HICKORY CORNERS, MI. – Thanks to an ever-expanding footprint and car show schedule, enthusiasts from across the Midwest have found a fan favorite with the Gilmore Car Museum, located between Kalamazoo and Battle Creek in western Michigan, just south of Grand Rapids. While we often visit there to attend some of the many events the museum hosts each year, one of the largest that takes place on the museum’s historic 90-acre campus is the Red Barns Spectacular, a big car show and swap meet held every August.
Our roving photographer, Ford Marketing retiree and super-enthusiast Bill Cook, drove out from his home in suburban Detroit to attend the 2025 edition of the Red Barns Spectacular Show at the Gilmore, and offered this report:
“I was out the door at 5:45 a.m. for a Saturday road trip, headed to the Gilmore Car Museum for their annual Red Barns Spectacular show. It’s a 300-mile round trip for me that’s always worth it. This was my seventh visit to the Gilmore’s Red Barns Spectacular show over the last 11 years. Good weather, big turnout, cool rides and great people! (I did not spend much time inside the various barns or main museum, as it’s better to do that when fewer people are there.)”
The Gilmore Car Museum https://gilmorecarmuseum.org/ is open year-round and holds regular events. It’s dubbed “North America’s Largest Auto Museum,” with more than 400 vehicles on display and over 190,000 square feet of combined exhibit space. The museum’s sprawling countryside campus is one of the finest in the U.S. and features numerous vintage red barns and other structures, including a restored and fully functioning 1941 Silk City Diner, a recreated 1930’s Shell Gas Station, and more than a half-dozen partner museums – and much more.
The Red Barns Spectacular started in 1981 and is reserved for vehicles at least 25 years old. This time we chose more of the classic Fords over the Mustangs to show you from the more than 100 pictures that Bill sent us for our photo gallery below:
FORDRACING.COM PHOTOS / COURTESY BILL COOK
