Tampa Bay Automobile Museum — Attraction in Pinellas Park

I used to live in Clearwater, and have visited this museum several times over the years. This year I reserved a spot on the Mechanic's Tour on Tuesday, January 7th. During the Mechanics Tour on a Tuesday, the museum was closed to regular guests. Tour started promptly at 10am, and the mechanic (Andy) did a tremendous job of explaining each vehicle. He pointed out intricate details that distinguish the vehicles from other models in the collection. The owner of Poly Pack is the owner of the museum. Poly Pack got it's start in France, and that's the reason most of the vehicles in the collection were manufactured in Europe; However, a large amount of the vehicles were discovered, purchased, and recovered in the United States. Andy describes the condition of the vehicles when restoration began, and the challenges undertaken to get these vehicles to pristine condition. Vehicles are returned to the condition in which they were manufactured. Lots of research and labor hours go into the meticulous restoration of these vehicles, so it's not unexpected that they ask you not to touch the vehicles. I think this is the reason that some people have included in previous Reviews their comments about this museum not being kid friendly. There was a family of 4 (with two young children) on this mechanic tour, and I think the young boy enjoyed the details of some of the cars; He may have not understood the joke about "we try not to drive the Deloran over 88 miles per hour", but I think he enjoyed the personal stories from Andy the mechanic. Andy is extremely knowledgeable, and kept us laughing and entertained. I'm a former instructor from a technical college, and I found Andy's knowledge of alternative fuels over the years, and the differences between parts to be fascinating and refreshing. Andy explained the Sleeve cylinder 2 stroke engine to a lady that had no knowledge of how engines work in a manner that everyone understood. I particularly liked the charcoaled fired, Hyrdrogen fueled Franklin, the Hydrogen project car, and the 1922 Electric automobile.

There is an All Wheel Drive, 1 of 1 Ford Mustang in the collection, and the only known to remain Police Ford Zephr All Wheel Drive car (the remainder of the fleet was destroyed after they surpassed their use by the Police fleet). After the tour, Andy took the group to his personal work space and introduced the group to the painter. We were later introduced to the upholstery expert. It is evident that these gentlemen take a lot of pride in their craftsmanship, and enjoy their jobs. The gift shop carries a good variety of collectibles for all ages. The facilities were clean and well organized. The museum has good lighting for pictures and videos. There are a lot of vehicles to see and appreciate. Some "cut away" displays showcase the inner workings of Sleeve Valve engines, CV axles, Winkle rotary engine, and a few car chassis' without the body attached. There were 2 vehicles displayed as a restoration in progress. The staff were polite and welcoming. The Mechanic's Tour lasted a little over 2 hours, and I learned a lot more than my previous solo, unguided stroll through the museum in 2022, when I spent 5 hours in the museum, reading each display and taking a lot of photos. I will definitely return in the future.

Thanks again to Andy. He definitely kept the tour interesting...

My nephews (12 & 14 years old) and niece were in town visiting from Colorado. The boys are currently into cars and the younger one googled and found this place. It is a private collection of 74 unique and still WORKING cars owned by the Cerf family. Many of the automobiles are European since the family originated from France and moved to the US in the 1970s. The staff is extremely knowledgeable about each individual car. One of the cars was acquired when someone was unable to pay their hotel bill in the 1950s. Several were purchased at auctions. Another car has a motor in the front and back of the car for 2 ways to do 2-wheel drive or run both motors for 4-wheel drive. Really cool! There is also information about the makers and builders of the various cars. I liked that each car had information about it on a stand in front or near the vehicle. I also liked that you are able to walk around the cars, see the interior, dashboards, etc. It doesn't take long to go through the collection, probably depends on how many...

Awesome place! The vehicles at this museum are very high caliber. The detail and quality of the cars and the way they are presented and cared for is exceptional. The staff is friendly and very knowledgeable. There is good detail and information available at each display and on my visit the staff was available and willing to share the stories about their cars. You will not see any average vehicles here.. but what you will see is some unique very high quality special and rare cars. Honestly from an engineering and aesthetic stand point more than a few should be considered real works of art! I consider myself a car guy and have visited a number of car museums. This is not the largest museum I have visited but from a quality standpoint and information available I give this museum extermely high marks. If you are a car enthusiast and want to see some high quality vehicles that are not your normal American made classics I would highly recommend a visit. My time where was...