"MADE IN KALAMAZOO" EXHIBIT AT THE GILMORE CAR MUSEUM
If someone were to ask you where cars are manufactured, you're likely answer would be the Motor City: Detroit. At the Gilmore Car Museum this season guests will be able to see automobiles that were "Made In Kalamazoo". The exhibit features eight vehicles built in Kalamazoo ranging in years from 1903 to 1936.
The Gilmore Car Museum opens for the season on May 1, 2003 and the exhibit will run through October. Admission is $7.00 for adults and $5.00 for students aged 7-15, with those under 7 admitted FREE. The museum is located midway between Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, and Battle Creek, on M-43 and Hickory Road, north of Richland.
Many know Kalamazoo by the 1942 song made popular by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra "Ive Got a Gal in Kalamazoo". Others recognize the city by the slogan "Yes There Really Is A Kalamazoo", or for millions of American families, by the Kalamazoo Stove that warmed their hearts and kitchens during the first half of the 20th century.
While it never matched Detroit in auto production, Kalamazoo has been the home of some fantastic automobiles manufacturers. Names like Barley, Checker, Michigan, Handley-Knight, and Roamer are just a few of the 17 marques built in Kalamazoo during the last century and a sampling of what you will find at the Gilmore Car Museum this season.
The exhibit features a selection of Kalamazoo-built vehicles ranging in years from 1903 to 1941, and includes a prototype of 1941 Checker Reconnaissance car. Built in early 1940 by taxicab giant Checker Motors, this prototype was in response to the United States Army's request for a fast, lightweight, all-terrain command and reconnaissance vehicle. While this example featured four-wheel steering, another auto manufacturer won the bid to produce a vehicle very similar in appearance-the Jeep.
Visitors will also see early examples of Checker taxicabs, such as the stately 1936 Y-8 on loan to the museum by Checker Motors. Building vehicles in Kalamazoo since 1923, the last Checker taxicab rolled off the assembly line in 1982. Today Checker Motors serves as a sub-contractor to the auto industry.
The 1903 Michigan on exhibit at the Gilmore Car Museum was the product of the Michigan Automobile Company Limited, organized in 1902 at the Blood Brother's Bicycle Shop. Partners in the venture included the Blood and Fuller brothers, Dr. W.E. Upjohn and Dallas Boudeman. Within a few years, however, the partners began to go their separate ways. The Bloods moved to Allegan, Michigan and established Blood Brothers, where they built
automotive universal joints. The Fullers began Fuller Manufacturing, building transmissions, which later became part of Eaton Corporation. Dr. Upjohn focused his attention on the Upjohn Pharmaceutical Company which he had started in 1886.
Other notable vehicles from the exhibit include a 1920 Roamer Towncar built by the Barley Motor Car Company, which was widely advertised as the "poor man's Rolls Royce." A 1922 Handley-Knight touring car that at one time was a part of the world famous Harrah's Auto Collection of Reno, Nevada is also on display. After only three years of production Handley-Knight closed it doors and sold it manufacturing facility to Checker Motors.
The "Made in Kalamazoo" exhibit at the Gilmore Car Museum may very well change your thinking to Kalamazoo being west Michigan's "Motor City".
Special exhibits for 2003 also include "A Question of Power-Gas, Steam, or Electric?" exploring early modes of power, as well as "The Ford Century", celebrating the 100th anniversary of Ford Motor Company.
"The Fabulous HudsonsFrom Beginning to End" hailed as the most complete collection of Hudson automobiles exhibited anywhere in the world--is being held over through 2003 due to overwhelming response.
To learn more about the Gilmore Car Museum visit: www.gilmorecarmuseum.org
or call the museum at 269-671-5089."
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