San Diego Automotive Museum

San Diego Automotive Museum, San Diego, California

Our travels in the last year have focused on motorcycle museums. Why, then, an automotive museum? The name suggests four-wheeled transport, but the term “automotive” is used to describe anything related to motor vehicles, including motorcycles. For the San Diego Automotive Museum, this is appropriate. The museum displays as many motorcycles as automobiles.

Upon entering the museum, there’s a 1974 Triumph 750 T150V on display along with a two-stroke Suzuki 400cc dual sport. Nearby is a Dan Gurney display, with a Gurney motorcycle that positions the rider low in the frame behind the engine. It’s called the Alligator, and the idea was to improve handling. The museum’s library features a 1927 Scott Flying Squirrel water-cooled two-stroke motorcycle and a 1914 Indian V-twin with a sidecar. The museum’s main motorcycle display area features a dozen or so pristine machines. Some are motorcycles I had never heard of or seen prior to this visit. There’s a pristine and brilliant red 1951 Moto Guzzi Dondolino. Translated, a dondolino is a child’s swing. A stunning green and cream 1912 BSA single is parked nearby. There’s a beautiful black and gold-pinstriped AJS, with a paint theme subsequently copied by many of the world’s manufacturers. The AJS marque has an interesting history: Great Britain’s A.J. Stevens and Company manufactured motorcycles from 1909 to 1931, Norton acquired AJS, Norton ultimately became Norton Villiers, Norton Villiers went out of business in 1966, and today the AJS name is attached to 125cc motorcycles made in China by Jianshe.

Both ends of the museum’s main motorcycle display hall are anchored by big American V-twins. A 1978 Harley-Davidson XLCR Cafe Racer, perhaps one of the world’s most beautiful motorcycles, is at one end, and a garish Big Dog chopper is at the other end.

The automobile exhibits are similarly interesting. A collection of black-and-white police cruisers dominates the main display area. There’s a gorgeous white Jaguar XK-120, and not too far away, the museum displays include the actual Magnum P.I. Ferrari 308. The Vesco Turbinator, a land speed record holder so narrow I at first thought it was a motorcycle, is one of the more visually arresting automobiles. The Turbinator is powered by a helicopter engine. At Bonneville, it set a world land speed record for wheel-driven vehicles of just over 500mph.

The San Diego Automotive Museum is one of 17 different museums in San Diego’s Balboa Park, which encompasses 1,200 acres of land first reserved in 1835. In addition to its museums, Balboa Park contains theaters, restaurants, botanical gardens, and the world-famous San Diego Zoo. San Diego is one of the world’s great cities, and Balboa Park is its crown jewel. The best way to take in Balboa Park is to spend several days in San Diego, a city with almost unlimited attractions. The San Diego Zoo is one of the world’s best; one can easily spend two days there. Other San Diego attractions include the USS Midway, the Pacific Coast Highway, and the nearby Deer Park Winery and Auto Museum with its stunning collection of convertibles, motorcycles, and wines. Baja begins just a few miles south of San Diego, offering some of the best riding in the world, and Tecate and its culinary delights are only an hour to the east. So there you have it: The San Diego Automotive Museum and many other nearby attractions. If you haven’t been to this magnificent city, San Diego is a destination that should be on your bucket list.