San Diego Automotive Museum — Attraction in San Diego

Quick Facts: Size: Small Price: $12 Est. Time in Museum: 45min - 1 hr. Recommended for: Car enthusiasts, Adults, Teenagers Best Feature(s): Delorean car from Back to the Future.

Disclaimer: This review is geared more towards people who DO NOT have a strong interest in cars (e.g. the average person).

All of the cars in this museum are organized in one open showroom rather than areas that are partioned in sections like most other museums (note: there is no air conditioning here so avoid going on a really hot day). There are about 40 cars on the floor, with a range of cars dating from the 1900s and 1910s up to the 1990s and 2000s. Most cars here could be classified as either sports, luxury, or muscle cars- although there are a few oddities (the Delorean car from Back to the Future is here). Most are American brands but about 1/3 are European cars. Not alot of Japanese cars (with the exception of the motorcycles).

In the rear of the museum is the motorcycle section with about 35 bikes. Bikes date from the 1910s up to the 1980s, with bikes from a variety of American, British, and Japanese motorcycle companies. However, I did notice that most of them were not restored or cleaned up as well as the cars, so some were definitely showing some wear and tear.

There is a small section near the front where kids can hop inside a toy indy car and motorcycle.

All of the cars and motorcycles have a plaque with 3-4 paragraphs of information explaining the development and significance of the vehicle.

For someone who is not really into cars, it is hard for me to recommend this museum to most people. There are about 4 or 5 other museums in Balboa Park I would recommend ahead of this one, especially if you have limited time. (The Air and Space museum next door is a better choice). There is nothing really bad per se about this place, but I don't think you'd be missing much by not going. There are some rare cars here that I've never seen in person, but about 1/4 of the cars are ones that I've occasionally seen on the road and/or cars you might find at local...

Took my kids here to kill 20 minutes after going to the Air & Space museum nextdoor. This place is hardly a museum. I fact, it's not. Just a warehouse with a collection of old beat up cars and bikes, most of them aren't even restored, just rusted old heaps with weird, silly modifications. I saw an advertisement for the place after the fact... I guess they consider the fact that their cars aren't restored a "feature". Like... they're supposed to be more authentic because they haven't been touched up.. or look like it'd be safe to sit in them. They even said on said advertisement "if you like Mad Max, you'll love this place". Yeah, so I guess if Mad Max isn't that big a deal to you, neither will this place be. I give it 2 stars because my kids managed to have some fun sitting in the one car you're actually allowed to touch (probably safety concerns, tetanus risk). If it were just me, I would've taken one lap around the place in 5 minutes, seen everything and left amazed that such a low quality "museum" exists in Balboa Park. Just glad we had the Explorer Pass and didn't have to pay anything to get in. Also glad none of the 6 items in their gift shop were even worth looking at to my kids because we already blew $45 at the Air & Space...

This was our first stop on Sunday (3/24) while visiting San Diego. We got the Limited Explorer Pass which allowed us to visit 4 different museums on the same day. The San Diego Automotive Museum was our first stop.

The museum gallery is on the smaller side. The building itself isn’t overly large and can fit only so many exhibits in it. The exhibits are pretty cool to look at and this story/history behind them is even more interesting. There were older older cars (e.g. Model T) to some newer ones (First Tesla!) as well as motorbikes. It takes about 1 to 1.5 hours to make your way through if you take your time. Otherwise will probably cruise through the entire floor in about 30 minutes. The restrooms inside the building is very nice, way better than the public restroom outside.

The workers there know their cars. Both my boys spent a good 40 minutes chatting it up with one of the staff worker.

If you’re in the area, consider stopping by the San Diego Automotive Museum. I gave this place a 4/5 stars; was really hoping to see more cars perhaps some newer ones will be nice. The place is smaller and fell short of expectations.

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