California Automobile Museum — Attraction in Sacramento

My boyfriend and I visited the California Auto Museum and it was a highlight of our trip to Sacramento. We knew we were at a special place when I joked with one of the workers that I was a "forever student" and look young, so I could qualify for a student discount and he actually gave me one!!! The museum itself is a delightful celebration of the automobile and its impact on California's culture with its 50s diner, gas station, and street sign replicas which brought the history to life and transported you back in time (speaking of time travel there is a Delorean from Back to the Future with a pretty neat backstory which was a real treat to see!)

By far the best part of our visit and what truly brought these beautiful vintage cars to life was our docent, Bob Daloia. I am not interested in cars and went because my boyfriend is a car fanatic, but was blown away by how much I ended up enjoying the experience because of Bob. Bob gave us a personalized tour of the entire museum and graciously indulged my love of chronicling my activities by taking our photo with the vintage cars visitors are allowed to climb into and explore. Bob has a true gift for storytelling and enraptured us with little known seismic events and figures in automobile history (I won't say too much because you need to hear these for yourself!) But, I will say AP Giannini may be my new favorite historical figure and he had a paramount role in founding two major instituions and was just an all around great man.

Bob was so generous with his knowledge and time and regaled us with his own personal connections to the auto industry (again want folks to hear these for themselves, so will not say much), but suffice it to say he has some pretty remarkable ties to very influential and unique people. He made aspects of automobiles that normally would put me to sleep so engaging that I found myself asking endless questions just to hear his perspective and stories. I could have stayed there for houre and because Bob was so kind, we did actually end up staying past closing time!

It is so refreshing that people like Bob exist in this world, people who are so passionate about something and are so eager to share their passion with others. His enthusiasm was contagious and I learned more about cars from him than I ever could even if I visited every auto museum in the US and read all their exhibits. He is one of the most friendly, personable, informative, funny, and interesting museum workers we have ever had the pleasure of meeting. As Bob so astutely told us "other museums focus on the flashiness and art of the cars and we focus on the people and stories." I could not agree more and that is what made this visit so unforgettable. I cannot reccommend enough checking out this hidden gem and doing so with trusty Bob...

Oh my gosh, I can't endorse this hidden star enough!

It's crammed with notable cars of every age, lots of info on little placards, but it's the docents who make the difference. You can ask anyone in one of their badged blue vests to answer a single question, or give you a whole tour, or anything in between. We got adopted by Bob, and wowzah, I can't begin to describe the history we learned! Fun stuff, fascinating stuff, tidbits of how Greyhound started (by a guy who couldn't sell his car stock but noticed how everyone wanted a ride), some somber tales in there as well. We went everywhere from what a genius bd Henry Ford was, to why the Edsel failed (has to do with genius bd Henry Ford), to the Daimler/Benz eventual partnership, to a private dance with Rita Hayworth and her bestowal of a gorgeous car on a WW2 vet.

The place closes at 5pm, but Bob took advantage of the fact a private event was on for the night, and let us stay until 6pm. He never stopped talking and we were never bored. Great, great stuff.

He told us the profile of the place is really too low, and they could use the help getting people there. So here I am evangelizing. Go, my brothers and sisters and all,...

We were looking for something to do over Spring Break and I found this museum on Google. What a COOL place!! We arrived right when they opened on a Wednesday and there were already other people arriving, as well. The cashier was friendly and helpful. It’s a self-guided tour but there are also volunteers who walk around and answer questions or will take you on the tour. It was so interesting and helpful to have a volunteer explain things we maybe wouldn’t have figured out going along by ourselves and reading signs. It’s was SO cool to start at the beginning of the timeline in the 1800s and see the first engine powered “buggy” (think small horse buggy with no horse) and how that progressed, pretty quickly to gas powered vehicles. See their evolution was awesome! My teenage son LOVES cars, so he really enjoyed himself, as well. The current featured exhibit is low-riders with female owners. Such beautiful, cool cars! This Summer the exhibit will Be VW Busses so I think we’ll go back! Definitely a cool...