May 27, 2021
1971 AHF Inductee Carl Fisher was behind the wheel of his Stoddard Dayton waving at people, including his future wife, far below him as he hovered 100 feet in the air. The car was suspended below a hot air balloon, floating above the city where he would pace the first lap of the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911. Fisher was a promoter extraordinaire and a businessman who made things happen. Carl Fisher was born in 1874. As a teenager he convinced the Pope-Toledo bicycle company’s owner to set him up as a distributor based solely […]
May 18, 2021
Get ready for the Detroit Grand Prix at the Automotive Hall of Fame. Enjoy film screenings, racing experts Q&A, special display cars, race engine demonstrations, children’s, race car craft, gift bags for first 50 guests. Presented in partnership with Hagerty. Insterested in volunteering? Click here for our volunteer application form. TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE – CLICK HERE.
May 6, 2021
The Automotive Hall of Fame will open beginning June 3 with public museum hours and special events! The Hall celebrates the men and women whose automotive innovations changed the world and revolutionized our way of life. Exhibit galleries with permanent and changing exhibits on the early days of the automobile, the rise of the auto industry around the globe, and the beauty of auto styling and how it has changed every part of our daily […]
April 29, 2021
By Brian Baker Vice President, Education Principal Historian Lucy O’Reilly Schell was a successful rally racer, the first woman to compete in a Grand Prix race and the first woman to own Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500 racing teams. Just before WWII, Schell, an American heiress living in Paris, set her sights on Grand Prix racing. Hitler had used his anti-Semitic government to fund racing to demonstrate German engineering superiority. The race cars from Mercedes Benz and Auto Union had dominated the Grand Prix series for years. The Germans did not see Schell as a threat, […]