I have not been
as disapointed by a funshow in a while, as I was at this one. The ad suggested 500 tables, most of which must have been outdoor under a tarp.
Oh, there were a few nice pieces there, a Martini in 303 caught my eye, there were a few moderately nicely sporterized Krags (though that should actually be illegal) a couple of decent Arisakas. One of the event organizers ( I assume it was) had a 3 wheeled motorcycle with an M16 mounted on the tailgunner’s position.
So we were going to leave, but the event was being held in the north end of a building that housed the Kruse Auto museum and the Kruse WW2 victory museum.
We walked into the big central hall, and there was a couple of jeeps on one side, and a 32 Cord and a Duesie J on the other. I paid for Partner and i to get in, hoping that the vehicles we could see were not the sum of the exhibit.
We were NOT disapointed. Really, really, really excellent examples of A LOT of varied military vehicles were on display, including Rommel’s campaign car and a BUNCH of different tracked vehicles from many theaters, as well as a powerful lot of personal memorabilia including uniforms, personal items, and bringbacks from GI’s from all the branches of the service. This is the kind of museum that would make John Donovan Olive Drab with envy. If you’re a history geek, and a war geek, and a military vehicle geek, you MUST GO SEE THIS. As disapointing as the Funshow was, this more than made up for it.
On the other wing of the same building there are cars. One of the (Many) Dukes of Hazzard cars, signed by the actors. Kit from KnightRider. A batmobile or three. An honest to god Reo Royale Luxury. A couple of nice Royces, with the the spirit of ecstasy prominently displayed. Several race cars, and a lot of fantasy rides designed by Carl Casper. (Think velour and psychedelic fiberglass). There’s also a nice array of horse drawn vehicles, if that’s your thing.
The cars didn’t do a lot for me, but the military museum was well worth the trip, and close by is the very very new Early Ford V8 museum, so new that it’s not even staffed that often. Also coming soon to the same complex is a Motorsports History museum; they have bingo on most weekends, and bull riding.
hey, those little Indiana towns have to pack a lot of shit into a little space. I think they may have camping too.
Anyway. Go there! You’ll like it. Oh, they have some trucks apparently made by the ancestors of US Librarians.
It’s difficult to tell without something for scale, but the tires on these two vehicles are about 4′ tall. They’re HUGE. a LOT of the italian stuff has huge tires. These were the only ones named for librarians, though.
…Wow, this is exactly the kind of thing I would have been ga-ga over. If you ever go again, call me! And isn’t the Auburn auto museum down that way?
yes, indeed! Frankly, we’d have invited you but didn’t know how you’d feel over going to a gunshow and not being able to buy anything, not that there was much worth buying anyhow, the museum was just a happy accident. Do reccomend, though, even if you gassed up the Scort and drove there yourself. 133 miles from my house, so, actually just a couple gallons of gas and $10 admission. I bet you could easily spend a solid day there.
Just go ahead and invite me. If I decide I don’t want to spend the money, I won’t.
…but I do need to be out and doing things so I’m not at home moping all the time. Hence getting the Fiero on the road so I can do cruise nights and car shows, and going to bible study group, and-and-and. (And I hate doing stuff by myself.)
No biggie, though, as I was positively flattened by unreasonable tired-ness this entire weekend.
We will do so in future, indeed.
My Wench and I visited those 2 fine museums several years ago. We also visited The Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum and directly behind that The National Automobile and Truck Museum of the US (NATMUS for short).
Looks like the Ford V-8 museum is but one more reason to head west.
Thanks for the tip.
I went to this museum a couple of years ago. The guy saw the museum in Belgium and the curator knew him from the vehicle auction business. The curator asked him to help liquidate the museum. Kruse declined and came back and bought the whole damn thing and moved it ti Indiana. The Battle of the Bulge Diorama is Huge and a truly amazing piece. I understand that several of the vehicles in the collection are the sole surviving example. Double plus on this museum. The attached race car museum was OK too. The Auburn/Duesie Museum is only one more exit south if I remember correctly.(also money well spent) Stay at the Pokagon State Park and it makes a great long weekend.
I may be heading out to Kingsbury Friday if anyone is interested.
A K31, Mosin, and maybe a SVT-40 WILL JOIN ME