Auto museum closing next year, full collection of vehicles to be sold
Published 7:40 pm Monday, December 17, 2018
TUPELO (AP) — An automobile museum in Mississippi is closing next year, with the co-founder saying it’s no longer “sustainable” for her and some volunteers to operate.
The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported the co-founder of the Tupelo Automobile Museum, Jane Spain, plans to sell all 178 vehicles the museum owns, with the proceeds for a charitable education foundation her late husband Frank Spain envisioned.
The museum opened in 2002 but the newspaper reported it’s never had the numbers of visitors needed to be self-supporting.
The auction is set April 25-27. Spain says the museum will stay open until late March or early April, when it closes to prepare for the sale.
Among the collection, an 1886 Benz three-wheeled car, a 1918 Stanley Steamer, a 1929 Dusenberg Model J and a 1957 Corvette.