The Cussler Museum, Colorado. 1) American Cars

(1960 Chrysler 300 F — Less than 1000 made)

In my most recent visit to the Denver area this past year, I made a point of finding and visiting the Cussler Museum, which is located in the town of Arvada, about midway between downtown Denver and Boulder.  Why?  Because this museum houses the personal car collection of best-selling author, Clive Cussler.  The museum is somewhat difficult to find so be sure to program it into your GPS and look carefully for the museum’s sign when you are in the area.  I finally found the place and was eager to explore the treasures within.

Many of you might not be familiar with Mr. Cussler’s work.  He was primarily a writer of adventure fiction and his most popular character was a marine scientist known as Dirk Pitt – sort of a James Bond type of character (although he is not licensed to kill).  The writing is not scholarly, but entertaining and fun.  I’ve read only a few of Mr. Cussler’s books, but have listened to a number of them as recorded books while I’m doing chores, and his writing style definitely lends itself to the recorded book format.  Mr. Cussler’s books – which number around six dozen — have been published in more than 40 languages and in 100 countries.  Some of his stories have been made into films.

Each Dirk Pitt novel featured a rare car in which he rides off into he sunset, often with a new lady-friend in the passenger seat.  What makes this situation unique is that each of the cars in these books is one that Mr. Cussler actually owns, so his descriptions of them are interesting and meticulous.

I’ll let Mr. Cussler explain how he got into car collection:

“Years later, when driving through the Colorado countryside, my wife, Barbara, said, “Look! There’s a 1946 Ford club coupe like I had in high school.” The car was sitting in the front of a farm with a For Sale sign on it. I paid $400 for it and drove it home, where my son and I restored it in the street. This was the first car of my collection. It still sits among the more exceptional additions that came through the years.

After the Dirk Pitt books became bestsellers, I could afford to buy the more exotic examples of classic autos. I purchased a 1955 Rolls Royce that my wife liked because it was new the year we were married. Then came a 1926 Hispano Suiza cabriolet that I bought at my first classic car auction after I had three martinis. As more cars were added I had to buy a warehouse. One side holds the classics while the other displays fifties convertibles.”

The Cussler Museum opened in 2005.  Mr. Cussler died in 2020, but it was his desire that his personal collection of rare and vintage automobiles be available for those who wanted to see them.  The museum today is run by his daughter and the collection contains well over 100 automobiles made between 1906 to 1965.  The Museum displays roughly 2/3’s of the collection at any time and rotates automobiles from storage each year so that over a period of a few years all of Mr. Cussler’s cars are displayed.

All of the vehicles are in superb shape, having been restored and maintained by Mr. Cussler’s staff.  You might find Keith Lowden when you visit as he was a friend of Mr. Cussler and the main restorer/maintainer of the Cussler car collection.  He’s happy to answer questions and tell you stories about the cars and memories of Mr. Cussler.

I’ve decided to present the vehicles from the Cussler Museum in three posts:

• American cars
• Cars from Cussler’s books
• Imports and other collectibles

Today’s blog features some of the American cars in his collection – the newest additions to the Cussler collection.  Mr. Cussler was mostly interested in fancy foreign cars, but saw the beauty of classic American steel and especially enjoyed getting convertibles.

Take a look at these:

(to be continued soon)