AACA Museum & HVA team up for exhibit

Hershey, PA - The AACA Museum, Inc. will be partnering with the Historic Vehicle Association (HVA) to curate an ongoing, rotating exhibit within the Museum.

"Dedicated to preserving and sharing America's automotive heritage, the Historic Vehicle Association (HVA) is pleased to partner with the AACA Museum, Inc. to curate a rotating exhibit of National Historic Vehicle Register vehicles to share with its visitors," said Mark Gessler, President of the HVA. In 2014, the HVA established the National Historic Vehicle Register in partnership with the U.S. Department of the Interior, Heritage Documentation Programs and Library of Congress to document historically significant automobiles in America's past. For more information, please visit: historicvehicle.org

This first display is a 1933 Graham Blue Streak 8 Sedan on loan from The NB Center for American Automotive Heritage. Earlier this year, this Graham was the 19th vehicle inducted into the National Historic Vehicle Register in a ceremony at the Concours d'Elegance of America near Detroit. The Graham Blue Streak is likely best known for its streamlined body design by chief designer Amos Northup and will be on view through December 31, 2017.

"Discovering new vehicles and artifacts is what keeps visitor's coming back again and again" stated AACA Museum Inc. Executive Director Jeff Bliemeister. "This new curated display with the HVA will assist us in sharing some unique and significant automobiles with our visitors," continued Bliemeister.

Northup and the Graham Brothers - Historical content provided by HVA

Brothers Robert, Joseph, and Ray Graham began their automobile business with the acquisition of Paige-Detroit in 1927. The launch of the Graham-Paige automobile in 1928 was a huge success. The company sold over 70,000 cars; the second highest figure for a new company to that point in time.

By 1930, the nation was in the depth of the great depression but the Graham brothers were optimistic that things would turn around. They decided to invest heavily in a new car that would be so far ahead of others that it would sell when nothing else could.

That car would be the 1932 Graham Blue Streak 8 Sedan. It was a new design from the ground up. The chassis was engineered to have the axle pass through instead of under the rear chassis. This made the car lower and wider which improved handling. The eight-cylinder engine with a high compression aluminum head produced 95 horsepower and made the car fast.

The body designed by Amos Northup was more elegant and streamlined than anything else on the road. For the first time, a production car had a grille slopped back, the fenders and sides (or valances) which were immediately imitated, and it was the first production car to use pearl-essence paint using fish-scales to create a metallic-like finish. The frame was concealed on all sides. The headlights were painted and not fully chromed to harmoniously blend with the overall design.

About AACA Museum, Inc.

The AACA Museum, Inc., a Smithsonian Affiliate, displays beautifully restored automobiles, buses and motorcycles in unique life-like scenes representing the 1890s - 1980s in a cross-country journey from New York to San Francisco. This Museum, a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization, is known to be one of the largest automotive museums. Special exhibits change several times a year and focus on a variety of eras and types of vehicles. The AACA Museum is home to the Cammack Tucker Collection; the World's largest and most prestigious permanent collection of Tucker Automobiles and related artifacts. The Museum is in South Hanover Township, located just off Route 39, one mile west of Hersheypark Drive, Hershey, Pennsylvania. Regular admission $12, seniors age 61 and older $11, juniors age 4-12 $9, children age 3 and under, AACA Museum, Inc. Members and AACA Members are FREE. Blue Star Museum families are FREE from Memorial Day - Labor Day. The Museum is open daily from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. October 5 & 6 there will be extended hours until 9:00 PM. For further information, please call 717-566-7100 or visit www.AACAMuseum.org.