canadian automotive museum

Housed in a former car dealership that dates to the early 20th century in downtown Oshawa, this museum has been on our list of things to do "one of these days" when in the area. Thursday past was that day! The autos on display are in themselves, interesting and rare. I was pleased to see they were not recently restored or prettied up for the most part, lending an air of reality missing in some other such collections. The ground floor was largely British or European. Canadian-built autos are on the second floor, which was just jam-packed with notable pieces of Canadian technology of eras long gone. These autos just look like they might have "in their day" and that, along with the building in which they are now housed, made the feeling of a 'time capsule' all the more enjoyable. Staff are volunteers and couldn't have been more helpful. Give it an hour or so next time you are passing. It isn't just about cars. Other artifacts give context and will appeal to all ages.

Glad to hear you enjoyed your visit. We have a group of dedicated volunteers who are working on our tires and hope to have them all fixed up soon.

Glad to hear you enjoyed your visit!

We are glad you enjoyed your visit. The CAM is currently planning gallery renovations to increase display space and improve our visitor experience. We hope to see you again soon.

Took my dad he loved seeing all the old cars and stuff. Kids enjoyed themselves to Great day out for not a lot of moneyGreat to see dad happy

Thank you for your feedback. We are planning on updating our HVAC system to improve air quality on the second level and moving several cars off-site to open up more space in the galleries.

Friendly & knowledgeable docents helped to make our visit enjoyable. Nice assortment of vehicles in a beautiful vintage building. Worth a visit!!!

There was a lot of what I was expecting, like old Cadillacs and Ford Model T's, and some I wasn't like a Deloreon, Bentley 3 Litre and an Amphibicar. All the cars are beautiful and the descriptions are interesting to read. However there were a few cars tucked away at the backs of rooms that had no description, and that were more interesting to me than some other cars. A few instances I wish I could get closer to the cars, especially when the description talks about the gold trim on the back of a Rolls Royce, but you're too far back to see that. If something about a car is being highlighted in the description, at least let us see that first hand. Otherwise I really enjoyed my visit! Thanks!

We found out about the museum by following a sign along the highway during a road trip and we were not disappointed. The selection of cars was awesome and it was nice that we were able to take pictures and take as long in the museum as we wanted. Free parking as well!

Visiting the automotive museum was great fun. I am personally not a car enthusiast, but really enjoyed seeing all the antique vehicles on display and learning more about the automotive history of Oshawa.

For a small fee you can wonder around this little museum showing really old cars and some real nostalgia. Most cars are donated and are in original condition. There is also a whole section which features Canadian made cars and motorcycles. It was worth the trip and the 5$ to visit the museum.

This is an incredible amount of history if you are a real car nut. There are a lot of displays crammed into one another. I took a real car buff with me and he was fascinated but there is a lot to root through and if you are there in the dead heat of the summer, it is ungodly hot inside. It could use a refurbishing but it is an interesting source of Oshawa's history.

This is a smaller museum and seemed a little cramped. The displays are worth seeing if you are into the 'older era', and the admission price is very low. It's definitely something to at least visit, but I wouldn't necessarily go repeatedly.

The visit to this museum was bittersweet: it is housed in an old Chevy Dealership in downtown Oshawa and it is OVER-loaded with cars, so much so that they are packed into every corner. Some you can only view from afar. There were so many on the second floor that I honestly was concerned about all that weight on those old WOODEN floors. On the same floor, I noted that the men's room was out of order and saw another poster here noted that back in August. I would have thought it would have been fixed by now. The selection of cars was good but a big disappointment was the MIS-information on the display signs. I would have thought that a Canadian car historian would KNOW that in 1949 the car was a "Meteor" and NOT a "Mercury Meteor". It was a Ford body with Mercury trim but the name Mercury never was part of the car until the 1960s. The display even included a Mercury sales catalog, which had no relation to the car. Many of the cars were in poor condition and were dirty. There were examples of cars that were built in Canada, but the biggest disappointment was the lack of "true" Canadian cars. Other than the Meteor mentioned above and a 1957 Canadian Dodge, missing were Acadian, Beaumont, Monarch, Frontenac, Mercury & Fargo trucks and the rest of the assorted cars with Canadian accents. Otherwise, it was dark and dank and just getting to it was less than thrilling. Parking is free IF you can find a spot. Overall, disappointing. If you want to see it, I'd suggest that you hurry: I can't see how it can stay open much longer

This place reminds me of a Clint Eastwood movie, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. First the good: It was only $5. It has old cars, many original and unrestored. For a gearhead like me, that part was pretty good plus there was lots of vintage non-automotive items there. I also enjoyed the idea that they used a vintage auto dealership as a location. Nice idea, in principle. The Bad: It was too packed. There were several cars that were packed in behind other cars with no real indicator as to what they were. Many pieces I had to admire from 2 car widths away. The information on the cars was inconsistent. Some plaques told a rather interesting story, some told very little. Even the "font" used was inconsistent, leading to an amateurish look. Many parts were poorly lit. I had a hard time seeing many items in the corners. I knew many of the non-automotive pieces and automotive mechanical assemblies [engines, Austin mini drive train, outboard motors, lawnmower...] but my wife was often asking "What the h*ll is that?". Other than the Austin Mini assembly, there were absolutely NO signs of what they were. A non-gearhead would simply see these pieces as just so much junk. There was absolutely no sense of order. There was no pattern, other than the Rolls Royce collection downstairs. The Ugly: The men's washroom was out of order and only one stall was operational in the women's room. Yes, things happen but theses things are a rather easy and inexpensive thing to fix, not to mention rather important. It felt like a dungeon in there. This place could have been made to look much more inviting without disturbing the authenticity of a "vintage car dealership" I highly doubt that anybody selling new cars would have had such a dark looking location, in any era. I only recommend this place for a hard core gearhead who knows what to expect.