The Larz Anderson Auto Museum is home to "Americas oldest car collection". Located on the grounds of Larz Anderson Park in Brookline, Massachusetts you will find out there is a lot to discover with your Boston Airport car rental. The Larz Anderson Automobile Museum's primary goal is its continued support of the collector car community through educational outreach and the preservation of their permanent collection of early automobiles. The museum is a non-profit educational institution with community events, lectures, children's programs, walking tours of the park, and an ever-changing series of exhibits on motor vehicles and the automobile's impact on society and culture.

A little history

The collection was begun by Larz Anderson and Isabel Weld Perkins soon after they married. In 1899 they purchased a true "horseless carriage" made by the Winton Motor Carriage Company. In the following decades, the Andersons purchased at least thirty-two new motorcars. Their collection also included twenty-four horse-drawn carriages and six sleighs. As their cars became obsolete, the Andersons retired them to the Carriage House of their 64 acre estate in Greater Boston. By 1927, the Andersons opened the Carriage House for tours of their vehicles. When Isabel Anderson died in 1948, she bequeathed her entire Brookline estate (including mansion, carriage house, land and automobiles) to the Town of Brookline. She stipulated in her will that the motorcar collection be known as the "Larz Anderson Collection.

The Carriage House

The Carriage House which the museum occupies was designed by noted Boston architect Edmund M. Wheelwright and completed in 1889. Gigantic in scale, the building stored carriages, housed horses, and even served as home to stable staff who lived on the upper floor. Soon after the Andersons began collecting automobiles, they added a garage on the basement level for vehicle repairs.

Learning something new

When you travel with your Boston Airport car rental to the Larz Anderson Automobile get ready to discover several new facts. The Larz Anderson Auto Museum provides an exciting educational experience for adults and children alike. Through text, video, and original artifacts, the museum is able to provide an understanding of the automobile age and how it has changed they society. The Larz Anderson Automobile Museum also offers unique guided tours and lesson plans for various age groups. Tours can be custom tailored to the specific interests of your group when you travel with your Boston airport car rental.

Major Events

The Larz Anderson Automobile Museum sponsors a variety of activities throughout the year that attract enthusiasts of specific motor vehicles from throughout the Northeastern United States, may of whom arrive in their own rare vehicles to a gathering of like-minded hobbyists. Past events have included days featuring the American V8's, British cars, Cadillac LaSalles, Camaros and Firebirds, Corvettes, German cars, hot rods, Italian cars, Japanese motorcycles, Mercedes-Benz, Miatas, microcars & mincars, Packards and other extinct autos, Porsches and Studebakers.

The museum also attracts visitors with lectures on various subjects relating to transportation or local history, as well as musical entertainment in "The Carriage House Concert Series".

Library and Archives

The Library and Archives at Larz Anderson Auto Museum are devoted to materials relating automobile, racing and motor transportation history. There are also some documents related to carriages, motorcycles and bicycles. The facility also houses an extensive archival holding of Packard Motor Company materials.The library is a repository for information related to the state and to the Andersons themselves, including a collection of books, plays, and volumes of poetry authored by Isabel Anderson.

Before you go?

For more information when you travel with your Boston Airport car rental to Larz Anderson Automobile Museum check out their official website at www.larzanderson.org