Complete List of Car Museums in Colorado

From the Duesenberg to Shelby GTs Colorado is rich with car museums. We’ve some incredible, historical museums for you to visit in Colorado, each very unique in their own special way. Some include very rare vehicles, motorcycles, and even trains. If you are just a fan, learning history, and looking to buy cars, you’re going to love this trip through history. This article is part of an ongoing list of state by state auto museums, so check out the auto museums in your state if you can’t visit these.

Buckle up, this is going to be an exciting ride.

Here are the 6 Best Car and Automotive Museums in Colorado.

1. Forney Museum of Transportation. Denver, Colorado

Planes, Trains and Automobiles… plus motorcycles, so it’s not the move with John Candy we’re talking about.

This museum is all about transportation, and they have plenty to see. You can see, touch, and feel the history when walking through this incredible museum.

The trains that settled the west, the planes that helped navigate the area early, and automobiles and motorcycles that soon saturated the west early on.

You can learn more about them on their website. You can also take a quick virtual tour in the video below.

2. Gateway Auto Museum. Gateway, Colorado

This incredible museum is unique in its standards from start to finish, and a great place for the entire family, school field trips, and much more. They keep over 50 vehicles on the floor at all times as a minimum.

The Museums claim to fame is that each vehicle is chosen for its unique impact on design, engineering, industry, or culture. This means you are getting a lot more than a lot of cars to look at, they are historically significant in some manner. They also have a great system in place for self-guided tours.

You can visit their website for more information, and we’ve added a short video tour through the place by and extra cool Youtuber.

3. Rangely Automotive Museum. Rangely, Colorado

The Rangely Automotive Museum was founded by Bud Striegel. Striegel has a fascinating story. We always hear that some people know their calling from an early age, and Striegel is one of these cool cats that started collecting cars at age 12.

Come on people… age 12. That’s incredible.

He claims that when he started, you could buy a car for just $2.00. He bought his first few cars by finding and selling pop bottles to the local bar. He’s restored over 70 cars to date at a local body shop that still exists and has hade a couple of generations working with him.

His work has produces one of the most impressive auto museums in Colorado, and maybe the US. Some are restored, some are original, but each takes you down the road of memories of the past.

Visit their website and watch the video to get an idea of what’s there before you schedule a visit or just drop in.

4. Cussler Museum. Arvada, Colorado

The Cussler Museum is all about the preservation of rare/vintage autos from across the globe. The museum sports over 100 historically significant vehicles from 1906 to 1965. They have everything from Packards to Duesenburgs.

The museum was founded by Clive Cussler, a famous author. You can visit their website and take a quick virtual tour in the video below.

5. Penrose Heritage Museum. Colorado Springs, Colorado

This museum is unique in that its focus is on Pikes Peak and the history of it, focusing on racing and the early development of it in the area.

From the early roads to a race to the top of Pikes People, there is no other museum on earth quite like Penrose.

For more information, you can visit their website or take a stroll through the history of Pikes Peak and the automobiles that helped build its rich automotive history in the video below.

https://youtu.be/ITckws6HWOY

6. Shelby American Collection. Boulder, Colorado

This completely unique museum is all about the Cobra, Shelby Mustang, and Ford GT. Nothing else. They have over 40 cars that recognize the history of the Shelby company and it’s racing and production history.

The museum is stocked by both collectors and owners of some of the most incredible vehicles to even put rubber to the road.

You can visit their website, and then learn more about what to expect in the video below.

These are the best and most significant auto-based museums in Colorado. It doesn’t matter if you live there or are planning a visit or buy a car and shipping it home, these museums are gold if you’re into cars, or if you’re a history buff traveling the US, these are the must-visit museums.