ABSTRACT
Automobiles are important cultural artifacts for telling the story of the 20th and 21st centuries. They are signposts for our society’s evolution and, on a smaller scale, our interests and our personal tastes. A key issue for museums and other collecting institutions is how to preserve them for years to come as tangible, identifiable examples of our economic, technological, art/design, and sociocultural pasts. Museums play an important role in historic vehicle preservation, yet automobiles challenge traditional collection management guidelines. Part of the challenge is that these mechanical objects are sometimes preserved for both display and operation. Although museums are just one type of venue for historic vehicles, they offer an ideal opportunity for preservation due to their consistency, stability, public access to collections, and community engagement. However, public museums are often underresourced, limiting their ability to care for these collections. New adaptable approaches and partnerships will enable museums to preserve historic automobiles better, along with the knowledge required for their continued maintenance.
