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Expert
Posts: 2003
Location: Branson, MO | Chrysler has announced that the WPC Museum will close permanently at close of business on December 16, 2016. It has been open only for special events recently. The building will be converted into office space. This leaves the other two manufacturers with museums.
Wonder what they are going to do with all those cars and information?
I've been there a few times and really enjoyed it. A lot of MoPar history there. I wonder if this will affect the historical information availability for our cars?
Edited by Viper Guy 2016-11-04 8:11 PM
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Location: Parts Unknown | Nobody really cares about these old cars anyway .....
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Location: The Mile High City | Italian mothballs!  |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 5006
| can we actually go in and visit? before it closes? Whoops just saw, 3 weekends left... I better get up there quick
Edited by mikes2nd 2016-11-05 1:22 AM
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Expert
Posts: 2637
Location: Minor Hill, TN | the museum closing that sucks . I also wondering the same about the cars also.. I have never been there also and I do not have the extra money to make the trip and vacation time.
Edited by 1961plymouthfury 2016-11-05 11:15 AM
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Expert
Posts: 4043
Location: Connecticut | Office space ? Really ? More like a lack of caring about their historical past. If they needed office space, why don't they just build another building ? Or use one of the thousands of abandoned buildings in Detroit itself ? I had a lot of hope when they reopened the place earlier this year. This is not good. Detroit News article Ron |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 6502
Location: Newark, Texas (Fort Worth) | F irst
I n
A $$ holiest
T hinking |
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Expert
Posts: 3889
Location: Northen Virginia | this country is going to the trash can, and nobody cares until they are affected by it. Political comments are banned from this site, but the closing of the Museum got nothing to do with politics or the economy right?. It is sad that the museum is closing but this maybe change some other people minds about the real state of the union. |
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Posts: 5006
| Too many museums im the same.area.... |
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Posts: 1288
| Lads --
Although most important information about the '65 Sport Fury I recently acquired is coded on its fendertag, I wanted to get the build record to complete my history of the car. Accordingly, I consulted the Chrysler Historical Society webpage and printed off the Build Record Request Form. I completed it as instructed and sent it, with a personal check for $55.00 and proof of ownership (current registration was adequate) to the FCA Historical Services address on October 11, 2016. On October 24, I received the following:
Dear Mr. Godec,
Thank you for contacting the FCA Historical Services. We are currently not fulfilling
requests for information or build records while we complete an in-depth inventory of
our files. This process will last through the end of the year.
I have enclosed a copy of the build card order form you originally submitted and
returning your payment at this time. We will keep your proof of ownership on file. You
can return the copy of the order form to our office after the New Year with your
payment.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your patience.
We look forward to assisting you after January 1, 2017.
Regards,
Danielle Szostak-Viers
Historical Services
FCA US LLC
Evidently some of the historical data will be available later even though the museum will close. No doubt, however, access will be restricted.
Joe |
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Expert
Posts: 3889
Location: Northen Virginia | Fiat Chrysler has confirmed plans to permanently close its Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills. FCA will convert the facility into office space.
Opened in 1999 under the leadership of Daimler, the Walter P. Chrysler Museum has fallen on hard time in recent years. The museum was closed due to funding issues in 2012, but was reopened in June of this year. However, the museum has been operating on limited hours since then, with attendance figures down significantly.
As for the contents of the museum, FCA told The Detroit News that it "will continue to preserve its (65) historical vehicles and will showcase them at internal and external events including being on display around the Chrysler Technology Center and other FCA US facilities."
FCA will convert the 55,000 square foot facility into additional office space. The automaker hasn't decided what departments will occupy the building. Although funding has been an issue in the past, FCA says it is shuttering the museum because of the need for more space, not because of any monetary hardships.
Between 1999 and 2012 the Walter P. Chrysler Museum drew an average of 90,000 visitors per year. Since reopening earlier this year, only about 4,300 people have visited the museum.
The museum will be open for two more weekends before it is closed for good; it'll be open on Nov. 19-20 as well as Dec. 17-18. Be sure to see it while you can.
Read more: http://www.leftlanenews.com/fca-to-close-walter-p-chrysler-museum-f... |
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Elite Veteran
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Location: Layton, Utah | Hope you all have your 3 G's. (Guns, grub & gold). Things are going to get tough. |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 5006
| because they closed a museum not many people went to?  |
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Elite Veteran
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Location: Layton, Utah | Sure if that will keep this warning from getting deleted from my fellow friend's sight. DeSoto lives !!! |
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Posts: 2637
Location: Minor Hill, TN | total bull s**t the museum is closing |
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Elite Veteran
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Location: Lubbock, TX | They are going to be re-activating the Chrysler Historical Department in Mid January. They're temporarily closing so they can better organize and gather information. Also they may have an online form in the works rather than using Snail Mail. Either way, Fiat Chrysler is VERY dedicated to historical integrity and has plans to keep the Historical Department functional as long as there is interest. To me, that means I'll be sending in quite a few requests in the spring. Bunch of cars I'm curious about history on...
~Peter |
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Posts: 1886
| People can say it's BS, but if nobody goes to it, can you blame them for wanting to shut it down? |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 5006
| Mike McCandless - 2016-11-07 8:05 AM People can say it's BS, but if nobody goes to it, can you blame them for wanting to shut it down? its Hillarys fault! |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 384
Location: Hershey PA | I have four (4) passes to the museum
PM me if you are interested in them
Open to (low) offers like a Desoto postcard or two
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Regular
Posts: 89
| After I retired I was a volunteer docent (guide/ attendant) at the museum for a couple of years. You could sometimes do an entire four hour shift and not get a single guest. Even a good Saturday would not draw many people, unfortunately. Once you went and saw the displays, it was a tough sell to spouse and kids to go again, except perhaps for a car show.
The reality is that CHRYSLER is increasing market share and hiring a lot of employees, and the best place to put them for efficiency sake is on the Tech Center Campus, rather than some far flung satellite (I worked at such a satellite, and wasted a lot of time commuting to meetings). Space is now at a premium on campus.
It is sad to see the museum close though.
Mark |
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Posts: 3889
Location: Northen Virginia | Michigan is in a very bad shape state, the car industry is gone, lot of crime and poverty. The British car show Top gear was there a few years ago and the were astonished by the desolation. A car museum other than For* and chuBy may not be a good deal... |
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Location: Parts Unknown | Nobody really cares about these old cars anyway .....
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Expert 5K+
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| hemidenis - 2016-11-07 8:47 PM Michigan is in a very bad shape state, the car industry is gone, lot of crime and poverty. The British car show Top gear was there a few years ago and the were astonished by the desolation. A car museum other than For* and chuBy may not be a good deal... are you high? these car companies are making billions, alot of it in michigan(ford and GM are both in michigan). top gear is brits running around looking for the worst area they could find. I can do the same thing and find similar issues in the UK. UK has a higher poverty rate than USA... |
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Location: Minor Hill, TN | I voted to Trump |
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Location: Fleetwood, Pa | The Pope is a Catholic |
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Posts: 2003
Location: Branson, MO | ....................and the museum will be history!
Just wanted to get back to the subject....................
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Veteran
Posts: 139
| 1961plymouthfury - 2016-11-08 12:58 AM
I voted to Trump
I don't doubt that for a second. |
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Veteran
Posts: 132
| i love forward look cars but this community and even the muscle car guys cant visit the museum enough to pay the bills ? you want something to complain about complain about these mega collections that never see the light of day because the owners just don't want them to. you want to keep this history alive teach what you know to a young kid don't shun them when they put a 5.7 hemi and over drive in the car either. the car hobby cant afford to keep staring at museum pieces these cars need to be out in the world and exposed to little kids and grandparents alike bring the forward look cars to Carlisle nationals etc and embrace every person that ask you a question about your car no matter how ignorant they are of the car hobby |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 5006
| Bah humbug!
your beating a dead horse and losing here dude, give it up.
You can see their collection when they are dead. |
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Veteran
Posts: 139
| As time marches on younger folks by and large are not interested in the history of a very old car company. Look at what they're buying. Hyundais, Kias, tToyotas, Hondas, etc. They dont even consider a Chrysler product. Hell even I don't, except for my Ram truck. They are almost out of the car business.
Mark |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 5006
| these cars take time and money, heck even garage space. These kids don't have that yet. MONEY being the issue.
When I was 20 I couldn't afford all that. An emblem for a 58 Plymouth is what? 700$? Glass, chrome is in the thousands...
Yes you can go buy a beater 4 door for cheap and then you have to have a place for it. Your parents driveway?
This is an older gentlemans sport, some get in early but you need money.
The Chrysler museum is broke and there are two other big museums right next door. I would assume some of these cars are moving to those. |
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Posts: 2637
Location: Minor Hill, TN | What will happen to the cars in the museum when it closes. |
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Posts: 1819
Location: Vancouver, BC |
The cars will be put into storage and taken out for special events. Think they did that for awhile between a closing and reopening of the museum a few years back. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 628
Location: Lubbock, TX | Actually, Chrysler has confirmed that they will be dispersing the vast majority of the cars to be on display at various Development Campuses and Production Offices, as well as at the Assembly Plants in Michigan. So I would assume that if you toured their R&D facilities, you'd see quite a few of them scattered about. |
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Expert
Posts: 1886
| Is anyone going up this final weekend? I'm slammed today but wanted to call up and see if they were doing anything special for the last weekend being open. If I can fit it into my schedule, might fly my dad and I up to go through it as I've never been |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 504
| Mike McCandless - 2016-12-12 7:53 AM
Is anyone going up this final weekend? I'm slammed today but wanted to call up and see if they were doing anything special for the last weekend being open. If I can fit it into my schedule, might fly my dad and I up to go through it as I've never been
I would like to tag along...I live nearby (twenty minutes away). Being a retired long time Chrysler Engineering employee, (35 years, with the last twenty with Team Viper, PVO, then SRT) I can share lot's of great (imho) stories!
It's worth the trip to anyone that hasn't been there!
Bill Adams |
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Posts: 2003
Location: Branson, MO | hemiviper588 - 2016-12-12 8:38 AM
Mike McCandless - 2016-12-12 7:53 AM
Is anyone going up this final weekend? I'm slammed today but wanted to call up and see if they were doing anything special for the last weekend being open. If I can fit it into my schedule, might fly my dad and I up to go through it as I've never been
I would like to tag along...I live nearby (twenty minutes away ). Being a retired long time Chrysler Engineering employee, (35 years, with the last twenty with Team Viper, PVO, then SRT ) I can share lot's of great (imho ) stories!
It's worth the trip to anyone that hasn't been there!
Bill Adams
You guys are lucky being able to go to the museum one last time. I have been there three times and enjoyed it very much but the last time was still several years ago. I remember some of the neat cars like the Thunderbolt, the Truman Chryslers, race cars, a Turbine car, TC by Maserati, and the many historical vehicles, etc. Probably a lot has changed since then but memories last a lifetime.
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Posts: 3889
Location: Northen Virginia | Well Fiat need the space for offices, got nothing to do with the money. The problem is that find a space to rent or buy in the the Auburn Hills area is a monumental task, real state in Mi is beyond expensive...
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Posts: 1886
| This is sad, I bought 2 tickets to fly up and see the museum on it's last weekend. A storm is coming through that will screw up all the flights and now I can't go :(. |
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Chrysler closing museum
