The Pontiac Oakland Museum

As the number of new events, shows, businesses, and displays focused on classic cars continues to grow, it seems we learn about another new enterprise dedicated to vintage cars every week. Of course, the venues that spotlight GM-brand vehicles are always of particular interest to us, and although we documented over 40 historical vehicle venues in our “Classic Car History Lesson” posted on this blog a few months ago, we were pleased to recently learn of yet another new automotive museum in the Mid-West that we definitely need to add to the list.

The Pontiac Oakland Museum is located in the appropriately named town of Pontiac, Illinois. Although Pontiac, Michigan is more well-known and many people would assume it to be a more obvious choice of location for a Pontiac museum, members of the new museum’s advisory committee stated that the city of Pontiac, Michigan “offered nothing nor seemed to care about a Pontiac car museum,” while the residents of lesser-known Pontiac, Illinois welcomed the prospect of a car museum in their town and offered real estate concessions and other benefits to bring the proposed museum to the Land of Lincoln due to the expected boost in tourism it would bring. The Pontiac, Illinois location also made sense as a home for a classic car museum because the town lies right along the historic Route 66 pathway.

Regardless of where you decide to build a car museum, you will still need cars to fill it and someone appropriately knowledgeable to run it. These problems were solved when Oklahoma resident and Pontiac memorabilia collector Tim Dye visited the town. Dye had long desired to see a museum for Pontiac automobiles established somewhere in the Mid-West and when Dye was traveling from his home in Oklahoma to attend a GTO Association convention in Chicago, he stopped along the way in Pontiac. By chance, Dye happened to mention to some city residents that he had a collection of 20 restored classic Pontiacs of his own and told them “If you ever think about a Pontiac car museum here in Pontiac, Illinois, contact me.” On that very same day, the mayor of Pontiac, Bob Russell, contacted Dye and told him that he actually was interested in the idea of starting an automobile museum in his city. Less than one year later, the Pontiac City Council had approved the plan and hired Dye to be the curator of a new museum dedicated to the Pontiac brand.

Along with Tim Dye’s personal collection of cars and historic items, the facility now contains a revolving display of loaned cars and other memorabilia donated to the museum. Since July 2011 when the facility first opened, it is estimated that more than 40,000 people from all over the world have visited it. Although the museum is dedicated to the Pontiac brand, the “Oakland” part of the museum’s name comes from the fact that Oakland brand cars were one of GM’s original divisions prior to being supplanted by the Pontiac marque in 1931. This makes Oakland cars the predecessors to Pontiacs and rightfully included in any historic chronology of the Pontiac brand.

The Pontiac Oakland Museum currently features a few dozen perfectly restored Oakland and Pontiac cars, a wide presentation of Pontiac memorabilia, models, toys and more than 2,000 vintage oil cans. The museum is also home to a great collection of Pontiac literature and printed promotional items, including original factory publicity photos, old dealer sales training films, vintage Pontiac pamphlets, and over a thousand gas station road maps from the 1930s through the 1960s. There is also a gift shop on the premises where enthusiasts can purchase T-shirts, models and other Pontiac collectibles.

Situated right along old historic Route 66 in Pontiac, Illinois, the museum has already become a popular stop for Pontiac enthusiasts and tourists alike, as well as serving as a natural site for various community events and car shows. The museum is located at 205 N. Mill Street in Pontiac, Illinois (61764). For more information about this unique museum, visit its website at www.pontiacoaklandmuseum.org