BLOG UPDATE!
Museum will close at 5pm on Wednesday, May 23rd for a special event.
Museum will close at 6pm on Wednesday, June 13th for a special event.
Museum will closed Thursday, August 9th for a special event.
Alaska's Biennial Midnight Sun Cruise-In & Car Show
Alaska's hottest classic auto celebration.
June 22-23-24, 2012 at Wedgewood Resort
Classic Cars Will Shine on Alaska's Summer Solstice
Cruise-In registration form
Corvettes, Cobras and Thunderbirds will be heating up the streets during Alaska's hottest summer solstice celebration this year. The biennial Midnight Sun Cruise-In returns to Fairbanks with a three-day auto extravaganza featuring nightly family fun and one of the state's largest car shows. The Cruise-In stages at Wedgewood Resort, home to the nationally acclaimed Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum and the host hotel for the event.
Those out enjoying Fairbanks' longest days can expect to see an eclectic mix of classic cars rumbling throughout the city. Watch them gather at Pioneer Park Friday evening, or catch them during Saturday's Tour de Fairbanks as they cruise local venues like the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Visitor Center and University of Alaska campus. Sunday morning you'll find them at the Fountainhead Museum, where you can join the drivers for an outdoor pancake feed followed by a fashion show inside the museum.
The highlight of the Cruise-In is the Midnight Sun Car Show, organized by the Vernon Nash Antique Car Club. Held on the expansive grounds of Wedgewood Resort, the June 23 show is expected to attract over 200 pre-1985 cars ranging from Model Ts and Studebakers to Mustangs and hotrods. You'll even find vintage tractors, motorcycles and perhaps an antique boat in the mix. Admission to view the cars is free and the crowd will choose the winners among several groups, including this year's special classes: Race Cars and 1950s Classics. Show-goers can also enjoy free hayrides, watch an antique steam car demonstartion, see a 100-year-old electric car in action, and peruse the eye-popping collection of historic automobiles and fashions inside the museum.
The Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum collection in Fairbanks, Alaska features over 84 American made antique automobiles and showcases the interesting heritage of the automobile during Alaska’s post-Gold Rush era. The collection includes rare gems like a 1899 Hertel, 1904 Stevens-Duryea, 1917 Owen-Magnetic, 1921 Heine-Velox, 1933 Auburn V-12 dual ratio custom speedster and 1938 Elto Midget.
Several autos are the only models of their marques known to remain, including an 1898 Hay Motor Vehicle, 1906 Compound, and 1920 Argonne. Twenty-three autos previously resided in the William Harrah, Parker Wickham, Henry Austin Clark and Al Garganigo collections.
The newly released museum book features these autos and an outstanding collection of historical fashion clothing; "Alaska's Fountainhead Collection: Vintage Treads and Threads."
While a few of the autos are in unrestored condition, most look like they just rolled off the showroom floor. According to Willy Vinton, antique auto museum manager, “Our goal is to maintain all, but our most fragile autos, in running condition, and visitors will be able to view repair projects taking place in the Fairbanks museum’s shop.” On most summer evenings, one of the autos are driven around Wedgewood Resort. “To be able to see these rare autos is great,” says Vinton, “but to hear them run and see them operate is priceless.”
The antique auto photos of Alaska motoring history on the museum walls are alone worth a visit. More than 70 antique photographs depicting the first automobiles to reach Alaska and its mining camps are on display, including antique the Thomas Flyer that reached Valdez during the famed 1908 New York to Paris Race. Along with this impressive display of antique photographs, the museum includes exhibits and antique movie footage that illustrate the extraordinary challenges faced by Alaska’s pioneering motorists. You’ll see examples of how Alaskans modified vehicles to travel on snow, cut firewood, ride the rails, and even power a paddlewheel boat down the Yukon River.
Visitors can also view the museum’s historic fashion collection, which traces the progression of fashion from the Victorian through early Swing eras. The changes in clothing styles are as dramatic as those in automotive design. The museum’s historical fashion clothing collection includes more than 130 vintage dresses, coats, hats, men’s suits, shoes, and accessories spanning eight decades. Approximately 60 displays colorfully illustrate how and why styles changed with the times and how the popularity of the automobile influenced fashion.
The Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum is located at Wedgewood Resort, minutes from downtown Fairbanks. The on-site hotel and suites, seasonal restaurant, meeting facilities, banquet services and adjacent wildlife sanctuary make this American made antique automobilemuseum a perfect destination for all those who venture to Fairbanks Last Frontier.
