By Walt Grayson
walt@wlbt.net
We're starting out the new year with something old. Well, a lot of old things, at one of Tupelo's newest attractions, the Tupelo Automobile Museum.
They say America has had a long love affair with the automobile. And I probably first heard that over my car radio. Well, for over thirty years Frank Spain of Tupelo has been in love with cars, and has compiled quite a collection of them. 110 of them are now in Tupelo. At one time they were scattered all over the country, from Florida to California. But he's brought them all home and given them to a non-profit organization that will keep them stored, keep them maintained and keep them open to the public.
There are automobiles in here from every era. From a replica of Benz' first gasoline powered trike of the 1880s, all the way to a Viper from the 1990s with only 12 miles on it. In between, there's a little of everything.
Some are common cars of the day; some are rare and valuable indeed. It's hard to say which one is the MOST valuable. I don't think Frank himself knows for sure.
He says, "There are a couple of cars here -- there were only four made. So it's hard to say. Whatever it is today, there will be more tomorrow."
Frank Spain may have difficulty picking out the most valuable, but he has no hesitation saying which is the most rare.
Spain says, "Probably the Tucker. There were 51 of them built. But strangely enough, of a brand there were so few of, a goodly percent of the 51 are still extant because it was totally way ahead of its time and has features that are only just now arriving in cars."
If we've had a love affair with cars, then the Tupelo Automobile Museum is a Shakespearian love sonnet in honor of it. So hop in your father's Oldsmobile and drive to Tupelo and visit it. While you are here, you'll see great grandfather's Oldsmobile. And pretty much an example of everything that has come and gone down the pike since then.
WLBT 3 - Fox 40
