Stahls Automotive Collection is a private automotive collection in Chesterfield Township, Michigan, US. It is the personal collection of

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

native Ted Stahl, the chairman of fabric-based heat printer GroupeSTAHL in St. Clair Shores. The collection contains over 90 cars housed in a garage, most of which are from the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

era and the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. The collection focuses mostly on American cars, including former makes such as Auburn, Cord,

Duesenberg Duesenberg Automobile & Motors Company, Inc. was an American race car, racing and luxury car, luxury automobile manufacturer founded in Indianapolis, Indiana, by brothers Fred Duesenberg, Fred and August Duesenberg in 1920. The company is kn ...

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile (formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors) was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produc ...

, Pontiac, and

Packard Packard (formerly the Packard Motor Car Company) was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana, in 1958. One ...

in addition to cars built by

Cadillac Cadillac Motor Car Division, or simply Cadillac (), is the luxury vehicle division (business), division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Its major markets are the United States, Canada and China; Cadillac models are ...

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

Chrysler FCA US, LLC, Trade name, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the "Big Three (automobile manufacturers), Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn H ...

, and Ford. Stahls purchases vehicles largely based on their degree of innovative engineering and their importance to the development of automobile design. The oldest car in the collection is an 1899 De Dion-Bouton tricycle, and the first one that Ted Stahl purchased is a 1930 Ford Model A Roadster Deluxe. Among the most prominent cars in the collection are a 1934 Duesenberg Model J, a

Tucker 48 The Tucker 48, commonly but incorrectly referred to as the Tucker Torpedo, was an Car, automobile conceived by Preston Tucker while in Ypsilanti, Michigan, and briefly produced in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, in 1948. Only 51 cars were made inclu ...

, and a handful of cars built for films, such as ''

The Great Race ''The Great Race'' is a 1965 American Technicolor epic slapstick comedy film directed by Blake Edwards, starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood, written by Arthur A. Ross (from a story by Edwards and Ross) and with music by Henr ...

,'' ''

How the Grinch Stole Christmas ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' is a children's Christmas book by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel written in rhymed verse with illustrations by the author. It follows the Grinch, a green cranky, solitary creature who attempts to thwart the pu ...

'', and ''

The Reivers ''The Reivers: A Reminiscence'', published in 1962, is the last novel by the American author William Faulkner. It was published a month before his death. The bestselling novel was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1963. Faulkner previou ...

.'' In 2021, the collection acquired a

Chrysler Turbine Car The Chrysler Turbine Car is an experimental two-door hardtop coupé, coupe powered by a gas turbine, turbine engine and was manufactured by Chrysler Corporation, Chrysler from 1963 to 1964. Italian design studio Carrozzeria Ghia constructed the ...

, one of only nine to survive and one of only two in a private collection (the other belonging to

Jay Leno James Douglas Muir Leno ( ; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, and writer. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Tonight Show'' from 1992 until 200 ...

). In addition to the cars, the collection also includes about 20 musical instruments, including a

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

theater pipe organ. There is a separate "music room" featuring orchestrions and other automated musical instruments. The collection is open to the public at no charge on Tuesday afternoons, the first Saturday of each month, and every Thursday excluding the third Thursday during the summer. Regular events at the collection include an annual Autos for Autism fundraiser, which benefits the Ted Lindsay Foundation, and a

Veterans Day Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed annually on November 11, for honoring military veterans of the United States Armed Forces. It coincides with holidays in several countries, i ...

open house.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.stahlsauto.com/
Chesterfield: Stahls Automotive Collection
on ''Destination Michigan'' (

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

) Private collections in the United States Automobile museums in Michigan Museums in Macomb County, Michigan