The Car Museum

The Car Museum Deer Lodge Montana
One other part of the museums of Deer Lodge Montana was a really great automobile museum. They had vehicles all the way from an 1895 Benz replica (the first internal combustion engine automobile thru literally hundreds of 1905 to 1969 cars. There were rooms of just 1900 to 1920 and then another room 1920 to 1930 and so on up to the 60’s. There were model A’s, touring cars, roadsters, and some unusual cars like the amphibian car and the Ford hardtop convertible which I remember with all of it’s little electric motors.
There was a 1969 electric car that would go 50 miles without a recharge and many, many more. I even liked the Edsel and early Corvettes.
Well I left you a few pictures and tomorrow I will visit three more museums here in Deer Lodge.
It is unfortunate but I believe most of the automobiles in this collection were once owned by a Montana banker, a Mr. Towe. He spent a lifetime collecting Ford automobiles and at one time had the largest collection in the world of them (one for every year they were made and also differing models). Many of the cars he obtained in South America and even drove them himself to the US from there. The IRS it seems had about 18 years that they audited him and his bank and would try to tax him for various revenue infractions. Most of these he won after years in court battles but one case he lost for $100,000 after many years they levied interest of 23% compounded daily on him so that the amount owed was over $1,500,000. At that point he could not pay them due to reversals in his financial life and even though the automobiles were now in a trust and much of his assets owned by other family members they were ceased and sold at auction. A sad ending to a lifetime spent acquiring his collection.
1 Roadster
2 Benz
3 Ford Hardtop Convertible
4 Touring auto
5 Morris Minor