So there's a fairly large auto museum in my area that is looking for 80's vehicles for an upcoming exhibit next year (will run approx 1 year). I'm actually considering it, and wondering if anyone else has done this before. What was your experience, was it positive/negative, would you do it again?

 

It would be pretty cool to see your car on display.

Not sure I'd do it though. It depends on how they would plan on maintaining it. I think one of the most important things to do to keep an old car in shape is to regularly drive it. I wouldn't want my car just sitting idle for a year. And with me, I'd probably lose sleep thinking of all those people walking by and putting their hands on it.

 

where in upstate NY are you? just wondering what museum will have this exhibit as it sounds pretty cool.

 

I think it's a really cool idea! If I had an original or near-original car from that era I'd consider doing something similar.

In terms of prepping the car for the exhibit, I'd do the standard long term storage prep. Get the fuel tank as full as possible, put some stabilizer in there. Assuming they're not going to put a tender on the car, remove the good battery and put one you don't care about in there (or even some sort of mockup battery). Change the oil, swap on some tires you don't care about (they might go out of round after a year sitting), that sort of thing. Of course, it all depends on how they're handling the car. If they're going to take it for a short drive or start it once a month vs. just letting it sit for a year, that would influence the prep process.

Also check your insurance! Make sure you have coverage if some knucklehead lets their kids climb all over the car. Take lots of "before" pictures so you can call out dings/scratches/other damage. The museum may have additional insurance, but I wouldn't rely on that - get your own and make sure the insurance company understands what you're trying to do with that coverage.

If you do make it in the exhibit it would be cool to see some pictures!

 

I'm in central NY, the museum in question is: https://classiccarmuseum.org

If you haven't been there, it's 100% worth the trip imo.

 

I would think they'd want the car as original as possible.

 

Hand my one-owner, all-original, relatively-low-mileage IROC over to strangers for a year, to be viewed (and possibly messed-with) by dozens/hundreds of other strangers, all the while the car sitting unstarted/driven all that time? And for what? I see no positives and many potential negatives in such a scenario.

No thanks.