America On Wheels 15th Anniversary

America On Wheels Museum has enjoyed a fifteen-year road trip. Despite the curves, detours and potholes, we have continued our journey and are now supercharged to be celebrating our 15th Anniversary on April 29, 2023. What started as a community museum has grown into an award-winning cultural attraction that has drawn visitors from across America, as well as scores of international guests. From our first exhibit featuring classic muscle cars, we have enthralled our visitors with hundreds of rare and unique vehicles. Our Changing Gallery has successfully rotated 30 exhibits over the years. We also have outstanding examples of antique and classic cars, trucks and motorcycles on display throughout the museum.

We are very excited about our accomplishments, expansions and collaborations over the past decade and a half. In 2009, we established a relationship with the Lehigh Valley Garden Railroaders and began our annual Holiday Train display. The following year we opened the HubCap Café featuring a fully restored 1953 soda fountain. We also hosted our first Bulldog Beauty Contest, which has been a popular annual event with up to 36 canines strutting their stuff in a unique gallery showcasing the history of hometownfavorite Mack Trucks.

In 2012, we opened the Restoration Learning Center that offers a multimedia presentation in returning a classic vehicle to its original state of grandeur. We opened the Auto Art Gallery in 2013, which has featured numerous works of transportationthemed art, and prototype vehicle renderings from the major auto designers of the time. For the past several years we’ve presented the Heavy Equipment Petting Zoo, where children and adults can view and climb on backhoes, bulldozers, dump trucks, fire engines and tractors. Families love this annual event, as it’s outside and free!

One of our most exciting and rewarding accomplishments was the establishment of the Kid’s Car Service and Restoration Center for those 12 and under. Children are able to “get their hands dirty” working on a scale model 1956 Chevy Belair. They can change the oil, fix a flat and switch out a muffler using tools with realistic lights and sounds. Through a collaboration with the neighboring RB Collection, visitors are allowed to tour their working restoration shop and view skilled craftsmen restoring vehicles in real time, every Wednesday and Friday. Over the years, we have hosted over 4,000 students via school field trips. Additionally, America On Wheels is now known as a unique and fun venue to host birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, and holiday parties.

All the achievements noted above are in keeping with our mission to educate the public about the history of transportation through the restoration, preservation and presentation of classic vehicles. As we drive into 2023, being a member entity of America’s Automotive Trust will help us continue to achieve the principles of our mission, while expanding our exhibits and educational programs. Club Auto will also open at America On Wheels in June of 2023. So, if you are planning a trip, remember that the museum tells a fascinating story, and is certainly a trip worth taking.

Editor’s Note: AAT Chairman Michael Towers has been effusive about the quality and enthusiasm behind the America On Wheels Museum and the exciting Automotive Corner of America development in Allentown, PA. AOW will host this summer’s AAT Board Meeting on June 9-10, offering an excellent opportunity to experience firsthand the museum, the RB Collection, and Allentown’s waterfront

America’s Automotive Trust board member Al Ruozzi was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the youngest of three brothers who immigrated to the United States at the age of 30. Together with his brother Alex, they started in the classic car restoration business in 1994, beginning the RB Collection in 2011. Today the RB Collection sits adjacent to the America On Wheels Museum in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in a 33,000 sq. ft. historic building which employs a staff of eight. The RB Collection is a founding partner in the exciting Automotive Corner of America development revitalizing Allentown’s waterfront.