Written By Steve Turner
On the final weekend of June, the glorious rumble of 400 muscle cars echoed across 90 acres of green grass, through vintage barns, and between classic dealership buildings. These cars arrived for the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals Muscle Car Meet-Up held on Saturday, June 25th at the Gilmore Car Museum, which earmarked registration fees to fun its planned standalone Muscle Car Museum building on the campus.
“For muscle car owners, I can’t imagine a better spot for a summertime drive and outdoor car show than the beautiful Michigan countryside and spectacular Gilmore Car Museum – located midway between Chicago and Detroit,” said Bob Ashton, Managing Member of MCACN.
With the two-lane roads en route to the museum lined with trees, lakes, and rivers, it makes for an enjoyable day not only attending shows there, but enjoying those special machines there, and this event was something fresh for summer.
“Yes, this was the first-ever MCACN Muscle Car Meet Up,” Josh Russell, Executive Director, Gilmore Car Museum explained. “I’d been talking with Bob Ashton about the idea for the past year or two, and it seemed like a perfect fit to partner — and bring a fun summertime outdoor show, encouraging owners to drive their muscle cars to the Gilmore, as a complement to the fantastic indoor MCACN Show in November.”
The summertime event attracted almost 400 registered riders and thousands of spectators, many of whom had never visited the Gilmore campus before. This allowed them to enjoy not only the show but everything the Gilmore has to offer.
“Owners of registered show cars have full access to all the buildings and galleries on the museum campus throughout the show day,” Russell explained. “Many took full advantage, both walking the show and touring the indoor collections, trying to take in as much of the cars, artifacts, and history as possible throughout the weekend.”
With a central field with select ’60s and ’70s muscle cars curated from previous MCACN shows, the outdoor event allowed for American Muscle Rev-Up in the morning, which allowed attendees to hear the chorus of muscular V8s revving and take a trip back in time when these machines ruled the streets.
In all the show went well, and the organizers are already planning another event for next year.
“The organizers at MCACN and Gilmore are already making plans for next year’s show, developing an annual summer event for muscle car owners to look forward to,” Russell said.
For NMRA and NMCA racers and fans who couldn’t make it to the show, but are heading to the 2nd Annual Arrington Performance NMRA/NMCA Power Festival Presented by TorqStorm held from July 21-24, 2022, the museum is close by, so you can make a stop on the way to the event or on the way home and check out its impressive collections.
“We can’t wait for NMRA and NMCA to be racing at US 131 Motorsports Park in July, and are thrilled to have the Gilmore Car Museum involved this year,” Russell added. “The museum is only a quick 20-mile drive from the drag strip, down some fun country backroads, so we hope that many of the racers and fans will drop in to experience the Gilmore museum while they’re in town.”
For more on the Gilmore Car Museum, check out the website right here.
On the final weekend of June, the glorious rumble of 400 muscle cars echoed across 90 acres of green grass, through vintage barns, and between classic dealership buildings. These cars arrived for the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals Muscle Car Meet-Up held on Saturday, June 25th at the Gilmore Car Museum, which earmarked registration fees to fun its planned standalone Muscle Car Museum building on the campus.
“For muscle car owners, I can’t imagine a better spot for a summertime drive and outdoor car show than the beautiful Michigan countryside and spectacular Gilmore Car Museum – located midway between Chicago and Detroit,” said Bob Ashton, Managing Member of MCACN.
With the two-lane roads en route to the museum lined with trees, lakes, and rivers, it makes for an enjoyable day not only attending shows there, but enjoying those special machines there, and this event was something fresh for summer.
“Yes, this was the first-ever MCACN Muscle Car Meet Up,” Josh Russell, Executive Director, Gilmore Car Museum explained. “I’d been talking with Bob Ashton about the idea for the past year or two, and it seemed like a perfect fit to partner — and bring a fun summertime outdoor show, encouraging owners to drive their muscle cars to the Gilmore, as a complement to the fantastic indoor MCACN Show in November.”
The summertime event attracted almost 400 registered riders and thousands of spectators, many of whom had never visited the Gilmore campus before. This allowed them to enjoy not only the show but everything the Gilmore has to offer.
“Owners of registered show cars have full access to all the buildings and galleries on the museum campus throughout the show day,” Russell explained. “Many took full advantage, both walking the show and touring the indoor collections, trying to take in as much of the cars, artifacts, and history as possible throughout the weekend.”
With a central field with select ’60s and ’70s muscle cars curated from previous MCACN shows, the outdoor event allowed for American Muscle Rev-Up in the morning, which allowed attendees to hear the chorus of muscular V8s revving and take a trip back in time when these machines ruled the streets.
In all the show went well, and the organizers are already planning another event for next year.
“The organizers at MCACN and Gilmore are already making plans for next year’s show, developing an annual summer event for muscle car owners to look forward to,” Russell said.
For NMRA and NMCA racers and fans who couldn’t make it to the show, but are heading to the 2nd Annual Arrington Performance NMRA/NMCA Power Festival Presented by TorqStorm held from July 21-24, 2022, the museum is close by, so you can make a stop on the way to the event or on the way home and check out its impressive collections.
“We can’t wait for NMRA and NMCA to be racing at US 131 Motorsports Park in July, and are thrilled to have the Gilmore Car Museum involved this year,” Russell added. “The museum is only a quick 20-mile drive from the drag strip, down some fun country backroads, so we hope that many of the racers and fans will drop in to experience the Gilmore museum while they’re in town.”
For more on the Gilmore Car Museum, check out the website right here.
