The Murphy - coolest little car museum you've never heard of

Last weekend, I visited the Murphy Auto Museum in Oxnard, California. Never knew about it, never heard of it before — and I’m in the business, remember…So what a pleasant surprise.

This little outfit exists just for fun and the love of cars. It’s a legit 501C3 non-profit org, and it populates its space in a most interesting manner. The Murphy has no paid employees, as everyone is a volunteer. The space is spare, and a little tight, but makes room for a small gifty/goody shop area, art gallery, and a train room currently under construction/remodel. Plus lots of cool petroliana, camping gear, vintage outboard motors, and period effects from days gone by.

This fabulous wood bodied boattailed Rolls belongs to Cleo and the late Carroll Shelby

The Museum owns a handful of cars that have been donated, forming the basis of its own small collection. Nearly all the rest of everything on display belongs to private owners/collectors. The space can semi comfortably hold around 40 cars, and again most that you’ll see belong to private owners who populate the museum gallery as an inexpensive storage solution.

Both of these Ferraris are privately owned machines on long term storage for an out of town owner

Secure Collector car storage space is always at a premium if you don’t have more than a 2-car garage, massive driveway, or acreage of some sort. The Murphy proves to be one answer, as it charges a modest price for car storage, and the side benefit is that visitors get to enjoy a wide variety of cars that the museum doesn’t have the wherewithal to buy or afford. Everybody wins. The building is secured and fire sprinklered so the cars are a lot safer than parking them outside at a U-Store kind of place.

Hey Bob — I’ll take the Big Boy combo please, with Blue Cheese on my salad

The real benefit to the visitor is that the vehicles on display will evolve and change in between visits. Hey — Jay Leno goes there, so if good enough for him, then good enough by me.

This fab ’58 Continental MkIII takes your breath away with its imposing presence, and 50s-tastic over-the-top design

Cool Stuff everywhere

Anyway, should you find yourself anywhere near the Ventura/Oxnard area just off Highway 101 in SoCal, make an hour and pay a visit. You’ll see some pretty great hardware — something for everyone.