Barber Vintage Motor Museum Lotus Racers

History, speed, engineering, technology, a glimpse of the past and a peak at the future.

Whether you are traveling in Canada or across the border, there’s likely a local auto museum with an interesting story to tell.

“It’s cultural,” said Jeff Ray, director of the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Birmingham, Ala. “Everybody has an automobile story. It’s our connection to the past.”

Ray remembers the 1963 Mercury Comet his father bought in the 1960s. Everytime he sees one, it takes him back to childhood memories and growing up in an age before cell phones and satellite radio.

“It had the cat eye taillight,” Ray said, remembering his childhood spent in the backseat. “I can see it vividly.”

He recalled sitting on a box just to see outside the window. It formed a lasting bond with this father and reawakened other memories of his youth, of how much the world has changed culturally as well as technologically.

Museums are located throughout the United States and Canada. Look into one of these locations on your travels this summer:

Canadian Automotive Museum [3], Oshawa, Ontario

Manitoba Antique Automobile Museum [4] – Elkhorn, Manitoba

Jim’s Vintage Garages Gas Station Museum [5] – Headingley, Manitoba

Reynolds-Alberta Museum [6] – Wetaskiwin, Alberta

Canadian Transportation Museum [7] – Kingsville, Ontario

Musée Gilles-Villeneuve [8] – Berthierville, Quebec

Musée Antique Victor Bélanger [9] – Saint-Côme-Linière, Quebec

Musee Des Voitures D’Autrefois/Antique Automobile Museum [10] – Saint-Jacques, New Brunswick

Car Life Museum [11] – Charlottetown, Prince Edward Sound

Yukon Transportation Museum [12] – Whitehorse, Yukon