Point Pleasant Beach Chamber Of Commerce Guidebook

20 Point Pleasant Beach Chamber of Commerce Vintage Automobile Museum of New Jersey A Great Family Attraction T he Vintage Automobile Museum of New Jersey began with a conversation under a street light on a cool September evening in 1998. Several members of the Vintage Automobile Club of Ocean County were enjoying the last Downtown Toms River Cruise Night of the season, and they were talking about their two favorite subjects, old cars and who makes the best pizza. They reminisced about the great looking cars they had seen in the course of the year and that led to a question of great principal, "Why doesn't New Jersey have an antique car museum?" Questions kept coming up, especially during the following four club meetings held one a month. "How do we start a museum?" "Who do we talk to?" Finally, at the March 1999 meeting, one member, Walter Piatkowski, stood up and said, "Enough talk! I have one hundred dollars here to get this thing rolling. Who's with me?" By the end of the meeting, we had collected $900. The fi rst offi cial museum meeting was held a week later. It was at that meeting we decided on a name for the museum: Vintage Automobile Museum of New Jersey. From that point, the process of concept to reality went rather quickly. We wrote letters. Made phone calls. And borrowed ideas from other organizations. Thanks to the determination and initial investment of nine members of the Vintage Auto Club, the Vintage Auto Museum became a not-for-profi t organization in July 2000. Even though we were a separate entity, we still retained our allegiance to the Club. We were a museum without walls. Instead of having a place that people could visit, we brought the museum to the people. With acclaimed educational programs, which included "History on Wheels," we brought our cars to schools, nursing homes, service-oriented organizations, assorted clubs, and just about any group that wanted an antique car museum at their location, even for a few hours. In September 2012, one of our members, Steve Zboyan, arranged for us to take over half of a building at Johnson Brothers Boat Works in Point Pleasant. We share the building with the New Jersey Museum of Boating. We had our Grand Opening with great fanfare. Finally we had a place to call home. But our home, like hundreds of homes in the area, fell victim to Superstorm Sandy, a mere six weeks after our Grand Opening. We had 52 inches of water in the museum. Everything under that waterline was destroyed. However, being stouthearted men and women, we dug in our heels and rolled up our shirt sleeves, and nine months later we had our Grand Re-opening. "The Biggest Little Car Museum in the Nation" displays an average of ten vehicles at a time for periods of 30 to 60 days and features a diverse collection of automobiles, vintage toys, die cast car models, service equipment, and a host of signs and photographs. Knowledgeable museum members are on hand to answer any questions. While New Jersey has private car collections that may call themselves "museums," or museums that have antique cars as part of their attraction, the Vintage Automobile Museum of New Jersey is the only true antique auto museum in the state. Admission is free, so bring your friends and family to 1800 Bay Avenue, Building 13 in Point Pleasant. We are open from 12:00 noon to 4:00 PM Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Group tours are available. For more information, call (732) 899-0012 or visit www.vintageautomuseum.org. FREE ADMISSION. Open Friday - Sunday, 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm 1800 Bay Avenue, Building 13 Point Pleasant, NJ 08742 (732) 899-0012 www.vintageautomuseum.org Vintage Automobile Museum of New Jersey received funding this year from a grant administered by the Ocean County Cultural & Heritage Commission from funds granted by the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State.

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