Japan certainly doesn’t have a shortage of automotive museums. There’s the Toyota Automobile Museum in Aichi, the Mitsubishi Auto Gallery (also in Aichi), and the Fuji Motor Sports Museum in Shizuoka.
But nestled in the port area of Minato in Osaka is a small but substantial collection of vintage and classic cars. That place is the Glion Museum.
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Sure, it’s not as massive as some of the manufacturer-owned places, but the Glion Museum packs an eclectic and brilliantly curated lineup of classics behind its brick walls.
But before you even enter the main attraction, you first walk through a cobblestone road. There, the museum places a few of its cars on display to bring you back to days gone by.
On the day we went there, we were greeted by two slices of ‘30s and ‘40s Americana. The first one was a 1938 Hudson Custom Eight Touring Sedan, followed by a 1948 Buick Roadmaster Sedan.
Walking through that aisle made us feel like we wound back the clock about 80 years. It almost makes you want to dress up in period attire, too. That’s just the start of the immersive experience.
When we entered the lobby, we were greeted by a 1929 Austin Seven. If you watched Top Gear circa 2007, it was declared that it was the first mass-market car to ever feature modern controls. In short, it’s layout (steering, shifting, starting) is pretty much similar to cars today.
Once we entered the first of the main warehouses, there were loads of cars from the 1900s, from a 1905 Oldsmobile Curved Dash to a 1923 Ford Model T. Yes, cars over a century old are present here.
In fact, there were a variety of Model Ts on display there. Turns out, there were several variations of Tin Lizzy, one of which included an earlier 1911 model.
But if that’s a little too old for you, you can take a look at a few cars from the early ‘30s. Perhaps a a 1931 Dodge Coupe or a 1930 Chevrolet Universal might be more for your taste.
The second warehouse is home to ‘40s and ‘50s American cars. Present there was a 1941 Cadillac Series 61, a 1954 Chevrolet Bel Air, a 1968 Ford Mustang, and a 1969 Corvette convertible.
But if there’s one thing that caught our attention there, it was a motorcycle. It was a 1947 Indian Chief 1200 Sidecar, and you don’t have to be a motorcycle enthusiast to appreciate its curves and lines.
Up next was all about European cars. From Continental sports cars, English luxury land yachts, and everyman cars, it was all there for us to see.
It’s not everyday one gets to see an Alpine A110 and a Ferrari 246GT next to each other. It was a sight to see, and we spent quite a while soaking it all in.
If royalty is more your thing, there was a solid collection of Rolls-Royce Phantoms on display. The Phantom V and Phantom VI were as regal and majestic as you’d expect.
English motor cars were well represented in that hall. There was a Jaguar XK120 and a Jaguar Mark II, something Jag fans will surely appreciate. Along with that was a Vanden Plas Princess 1300 and a trio of classic MG roadsters.
Where are the Japanese cars, you ask? They’re housed in the final hall, and boy it was a place to be. For starters, it was great seeing a Mazda Cosmo Sport there, the car that kicked of the brand’s love affair with Wankel rotary engines. And while we’re on the subject of Mazda, the company’s first executive sedan, the Luce, proudly showed its Giorgetto Guigiaro lines in the museum.
Also there was a Prince Skyline Coupe and an incredibly rare Prince Skyline Convertible. The second-generation Prince Skyline sedan was there, too. It’s that car that would serve as the transition to what would later become the Nissan Skyline.
Honda only had one car on display, but it was an epic one, nonetheless. It was none other than the S600, the company’s second series production car and its first sports roadster.
Of course, Toyota was there too. It wouldn’t be a Japanese car museum without them. So, what did the world’s largest automaker bring to the party? There was a late model first-generation Celica and, ehem, a pair of 2000GTs. It was one heck of a way to cap off the quick tour.
Truth be told, you can finish looking at all the cars in about 20 minutes. But the thing is, you’ll best enjoy it if you take a closer look at all the cars and appreciate the finer details. Do that and you’ll leave the museum with a greater appreciation of classic cars.
Sure, newer cars are better in many aspects, but one can’t deny that there’s something soulful about vintage machinery. In that aspect at least, you can say they don’t make ‘em like they used to.
Oh, and did we mention you can book the place as a wedding venue too? You can also get your prenup photo shoot here too. What a place to tie the knot, we say.
More photos of Glion Museum:
