On our way south for our fall visit to our family in south Florida, we decided to make a couple of stops along the west coast of the state to see a few special places that were new to us. First we stopped at Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing and Antique Cars in Ocala, Florida (south of Tampa for those of you who don’t know Florida). We’ve seen the sign from the highway when we had taken the turnpike across the state before we got our RV. This spot is a Harvest Host location, so we were able to park our RV in their parking lot over night.
Barney relaxing by the RV after our walk through the antique cars.
In addition to the sign we could see from the highway, we saw the top of this airplane.
So why a fighter jet?
Here’s the story. In 1971, just before Christmas, then President Nixon asked Don Garlits to go to Vietnam to cheer up the troops since they weren’t going to be able to go home for the holidays. When Don returned home, he asked the Navy how he could encourage young people to sign up since he believed the Navy was the branch of the services to join.
He was scheduled to shoot a Navy recruiting poster aboard the USS Lexington during a training mission in the Gulf of Mexico and has worked with the Navy ever since. When Cecil Field in Florida was shut down in 1999, this aircraft monument was going to be scrapped; the Air Museum in Pensacola, Florida, let him know that he could have the plane if he moved it to his museum in Ocala. Can you imagine seeing this plane being transported on the highways?
Now its on permanent display here for fans to enjoy and learn about Don’s Navy involvement.
The museum has two buildings. We went through the antique car museum the afternoon we arrived.
As we walked through this museum, I was the token female among a group of older men from a retirement community enjoying all of these historic cars.
1900 – 1949
This building has row after row of cars from our history. Let’s go from the oldest to the newest.
Billed as “The cheapest automobile in the world,” only 4000-5000 Buckboards were built over a 4-year period of time at a cost of only $375 ($13,650 in 2025).
view of seat and steering
view of the engine
Another car built in 1904 is the only one of its kind. Mr. Hollensbe, the builder, drove it to the 1944 “Indy 500” and got lots of attention.
the Simplicity
The 1909 Runabout designed by Alanson Brush was the first car to have coil springs on each wheel and shock absorbers. It also had left-hand steering.
1909 Brush Runabout
In 1923, this Ford Depot Hack was the beginning of the station wagon. It got its name because so-called depot hacks transported people from the train depot to the hotel and back. Later when the depots were referred to as stations, the name was changed.
the forerunner of today’s station wagons
This 1928 Ford Roadster Pickup had only one owner for over 55 years when it was purchased new in Orlando by a body shop. It was sold in 1983 and then restored in 1987 before it was sold to the Museum.
This one is for all who love pickup trucks.
This 1929 Ford Model A Tudor ended the “Tin Lizzie” era of the Model T and gave birth to the “Everyman’s car” era at Ford Motors.
The first 1M Model A’s were built within 5 months by July 1924. By 1932, nearly 5M Model A’s were built at a cost of $525 ($12,415 in 2025). This base price included combination tail and stop lights, windshield wipers, and front and rear bumpers.
The end of an era.
This 4-door sedan beauty was built in 1931. A couple found it in storage (where it had been for about 15 years) and Don restored it to its present condition over 2 years at a cost of $19,000.
The sedan’s workmanship, engineering, and beauty are a tribute to Dodge.
Only 800 of these 1932 Ford Deluxe 3-window coupes were produced. It had belonged to an elderly lady who lived in Philadelphia and was afraid of driving it in the snow and ice so it had never seen winter weather. We’ve heard about such ladies.
It took over 5 years to gather all of the ’32 Ford parts required to restore this beauty.
Don thinks it’s probably one of the most priceless cars in his collection.
This classic 1935 Ford Roadster Hot Rod popular in the 1950’s represents the era that Don Garlits became obsessed with drag racing.
She’ll do over 100 mph flat out on some long stretch of highway, and Don still drives it regularly.
In 1953, Don and his wife Pat built their first drag car by channeling this 1936 coupe just 6 inches over the frame and then installing a Mercury Flathead V8.
It was their second car for a number of years, and Don got plenty of speeding tickets in this lightweight coupe.
This 1939 Ford Coupe found its home with Don and Pat in 1954.
This is what the car looked like after they spent 2 years getting it in tiptop shape.
And here’s its engine that could get up to 135 mph.
This 1945 Studebaker Half-Ton Pick-Up had been owned by a stranger who drove it up Don’s driveway and sold it to him for $400. He must have known it would have a good home.
Don drove it back and forth between his home and his workshop in Tampa for a number of years. Then in late 1970 he decided to restore it since it was such a rust-free model.
Here’s the restored beauty today.
In 1949, Don saw this 1946 Midget race car in a repair bay owned by a friend. Off and on he helped work on the V-8 engine, and this is how he started learning how to work on engines.
In 2011 Don was able to buy it and restore it to mint condition.
In the next post we’ll see more recent cars that perhaps you’ll recognize.
Leave a Reply
Your email is safe with us.