wills sainte claire automobile museum

I was out here in November and I thought to check out the museum only to find out that this time of year it's only open the 2nd Sunday of the month, but more often in the summer time. I had to wait until I could try again which was this past Sunday in January and it was worth the wait. What a great collection in this small building.The Wills Sainte Claire auto mobiles were produced in Marysville, Michigan over a seven year period from 1921-1927. The man that got all this started was Childe Harold (C.H.) Wills, who was the first employee of Henry Ford and left after almost two decades at the Ford Motor Co. He took his severance pay which was over a million dollars and left to start building his own cars. It was a short lived venture after creating not just the car company but the town also.The most important thing to remember how much a difference the people make and the staff here were great. I and two other people received a walk around turn after the videos were completed that give you history about the car company and how this museum came to be. Of the approx. 12,000 vehicles produced there are only about 75-80 left in the world and there are about 12 of them in this one building. It's worth the extra effort to get here and see these great cars a reminder of a buy gone era. Enjoy!

The Wills Museum is a one marque museum; it centers around a very fine automobile produced in the 1920's by one of the most interesting of early auto pioneers, C. Harold Wills. These cars are "known of" by car nuts, but they are rare and not much more than name recognition is usually involved. Wills was with Henry Ford in the beginning as chief engineer and so valued by Ford that he was the highest paid employee in history. When he left Ford (on good terms) to start his own corporation, his severance was 1.9 million, and that was in 1919. About 4,000 cars were produced until the 1920's depression put the car out of business. They were advanced - single overhead cam V-8's in 1920! They were beautiful, and their performance was record breaking. This museum has excellent exhibits and the cars are as beautiful as they are rare. This museum is supported by the loving owners and the town of Marysville, immediately south of Port Huron, Michigan, where Wills decided to build his manufacturing empire. There's so much more to this fascinating bit of history. The Museum is a must if you're a vintage car buff, but one thing will ask for a little patience; the museum is only open from 1-5 pm on the 2nd Sunday of the month. BUT... it's worth the extra scheduling. The folks at the museum couldn't be friendlier. The building is unique, but that's another story. GIVE THIS ONE A TRY.