SANDWICH – It was a classic sign of the change of seasons. Classic, as in classic car.
A green John Deere tractor pulled a red 1927 LaSalle Sport Phaeton as Jennifer Madden, director of collections and exhibitions at the Heritage Museum, steered it, her favorite of 42 cars in the Heritage Museum’s collection.
At the museum, it was antique car moving day, a sure sign of spring. And it was art in motion, slow motion.
The Heritage Museum, started by Josiah K. Lilly III in 1969, features the LaSalle in one of the best collections of antique and classic American automobiles in the world.
On March 14, the museum was being readied for the upcoming Cape Cod tourist season, explained Madden, who worked with volunteers to help arrange the collection into a new exhibition for the 2014 season, called, “Driven To Collect.” Opening day is April 19.
The theme of the exhibition will take the visitor through six different sections, said Madden.
These six are:
1) Why do we collect? Not just car collections, but collections in general
2) Defining a collection
3) The thrill of the chase
4) Value, not just monetary – sentimental, historical etc.
5) Restoration
6) Collector’s Corner: Why museums collect what they do.
These colorful cars, nearly priceless were still once designed for the outdoors. As they headed indoors to their display home in the round Shaker barn, one almost felt sorry for them, or maybe us for all of our bland automobiles. Here is a Cape Cod Wave slideshow…
— Brian Tarcy
