Fountainhead Auto Museum
Fountainhead Auto Museum is worlds away from your run-of-the-mill fleet of oxidized old cars huddled in a stuffy warehouse! Visitors to this nationally-acclaimed Fairbanks attraction discover a comprehensive range of multi-media exhibits including more than 100 vintage fashion ensembles and dozens of rare and remarkable antique autos – a collection detailing the dramatic parallel evolution of historic clothing and vehicle design from the Victorian Age through the Art Deco era. Here you’ll see the Territory’s first car – a primitive machine built in 1905 by teenaged “Bobby” Sheldon to charm a young Skagway gal away from another suitor. Determined Bobby – who’d never laid eyes on an automobile – rounded up some basic parts and built a functional runabout boasting top speeds of 15 miles per hour.
Enjoy a nostalgic spin through bygone days as you browse Alaska’s automotive history; entrepreneur Tim Cerny’s magnificent assemblage – including horseless carriages, steamers, electric cars, speedsters, cyclecars, 30s classics, and such rarities as an 1898 Hay Motor Vehicle, a 1906 Compound, a 1920 Argonne and a 1921 Heine-Velox Victoria – exemplifies some of the most fascinating developments in U.S. automotive history prior to World War II. All but a few of the vehicles still motor around town each Summer, making Fountainhead a true “living museum”, and special photo ops with museum props – clothes and cars – are sure to delight! Imagine yourself peddling a “Sawyer Boneshaker” to your one-room cabin or powering through the formidable winter white in a funky Fordson “Snow Devil”!
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