Stop the car! There’s an Auto Museum in Texarkana
The 222 million Americans with a driver’s license operate roughly 269 million motor vehicles. Those high-octane statistics reflect our love affair with automobiles, in Arkansas and across the nation, since the earliest motoring days in the 1890s.
The allure of the open road is echoed at the Four States Auto Museum in Texarkana, which opened as a volunteer labor of love 14 years ago in the Arkansas-Texas border city. Private collectors own most of the 20 or so vehicles displayed on a rotating basis for three to six months.
One of the oldest cars on display is a 1921 Ford Model T, among the 15 million units of the iconic brand that rolled off Henry Ford’s assembly lines between 1908 and 1927. Its list price was $415. The Model T had to be started with a crank. A sign notes that cranking could be a hazardous procedure, occasionally resulting in a broken arm or other injury.
One of the sleekest is a lime-green 1956 Ford Thunderbird convertible hardtop, which retailed new for $3,151— a flabbergasting bargain compared to today’s prices, even taking inflation into account. The T-Bird looks ready for a breezy drive to impress friends and family, while perhaps stirring some envy along the way.
Complementing the museum’s classic cars is a potpourri of motoring memorabilia, including early-day license plates, antique gasoline pumps and auto advertisements of old. The most beguiling ad, from just before World War II, is headlined: “We’ve Been a Ford Family for Years … More Than 30 Years, in Fact.”
“Dad and Mother had one of the early two-cylinder Fords before I was born. They tell me I cut my teeth on the steering wheel of their first Model T.
“I went off to college in an old Ford roadster without any top or fenders. Helen and I honeymooned in a Model A. And we celebrated our last anniversary by buying a V-8. Jimmy has slept away many a mile in that big back set.
“Some of these days, I’ll be able to afford a more expensive car. But I don’t think I’ll change. Thirty years of faithful service from one name sort of gets under your skin.”
A museum aristocrat is a high-powered beauty with a British accent. It’s a sleek 1961 Jaguar XK150 drophead coupe, of which only 580 were made. Its top speed was 135 miles per hour. Some of its color choices speak with a decidedly English accent: Cotswald Blue, Sherwood Green, Cornish Grey, Imperial Maroon.
Bygone brands on display include a 1932 Willys-Knight four-passenger coupe styled as a “Silver Anniversary” model, as well as a 1951 Studebaker pickup truck. There’s a 1948 Harley Davidson motorcycle with attached sidecar. The one nonmotorized vehicle is a replica of a Wells Fargo Stage Line coach from the middle of the 19th century. It ran on four horsepower.
Four States Auto Museum, 217 Laurel St., Texarkana, is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and 1-4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free with donations welcome. The museum’s 13th annual Spring Car Show is scheduled for May 12, with food concessions including “our awesome burgers we serve each year.” For details, visit fourstatesautomuseum.com or call 870-772-2886.