~January 2023~

From the Desk of Darrel Burnett

Executive Director 

Happy New Year!

The beginning of each new year is packed with predictions and prognostications. Well, if the future is what you want to see, allow me to take you back to New Year’s Eve……1932!



Since 1907, millions have watched the ball drop in New York’s Times Square on New Year’s Eve, however, it was just the opposite 90 years ago! On December 31^st, 1932, luxurious car maker Pierce Arrow was doing its best “not to drop the ball” on New Year’s Eve! Just 3 months ahead of January 1^st, Pierce Arrow opened a can of crazy in the corporate offices and committed to delivering a revolutionary concept car called the Silver Arrow by New Year’s Eve 1932. The Silver Arrow was like no car Pierce Arrow had ever designed…. and looked like no car the world had ever seen! 

30 dedicated Pierce Arrow company employees worked around the clock for three solid months to make the New Year’s Eve deadline. Against all odds, the first Silver Arrow rolled into New York City before the clock struck midnight. Pierce Arrow had beaten the clock but didn’t have a prayer of beating the odds. Suffocated by a staggering price tag of $10,000 ($200,000+ in today’s currency), the Silver Arrow was just what people suffering through the Great Depression didn’t want….need….or could afford. Needless to say, the Silver Arrow went down in flames but not before going down in history. 

Designer Phil Wright was still in his 20s, yet somehow was wise way beyond his years. Mr. Wright came to automobile design by way of the Chicago Art Institute. Wright not only saw the future, he designed it by introducing innovations other car companies wouldn’t master for another 15 to 20 years….like eliminating running boards, integrating headlights into the front fenders and, my personal favorite, storing spare tires in cabinets behind the front wheels. How cool is that? 

Miraculously, 3 of the 5 Silver Arrows built for the 1933 New York Auto Show still survive. Catching a glimpse of one is a whole different story. You will sooner run across an Amur Leopard in the wild. When a Silver Arrow does surface every 20 years or so at auction, the price tag tops $2,000,000 making it one of the most coveted collector cars in the world.



So, what is the significance of this story? If you’re one who can’t wait to see what lies ahead in 2023, you have my utmost admiration. On the other hand, the 1933 Pierce Arrow Silver Arrow is proof of just how beautiful the view can be behind us! 

Don’t miss Darrel Burnett’s Steering Column coming to an inbox near you on the 16th…



Jeep Comes to the Party in a Tuxedo!

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Happy New Year & Happy Birthday!

The Automobile Gallery & Event Center has the rare opportunity of saying Happy New Year and Happy Birthday! Yesterday, we celebrated our 8^th birthday on New Year’s Day. Research shows that we share that distinction with 371,504 people around the world. That may sound like a large number until taking into consideration that there are 7.837 billion, as in BILLION, people on the planet. A tiny group of 11,000 newborns share their birthday with us each year in the U.S.

It is impossible to put into words how much we have grown and accomplished over the past 8 years, so we thought we would just show you.

The photo on the left is the way our main showroom looked when construction began and the photo on the right is one of our main showrooms now. 

This is also our opportunity to say a heartfelt thank you to our Founder and inspiration William “Red” Lewis. January 7^th, it will be one year since we lost Red, but we will never lose his enthusiasm and dedication to presenting The Automobile is the Art!

From Football to the Fast Lane - Congratulations Ben Braden!

Following a 5-year NFL career as an offensive lineman with the Jets, Patriots, Packers, and Broncos, it would be natural to assume that life would slow down a little for our great Gallery friend Ben Braden. Just the opposite. Life just got a lot faster! Ben was just hired as a mechanic for Ed Carpenter Racing in Indianapolis where he will immediately begin work on preparing Ed Carpenter’s stable of Indy Cars for this year’s race. Ed Carpenter has qualified on the inside of Row 2 in each of the last two Indy 500s and our Gallery family will be rooting for Ed and Ben to take the checkered flag at the 107th running of the Indy 500 May 28^th. 

Ben Braden at Work in Indy

As if the ending to this story wasn’t happy enough already, our Indy Car on display at The Automobile Gallery & Event Center was Ed Carpenter’s first Indy Car!

Congratulations to Another Member of our family!

Members of our Gallery family come in all sizes. Our congratulations span from Ben Braden who is 6’ 6” and 304 lbs. to the newest member of our Gallery family, Charlotte Knitt who came into this world as a little bundle of beauty 6 weeks ago! Congratulations to parents Kari and Justin Knitt. Justin is Chairman of The Automobile Gallery & Event Center’s Business Development Committee in addition to being Business Developer and Coach at Prophit Co. Kari is Operations Manager for Prophit Co.

Charlotte is the 3^rd addition to the Knitt family joining sister Isabelle, 5, and brother Jordan, 3. Congratulations from all of us at The Automobile Gallery & Event Center! 

Your favorite craft beer festival is back for the 5th year in a row! Join the fun with 25 breweries from across Wisconsin, brats from The Meat Block, and all Irish music from Jerry Sloane.



March 4, 2-6p.m.

V.I.P. tickets $65

General Admission $45 (presale only)

Presale tickets and NEW merchandise start soon;

go to www.theautomobilegallery.org to get yours!

Daddy D's and The Automobile Gallery

If you weren't able to join us during the Christmas season for our Good Old Fashion Christmas show, 2023 has more shows on the horizon so keep your eyes on the Gallery Times and the Gallery Facebook page for our upcoming Daddy D's music series.

Gallery Travel Log

It always makes our day to welcome visitors from near and far. Our new friend Martin Bekelaar traveled 4,055 miles from Homont-Achel, Belgium to visit The Automobile Gallery & Event Center last week. As an avid collector of vintage Cadillacs and antiques, Martin was right at home strolling through our collection spanning more than 100 years. Martin was in the area visiting his friend of more than 30 years and our great Gallery volunteer Tim Smith. 

Google Reviews - We'd love yours!

The Automobile Gallery & Event Center is already on most Top 10 Lists for great things to do in Northeastern Wisconsin, now you can help even more visitors find us by giving us a great Google review.

CLICK HERE to leave your review.

It's that easy! Thank you for your time and review - it means a lot to us!

GET INVOLVED!

Opportunities at the Gallery



If you or anyone you know would like to get involved with the Gallery we have three opportunities available right now:

Marketing intern to help us build our marketing plans and social media strategy

Volunteers to staff events, maintain the vehicles and Gallery, and educate guests



If interested in any mentioned role, please email Megan Lehmann at MeganL@theautomobilegallery.org