Jenny King / Special to The Detroit News
Two years ago this customized 1939 Dodge successfully made the 2,500-mile Route 66 journey from Chicago to Santa Monica, California.
Museum celebrates Route 66 treasures
By Jenny King / Special to The Detroit News
Open seven years and owned by James Bozo Cordova, the spacious museum holds some 30 special cars, a gift shop, a refreshments area and countless memorabilia celebrating the automotive world.
"Actually, every car and truck in the museum is for sale," said Anna Cordova, who is takes charge of most aspects of the business, which is open seven days a week, year-'round.
James Cordova runs Bozo's Garage just across Route 66. Some of the customizing on vehicles in the museum is his handiwork.
A dented, bright-yellow 1950 DeSoto cab in front of the building appears to be waiting for a fare. Like the skeleton heads of longhorns, rusting car and truck bodies beside and behind the building add a certain desert charm to the site. A few are salvageable.
This battered 1950 Dodge taxi waits outside the Santa Rosa Route 66 Museum for a fare.
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In the museum, a handsome, updated 1939 Plymouth coupe was driven by its British owners along Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica. Calif., a couple of years ago. There's a photo album with snaps to prove it.
There are muscle cars, hot trucks, finned '50s specials, an aftermarket Mercedes-Benz Gazelle and an elegant-appearing 1931 Auburn red-on-black sedan.
The Route 66 museum has something for everyone -- even those with only a mild interest in cars. And surely one day a buyer for that dented DeSoto cab will show up and be delighted with the discovery.
The museum is just off exit 277 of Interstate 40 in New Mexico. It is a pleasant diversion from the endless desert where big rigs equal cars in numbers and mile-long freight trains on the horizon provide one of few interesting sights.
This mint-green 1974 AMC Gremlin X has a 5.0-liter V-8 punched from 304 to a 401-inch displacement under the hood.
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