The Canadian Transportation Museum & Heritage Village: A Significant Collection

It’s not easy running a museum about cars and turning a profit, especially in Canada. To be successful, it must rely on the generosity of donors and have a business plan that’s more creative than just lining up a bunch of vehicles and charging an entry fee.

The Canadian Transportation Museum & Heritage Village features a retro-themed diner, a reception room and a piece of land big enough to organize events related to the automobile. However, it also includes, as its name suggests, a collection of very old houses and buildings that were moved there and reassembled in order to re-create an old-fashion village.

Regarding what interests us the most, the collection of cars, we can admire some very old machines, some of them being very significant for the Canadian market. There are some extremely rare cars, such as the 1893 Shamrock Runabout, the very first car registered in Canada. Since we were invited to the museum by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, a get-together of local owners of Mopar classics was organized, and they proudly showed off their vintage Dodge, Chrysler, Plymouth and Jeep cars and trucks. This year, FCA's American brands are celebrating their 90th anniversary in Canada.

The CTMHV is relatively unknown; according to Vice-Chairman Mickey Moulder, the museum doesn’t have any budget for advertising. None of my fellow journalists seemed aware that the place even existed, and neither did I. Located about three and a half hours south-west of Toronto, its geographical location doesn’t help its popularity on a larger scale. However, if you’re driving down to Detroit, or Windsor in Ontario, it’s definitely worth checking out.

For more information on the Canadian Transportation Museum & Heritage Village: www.ctmhv.com