Marconi Automotive Museum — Attraction in Tustin

so it specifically says entrance is a suggested DONATION of $5 per person - which yes isn't much but a donation imo is optional. the museum entrance is set up so that you have to go into an office where a lady greets you and quickly says they are an non profit organization and that the entrance fee is a "donation" (that magic word) of $5 per person. afterwards she just stood there and looked at my husband and i literally waiting for us to whip out our wallet. hesitantly i set down a five dollar bill and five singles on top. she only saw the dollar bills and she looked at it and then just looked at me, waiting for me to put down more money. when i just stared back at her she finally grabbed it, counted it and said oh i thought you only gave me a couple of dollars. what happened to it being a SUGGESTED DONATION. i asked if anyone had ever decided not to donate (because i definitely didn't want to with this interaction) and she said no...probably because you are literally forced to pay before going inside. it was a terrible, awkward, unprofessional interaction and left such a bad taste in our mouth. she proceeded to say that you can sit inside the cars, you just can't lean on the outside of it or touch it (obvious car exhibit rules). once inside the museum they were setting up for an event for the following day so there were round tables and chairs in the center and all the cars squeezed together off to the side...not much for a "museum" setting. because the "non profit" lady said we could sit inside the cars we decided to try opening some of them so we could get a better look inside. majority of the cars ended up being locked and when we finally found one unlocked, we opened the door and peered inside. we proceeded to walk around the car and simply admire it (absolutely doing nothing to disturb the car) and then a worker comes by and instantly closes the door and locks it without saying a word to us. needless to say we didn't enjoy this place. and regardless of the attitudes and unprofessional behavior of this, ahem, "non profit" the cars weren't even that great. we'd happily choose to drive to la and pay more money for the petersen museum versus being forced to pay a donation and walk into an event setup versus an actual car museum. yeah this non profit organization is more of an event space than anything else. i would've felt much more comfortable donating directly to a charity versus giving money to these people. so we say save your money, go to petersen or heck any other car show that's free and donate directly to a charity of...

It's a small but diverse museum. I think the lighting could have been a little better, and the lift idea in the garage could be redone.. but it was still really amazing seeing all the different cars. The "shop lighting" just made for some strong glares, especially for cameras. The batmobile and kitt on display were awesome, I loved it! But, they blocked out a whole corner that we couldn't get any closer to. The lifts in the "garage" area are a great concept, but the cars on the top lift were not very accessible even when stretching up with a camera. Seeing the bottom of a car is cool in itself, sure, but they were packed so tight in the lifts that it really did an injustice to the cars that were on them for displaying them. The open area, though, was amazing. Much easier to see the displays and appreciate them. Im only a mild auto enthusiast, so maybe some of the concepts weren't hitting right. I still fully enjoyed it. It only takes an hour, maybe 2, for the lingerer, to get through it. Don't get me wrong, I loved it! It is an amazing stop for anyone who even just likes cars. Still a 5 star stop. If we are ever in the area again, it will most likely make the list to stop by again. Being short and sweet, you can fit it in most schedules for a half day trip experience. Nothing about it knocks a star off. Just some inconvenience like things. Though, I don't think I would recommend considering small kids that can't help but touch everything. It is a more mature setting with how it's laid...

This place is heaven, just pure heaven. Came here in July but never got around to reviewing the place, so here we are.

This place is an absolute bargain. For $20.00, you can come in and see some incredible vehicles from the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini, and more. The revenue is also mainly directed toward charity, which I find awesome. Staff is awesome, lady at the desk was very welcoming and got me into the museum floor quickly. The museum itself, where do I begin? As someone who loves cars, and the history behind them, this museum was breathtaking. The collection of vehicles was very diversified, plus each vehicle had a plaque conveniently located next to it for context. So many cars from the S.O.B collection, which I truly enjoyed. This museum has NO ROPES, NO BARRIERS, etc. Along with that, they allow photography and pretty much leave it up to you for when you want to leave. I’d stay forever if I could…

I have ONE COMPLAINT about the Marconi Museum. I think it is necessary to have a staff member watching visitors on the museum show floor, just to make sure no one purposely touches the cars/leans on them. I did see someone do that on my visit, and it annoys me until this day. These vehicles and their history are so well preserved in this gorgeous museum, so I’d hate for an inconsiderate individual...