The Mullin Automotive Museum

Tucked away in a quiet industrial complex in Oxnard, the Mullin Automotive Museum has an amazing collection of mostly French designed pre war automobiles on displayed. A breathtakingly beautiful and elegant collection of touring auto and grand prix racers.

The Mullin Automotive Museum displays a large collection of mainly fully restored vintage automobiles that reflect the Art Deco style by French manufactures in the 1920s and 1930s.

Peter Mullin who built the collection and founded the museum has focused on an era of auto development and design and views these Autos as moving fine art. The museum opened in 2010 and is styled as a Paris Auto Salon from the 1930s.

While the museum features classic French automobiles and grand prix race cars, a collections of Art-Deco furniture, paintings and sculptures is also featured. The atmosphere of the museum invokes an era of luxury, inspired design and daring racers.

The collection includes 120 cars with 50 or 60 or so on display at any one time. Touring cars are spread out on the ground floor with race cars lined up on the balcony above. Many of the cars have won prestigious awards at the Concours d’Elegance.

The collection includes striking examples of some of the most outstanding French marques of the era, including Delahaye, Delage, Vision, Hispano-Suiza, Talbot-Lago and of course Bugatti.

A dark eggplant purple Talbot-Lago T 150-CSS on display is one of only 14 made and is one of Mullins favorite cars.

This beautiful 1935 Voisin Type C25 Aerodyne was built by the Voisin Aircraft company which used aerodynamic technology to design automobiles. Its body is made of aluminum and it uses aircraft like wing struts to add stability to the front of the car.

The roof design is also interesting. The arch of the roof uses tracks to allow the roof to slide back over the back of the car to provide a sun roof

These are not static works of art. These autos are drivable and are periodically run to keep the engines in shape. Beyond being beautiful these cars were often on the cutting edge of technology with many often the fastest production vehicle of their time.

One the upper level of the museum are the race cars. A collection of sleek designs built for speed. On display are a line of famous race cars, Grand Prix and Le Mans winners.

A 1937 Delahaye Type 145 V-12 Grand Prix has won races in the past. Mr Mullin himself has driven the car at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca Raceway in Salinas California.

Also on the second floor is Club Bugatti with a number of furniture and art pieces by member of the Carlo Bugatti family. With art work and sculptures by Bugatti family members is part of a special exhibit on the art of the Bugattis. With a number of artifacts the Mullin looks at the families influence on the automobile as art.

You don’t have to be someone interested in classic cars to appreciate the beauty of these coach-built French touring automobiles. Many can simply enjoy these vehicles as metallic sculptures and fine art.

The Mullin Automotive Museum is an homage to the art deco style and the magnificent French machines produced during that era. Car fans and automotive design enthusiasts will enjoy this incredible collection of 20th-century French cars.

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