Tampa Bay Automobile Museum

The Tampa Bay Automobile Museum is an automobile museum in Pinellas Park with about 19,000 square feet of gallery space. The collection displays historic cars from the 1920s and 1930s, including vehicles with front-wheel drive and rear-engine designs.

The museum was founded in 2005 and features a working reproduction of the French Fardier de Cugnot from 1770, widely recognized as the first self-propelled vehicle ever built. This reconstruction demonstrates the origins of automotive history and the path toward modern vehicle technology.

The collection features vehicles from manufacturers across France, Czechoslovakia, Germany, England, Northern Ireland, and the United States. This international mix shows how different countries pursued their own approaches to early car design.

All vehicles in the museum are in working condition and maintained by a restoration team that ensures each car can start and drive at any time. Plan to spend enough time examining the different vehicles and their technical features in detail.

The museum preserves a working replica of one of the oldest vehicles ever designed, which still runs in the display halls. This makes it a rare opportunity to witness historical technology not just on display but actually in motion.

Location: Florida

Inception: March 19, 2005

Website: http://tbauto.org

GPS coordinates: 27.85240,-82.67890

Latest update: December 12, 2025 07:56