SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA) – Porsche, Rolls-Royce, Ferrari… any hot car brand you can think of, you’ll see it at the Sarasota Classic Car Museum.
The building itself is as historic as the cars inside.
The museum opened in 1953. It was built to look like a large horse stable.
“Well it’s a part of our town’s history as the second oldest car museum in the country. It’s been here for such a long time, people remember coming here when they were children for their field trips and people still come here today,” said Nathan Clary, sales manager of Vintage Motors of Sarasota.
“It’s a part of history that you can walk through and see the evolution of the automobile, whether you like cars or not, it’s just a neat piece of history.”
The Sarasota Classic Car Museum houses about 90 cars, from pre-war cars to modern exotic rides.
“The most interesting thing we have here is probably… the John Ringling Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. This is known as the ‘Circus Rolls.’ And was the car that was on the circus train where the Ringling Brothers circus would go and John Ringling would be driven around in this car in each of those different cities,” said Clary.
The museum also has a collection of IsoRivolta concept vehicles, as well as a collection of Porches, race cars, personal sports cars and even a recreation of Abraham Lincoln’s funeral hearse.
“We also do event rentals for weddings, birthday parties, things like that. So you rent out the space. We’ve also got a theater room where we put on different shows throughout the year,” said Clary.
“So there’s a number of different events, more than just cars that happen here.”
If you’re feeling inspired after visiting the museum, you can head around the corner to Vintage Motors of Sarasota.
There, you can admire restored classic cars that are available for purchase for you to put in your own driveway.
The museum is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is located at 5500 North Tamiami Trail in Sarasota.
Click here for a coupon for $1 off admission.
Here is some information to help you plan your next trip to the museum:
Admission price:
Adults: $14.85
Children, 6-12 years: $9.25
Children, 5 and under: Free
Senior, 62+: $12.85
Military: $11.85
Travel time to the Sarasota Classic Car Museum (links will update to current traffic conditions, weekday afternoon conditions listed)
– From Downtown Tampa: 1 hour
– From Brandon: 1 hour
– From New Port Richey: 1 hour, 37 minutes
– From Bradenton: 20 minutes
– From Orlando: 2 hours, 13 minutes
