The Pontiac Transportation Museum

Last week, I was lucky to visit the Pontiac Transportation Museum. This is a non-profit museum located in Pontiac, Michigan. It celebrates over 150 years of Pontiac-based automotive history. The museum focus is on all types of wheeled transportation that the community of Pontiac was involved in designing or building. Vehicles in the museum range from 19th century horse-drawn carriages to cars and trucks from Pontiac Motor Division and GMC Truck and Coach.

I went to the museum with my friend, Bill Gogola. Bill is a long-time car buddy and owner of the 1979 Camaro Z28 from the article, 1979 Camaro Z28 Refresh in 11 Days.  Our shared love of cars is decades old, so this visit was fun to do together.

Museum Background

The museum opened to the public in May 2024. It occupies 12,500 square feet of former elementary school building in Pontiac, Michigan.  Future phases will occupy the remainder of the old school, expanding the exhibit space to 55,000 square feet.

A local Pontiac resident donated the facility for use as a museum.  He wanted it to tell the story of how the Pontiac region became a powerhouse of transportation manufacturing.  General Motors operated several engineering and manufacturing facilities in the city, so GM products are heavily featured.  Sadly, GM has closed or demolished most of them by now, leaving the museum to preserve that history.

Vehicles In The Main Museum

As car guys, we were interested in the 1960s-1980s cars and trucks in the museum. Display vehicles were either donated or lent to the museum, while PTM operations own the remainder.

The exhibit presents a small sample of the vehicles from the main museum below. There were, however, a couple of interesting engineering prototypes. Those oddball cars are very interesting to me!

This 1986 Fiero GT 2+2 concept was interesting, but ill-fated as the Fiero production ended after the 1988 model year.  This car’s wheelbase and space frame were extended 30 inches to accommodate a rear seat.  

By far, my favorite vehicle was this 1973 Pontiac LeMans station wagon that Pontiac engineering crafted into a Grand Am wagon.  It featured a Grand Am front end, functional NACA hood vents, a Ram Air system and a 455 V8.  It looked great!

The Back Room

When Bill and I entered the museum, we noticed double doors with a small window off to the side. We tried to peek in there, but the space behind the doors was very dark.  We asked if we could go back there, but the guy at the desk seemed unwilling.

After we finished the normal tour, we once again asked if we could see anything behind the mystery doors.  The attendant begrudgingly agreed to take us back there.

The back room was actually the remaining part of the elementary school.  It may have been classrooms at one time, with the main library in the lower level.  We saw some really unique cars and trucks in the back room, a couple of former concept cars and rusted prototypes.  I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Final Thoughts

The cars in the main museum were very cool, however, the others in the back room were even more exciting.  Perhaps it was the dimly lit area that added to the mystery and intrigue. You could sense the secret story each car told–almost like a prisoner calling to be let out of his cell.

The Pontiac Transportation Museum is located just 18 miles from my house, so I do not know why it took me this long to visit it.  I plan to go back with another friend soon.  If you are in the metro Detroit area and looking for a cool car museum, be sure to check it out.  They are only open Thursdays through Sundays, so plan accordingly.