Thirty Reasons To Enjoy
The New Automotive Hall of Fame

           DEARBORN, MI, July 7, 1997 -- There are literally hundreds of reasons for every member of the family to enjoy their visit to the Automotive Hall of Fame. The following 30 are among the top attractions at the new $10-million complex that opens August 16 in Dearborn, Michigan.

1. Color-keyed cards at the Hall of Fame entrance steer visitors to the Inductees who are most like them revealing what was accomplished with the charateristics they share.

2. Wilhelm Maybach Recognition Hall exhibits of Hall of Fame honorees and their hometowns.

3. A high-impact video production featuring Andy, a 10-year-old host for journeys into a world of human accomplishment.

4. A 12-feet high, 65-feet wide mural created by Maine artist John Gable to celebrate the impact of the motor vehicle on the people of the world from the late 1800s to the present and the future.

5. A working metal sculpture entitled "Aeropede," a two-century-old vision of personal transportation that can be operated by visitors.

6. A Paris street scene, Eiffel Tower iron work and a Paris Exposition Pavilion where a full-size replica of the world's first gasoline automobile will be brought to life several times daily.

7. A sound and light show at Ransom Olds' workshop and an interactive exhibit at David Buick's research laboratory where visitors will activate a resume that will match their skills with Buick's.

8. A window into an intriguing meeting at Detroit's original Pontchartrain Hotel. An interactive exhibit will let visitors match wits with the deal makers who were creating General Motors.

9. A time clock generates stories of immigrant factory workers. An employment station offers visitors the chance to try their luck at responding to job ads. Even if visitors don't "get" a job, they will get a take-home souvenir from someone who once held that job decades ago.

10. A loading dock with shipping crates for visitors to open to find out why this would have been such a busy place. Clothes similar to those worn by factory workers will be available for visitors to try on.

11. The connection between the Indianapolis 500 race and America's first great highway named after Abraham Lincoln.

12. A take-home "hard card" on which visitors emboss car parts at various points along the auto assembly line, allowing them to "build" their own car.

13. A mini audio theater that will involve visitors with life in the office of General Motors President Alfred Sloan. Next door is Harley Earl's exciting design studio. Earl's work did not end with his famous Cadillac tail fins, but also included designs for potato chips and fig newtons.

14. A 1930s auto showroom with changing displays of the world's greatest classic cars. Through the end of 1997, visitors will see one of the greatest of all, a 1931 Cord L-29 boat tail Speedster built for the grand salons and shows of Europe.

15. A 1921 White truck recreated to show what the inside of sleeper cabs were like in the early days of long-distance trucking.

16. The dining room of Walter Reuther's West Virginia boyhood home where family conversations shaped his adult achievements in the labor movement.

17. Charles Kettering's laboratory where visitors will be able to turn a crank to find out what it was like to start a car before Kettering invented the self-starter and to listen to his secrets for success.

18. An exhibit inspired by Ralph Teetor who invented cruise control -- among other things -- while blind. Visitors will be able to participate in an exercise with their hands concealed from view.

19. A "Smart Cart" show, an entertaining and enlightening demonstration repeated throughout the day at various locations.

20. William Knudson's "achievement meter," which shows how each achievement is grounded in the ones that came before.

21. A post World War II exhibit of the accomplishments of Henry Ford II, the "Whiz Kids," Ernest Breech, George Romney and others.

22. An exciting array of 1950s icons sets the stage for a V8 – powered cruiser that everyone dreamed about then and wishes they owned now.

23. A car design game for visitors to match designers with the cars they created. Flashing 50s era car tail lights will signal your success.

24. A Europe in the '50s exhibit where visitors will be able to relive experiences with the Volkswagen "Beetle" and watch an amazing video of the beginnings of automobile safety testing.

25. A modern factory setting to experience the impact of Eiji Toyoda's work. Listen to W. Edwards Deming reveal the principles that drove Japanese industry to unprecedented success.

26. The famous car that scored Honda's and Goodyear's first formula one win at the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix.

27. A changing exhibit of the best work of the automotive design students at Detroit's internationally acclaimed Center for Creative Studies.

28. An exhibit for visitors to create their own ideas for the future of transportation, with the best to be exhibited in the Hall of Fame.

29. The Soichiro Honda Atrium, with special exhibits that change three times a year.

30. The Automotive Hall of Fame Store for distinctive quality merchandise that reflects the Hall of Fame's international scope and the Hall of Fame Café for tempting refreshments.

           Any one of these reasons might be more than enough to visit the new Automotive Hall of Fame. The changing exhibits will make subsequent visits to the Hall of Fame a new experience.
           The new Automotive Hall of Fame is designed and built to be a visitor attraction and educational resource. It celebrates accomplished people of the worldwide motor vehicle industry for the purpose of inspiring others, especially young people, to higher levels of achievement in their own work and lives. It is a unique "people place" of innovation and inspiration where interactive experiences and one-on-one demonstrations are entertaining and enlightening Automotive Hall of Fame hours of operation and admission: through October, daily, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; November through Memorial Day, daily except Mondays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; admission, $6 adult, $5.50 senior 62+, $3 youth.

21400 Oakwood Boulevard
Dearborn, MI 48121 USA
Telephone (313) 240-4000
Fax (313) 240-8641