Five New Cars Due for Spring Unveilings

at Newport Car Museum

PORTSMOUTH, R,I. (March 10, 2019) – Just in time for Spring, with its promise of rebirth, renewal and weather worthy of planning a road trip or two, the Newport Car Museum has taken delivery of five cars that it will unveil over the next three months. They will become additions to the Museum’s wondrous display of 70-plus rare and otherwise captivating cars presented as works of art in six galleries.

The Newport Car Museum opened in mid-2017 in a former missile manufacturing facility situated on seven acres of land in Portsmouth, R.I. Since, it has won numerous awards and the favor of large audiences typically reserved for museums with longer histories. Recently, Hemmings Motor News – the car collector’s Bible – called it “a notable addition to the classic-car world.”

Top row: 1956 Porsche 356a Speedster; Middle row (left) 1969 Dodge Charger R/T Hemi (right) 1971 DeTomaso Pantera; Bottom row: 2018 Mercedes Benz AMG GTR Coup

(photos courtesy Newport Car Museum)

What to Expect

Each new car will be unveiled when it officially becomes part of the gallery that suits it, and the Newport Car Museum’s Founder Gunther Buerman will be on hand to share the history of the car. Announcements on the Museum’s website and facebook page will keep visitors informed of the timing.

The World Car gallery, with exotic examples of European cars such as a 1956 Jaguar XK140, a 1961 Mercedes 300SL, and even a tiny, 12-horsepower 1957 BMW Isetta, will further fascinate visitors with the addition of a 1956 Porsche 356a Speedster , an icon of minimalist automotive design and one of the most desirable of Porsche models.

Also in the World Car Gallery, the Museum’s newly acquired 2018 Mercedes Benz AMG GTR Coup will be staged to best show its sinister aesthetics that hint of adrenaline-pumping performance on the road.

The Ford Shelby Gallery, which last year added the ominous 2018 Ford GT to its showcase of Ford’s history and the brilliance of Ford’s most renowned designer Carroll Shelby, will make room for the Italian designed 1971 DeTomaso Pantera, one of the earliest of the models to be imported into the U.S. In the same gallery, the museum’s rarest car, the 1965 Ford Shelby 427 SC Cobra, is soon to have a famous stablemate in the addition of the 1964 Cobra 289 raced by “Gentleman Tom Payne”.

Finally, a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T Hemi will delight fans of power as it finds a new home in American Muscle: “Then & Now”, a gallery that was added just last summer and includes a 2018 Dodge Demon and a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.

Scenes from the Newport Car Museum, located in a 114,000 sq. ft. building that was once a missile manufacturing facility.

The collection will soon expand to 75+ cars that span seven decades of automotive design.

(photos courtesy Newport Car Museum)

Cars showcased in galleries for Ford/Shelby, World Car and American Muscle plus additional galleries for Corvettes, Mopars and Fin Cars cover automobile design from 1954 to 2019. All are perched on low platforms, some are showcased on turntables, and no barrier ropes are used, so visitors can get up close and personal with favorites. Award-winning historical videos commissioned for each gallery add to the experience, as do friendly, knowledgeable volunteer docents who can answer questions. “Hoods Up” events, hosted both days of every third weekend of the month, allow inspection of the entire collection’s engines.

“We get a kick out of car collectors who come here and say we are the Petersen Museum of the East,” said Buerman, who has collected cars over decades and enjoys sharing them with the public, “but we also really appreciate the families who come here: the man who brings his wife or vice versa, the 14-year-old kid who knows everything about cars…people from all over the world who just want to walk around and enjoy the cars as art or feel like taking a walk down memory lane.”

Scenes from the previously unveiled limited edition 2018 Ford GT.

Buyers of the $450,000 (MSRP) “Supercar” are handpicked by the automaker, and auction prices of the cars at resale have been upward of $1 million. 

(photos courtesy Newport Car Museum)

The Newport Car Museum was named USA Today ’s “Top 10 Best New Attraction” in 2017 and Yankee Magazine ’s “Best Specialty Museum in both 2018 and 2019. Its unique features include an eclectic collection of art deco furniture from the Mid-20 ^th Century, an expansive gift shop, and eight driving simulators where visitors can race on virtually any track in the world in any car they desire.

The Newport Car Museum is located at 1947 West Main Road, Portsmouth, R.I. It is handicap accessible and open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets can be bought at the door or online at www.newportcarmuseum.org where more information and directions are available. Admission is $18 for adults; $15 for seniors, military and students; and $8 for children 5 to 15 (with an adult).

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