Filed under: Concept Cars, Motorsports, Time Warp, GM
General Motors partially opens Heritage Center to the public
One of the most amazing collections of historic cars anywhere is also one that very few people have ever seen. Since it's inception, the General Motors Heritage Center has never been open to the public. The center has a collection of nearly 800 cars of which about 200 are typically on display at any given time while others are loaned out to other museums or car shows. The facility includes 15,000 feet of racks filled with millions of pages of corporate archives documenting the first century of the company's history. The facility has been used for company meetings and special events occasionally opens to friends and family of employees and now GM is partially opening the doors to the Heritage Center. However, it won't be open to just anyone who wanders up to the front door of the non-descript building in a Sterling Heights MI business park. GM is making the facility available for car clubs and groups of 20 or more people. If you've got an event that you would like to hold at the Heritage Center send an email to the center for more information at gmhc -at- gm.com.
Check our previous post on the General Motors Heritage Collection here.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
JB 6:57PM (5/20/2008)
This is good news. I've been there, a long time ago, with a local Detroit car club. I was a kid, but it was cool to see the Corvettes and other cars.
Funny side story. Basically, someone came from GM and opened the doors for us, from what I could see, and left. So naturally we wandered around, and some of us had cameras, too. Which was fine, because we wanted pics of the concept cars from the past. Only not everything was old, as there was a clay model of what would become GM's dustbuster minivans, under a tarp that someone had peeked under. So of course a bunch of people started taking pics of that, maybe thinking to send to car magazines. Eventually, someone came back, and covered the clay up, and moved it to the rear of the space. I don't recall the club being invited back, either.
This was pre-internet, so there was no easy way to distribute the pics other than mailing to car mags.
It was a fun day though.
Reply
Kris 7:16PM (5/20/2008)
If any CC in MI is interested in going to this, I will gladly 'join' your club for the day so that I may go....no, seriously! Im in Windsor and work for GM and would love to attend...email me at kris(dot)creed(at)gusrevenberg(dot)com please!
Reply
codie 10:29PM (5/20/2008)
Ah yes, the heritage of atrocious and embarrassing design. Designed by old men for big fat people because that's what they like stuffed down their throat.
Reply
Matt Keller 10:35PM (5/20/2008)
In before lowest ranked.
Martman 12:38PM (5/21/2008)
GM is a part of the north american history. their trucks and cars helped build the continent. A true auto enthusiast would appriciate the GM site for what it is, a part of our history.
steveo391 10:31PM (5/20/2008)
Is that a mid-engined 'vette?
Reply
Sam Abuelsamid 10:40PM (5/20/2008)
The blue car in the photo is the CERV III. It was built in the late 80s using the lotus designed LT5 from the ZR-1 and was a research vehicle used to test all manner of active systems including active suspension, all wheel drive, all wheel steering etc.
SPG 11:48PM (5/20/2008)
Wow would I love to go to the Heritage Center.
Or to see any car companies collection like this.
That would be amazing.
Ford and Lotus would be a little less amazing, still worth it but less amazing.
As they both auctioned off much of their protoypes and such within the last ten years or so.
Reply
toronado455 2:13AM (5/21/2008)
I don't understand why any car company would auction off their one-of-a-kind prototypes and concept cars rather than keeping them for posterity.
catgirlshyla 4:05AM (5/21/2008)
The Nissan One is much, MUCH better.
Reply
RMc 9:26AM (5/21/2008)
If I want to see a junkyard, I have many to choose from that are a shorter drive than Sterling Heights, Michigan! Zing!
Reply