All the cars in the museum tell a story of automotive history, but some have very personal stories. This is especially true with our latest acquisition.
At only 19 years old, our founder and president Mel Martin asked his father to drive him from Mayer to Tucson so that he could buy his first new car. That car was a red 1949 Chevrolet Fleetline that he purchased for $1,985 cash. For more than a decade, Mel has been looking for a similar Fleetline for the Martin Auto Museum.
When he sat in the award-winning classic car he had just purchased, Mel said the memories came flooding back. He commented that the car made him the “talk of the town” in Mayer.
“When I would take the car out of the garage in Mayer, the girls would ohh and ahh,” laughed Mel. “But it actually hurt my garage business for a while — people in town seemed to think I was making too much money fixing their cars.”
Come see this spectacular car when it hits the exhibit floor along with 170+ other classic cars that have their own stories.
