California’s incredible car museum with 130+ classics is closing and revealed what’s happening to the cars

After 22 years, a car museum in California has closed its doors.

Located in El Segundo, the fascinating Zimmerman Automobile Driving Museum, home to an eclectic collection of classics, has shut up shop.

According to a Facebook post, the museum took the decision to close due to deep-rooted financial problems.

Apparently, those financial issues stem back to 2020, when the car museum was forced to close and cancel planned events because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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What happened to the car museum?

Firstly, the Zimmerman Automobile Driving Museum lost a substantial amount of money due to the pandemic.

Then, to compound its problems further, the museum’s founder and sole sponsor, Stanley Zimmerman, passed away in July 2020.

Without his monthly donations, the museum explored other revenue routes, such as hosting car shows, renting vehicles, and hosting other special events which brought in some money, but ultimately it wasn’t enough.

To make matters worse, there were other factors that played a part in the museum’s demise, including ‘complicated property and car collection issues’ and ‘an increase in local competition.’

Struggling to keep its head above water, so to speak, the car museum decided to call it a day and officially closed its doors on October 27.

On the subject on museums, this New York museum is home to an extremely rare Ferrari.

What next for the car museum?

Zimmerman Automobile Driving Museum has events, like car shows and cruise-ins, scheduled during November and December.

The good news is that these will go ahead as planned, and the Bayside Cafe will stay open on weekend until December 29.

What will happen to the cars?

Now you’re probably wondering what’s going to happen to the 130+ cars in the museum’s collection.

Well, none of them are for sale, and the vehicles that were loaned to the museum will be returned to their owners.

As for the vehicles that were owned by the museum, we’re not sure what’s going to happen with those.

It’s a crying shame, as the collection included vehicles from just about every era, such as a Ford Model T, Volkswagen Beetle, as well as a few oddities, like a 1975 Sebring Vanguard CitiCar.

The museum was also home to a DeLorean, just like this time capsule DMC-12 that was uncovered in a barn revealing a surprising twist.

It goes without saying, our thoughts are with the staff, and we hope to the collection find another home at a museum so it can be marvelled at for years to come.