "We still have a lot of great cars, and we're always adding a few here and there."
The museum sits just off Highway 12, next to The Deer Park and across from Riverview Family Park (an amusement park complete with go-karts, various rides, miniature golf and more). The building is a bit rustic, but it matches its surrounding environment well. A vintage dry-cleaning delivery vehicle greets visitors as they enter the museum's front door.
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