Addendum to Wine Country RV
Estrella Warbirds Museum
The Holly Grail of Corvette's!
I wanted to add a nearby location to visit if you are in the area of Wine Country RV. About a half mile down the road from the park is the Estrella Warbirds Museum & Woodland Auto Display. This was the first time I have visited the museum although I have intended to many times. This time I went with a buddy of mine and had a great time! Not only do they have a great display of some older and some current fighter planes, there is also military trucks and transports, many of which you can walk into or look inside.
The museum is separated into various areas and buildings, so it's easy to go from one to the other and see different ?subjects? on display. The one I didn't expect to be so cool was the 3 buildings of the Woodland auto display. There you can see antique cars, old muscle cars, and even a great collection of Nascar racers and flat track mini's. The one that really floored me was the red 1954 Corvette.
We also had the good fortune of going on a slow day and had ?Mike?, a docent all to ourselves giving us a private tour and education of many of the cars there. Mike was a wealth of information, and when he started talking about the Corvette, we were riveted to his story.
I remember some time ago reading an article in a local news paper that had an article on an old Corvette that was found in a old barn somewhere that had been preserved from the elements. The story didn't have pictures though, so I read it and moved on. It turns out that this was the car in the article.
This car is the ?Holy Grail? of Corvette's because of it's condition. At the beginning of the story, Mike prompted us to look at the odometer. There proudly displayed on the shiny brand new looking instrument panel was the the analog odometer displaying 6.7 miles! The whole car is pristine, and even sits on the original rubber, and interior is flawless.
The story goes that a farmer in the Midwest bought the car and drove it home, 2 miles to his farm. He put it in his barn, and then painstakingly wrapped it like a Christmas present in layers of thick padding. There is sat undisturbed for 50 years. When the owner died, the family just wanting to dispose of the farm, put it all up for auction. The current owner, Richard Woodland, had attended the auction looking for any items of interest. Walking around the property with the auctioneer, they went into the dusty old barn. Starting to look under the layers of padding, the front of the car was visible, covered with about a inch of dust. The auctioneer believed it was just an old T-bird. Woodland immediately recognized the emblem on the front of the car, and talked the auctioneer into taking $50,000 for it on the spot without ever taking off the rest of the pads.
Woodland ordered a car transport and took it back to his restoration shop in Ca. A few days later he got a call to come to the shop to see the car. He was afraid he was going to find significant damage or rust requiring extensive restoration. Instead there sat the car as it is seen today. Woodland drove it the 4 miles to shop, where it wound up in is extensive collection.
Representatives from the Corvette Hall Of Fame in Kentucky have visited the car in Paso Robles, and have offered Woodland 5 million dollars for it. To his point Woodland has declined their offer.
So if you are in the area and are taking a break from wine tasting, the museum is a great way to spend an afternoon. Admission was $12, or $10 if you are 60 or over. Even if you are not a car nut, there is lots of stuff there to interest you. There is even a vintage 1929 ?REO Speedwagon Camper? on display. (Yep, that's where the music group ?Reo Speedwagon? got there name).
Here are a few pics to pique your interest.
Pic 1) The odometer of the 54' Corvette
Pic 2) The front view of the Vette
Pic 3) Rear view of Vette
PIc 4) Info plaque of Vette
Pic 5) Front of REO Speedwagon
Pic 6) Wagon front view
Pic 7) Inside roof view of Wagon
Pic 8) Inside rear view
Pic 9) Inside driver position
Pic 10) Info plaque of REO Speedwagon