Business Spotlight: Audrain Automobile Museum
No one can deny that this has been a strange year in Rhode Island. However, as businesses begin to slowly open back up, it’s time to start thinking about all the ways you’d like to explore our beautiful state once again. We highly recommend checking out the Audrain Automobile Museum. Even if you’re not into cars when you arrive, you almost certainly will be when you leave. Walking into the 1903 Florentine Renaissance building that houses the Audrain Automobile Museum in downtown Newport sets the tone for their amazing antique collection.
“I am thrilled and we are so grateful to be able to share Nick Begovich’s wonderful and historic cars with our visitors here in Newport, and through our digital initiatives with the world.” said Audrain CEO, Donald Osborne in a statement. He continued, “The collection includes some of the most important, rare and desirable cars in the world and together with other cars which our Museum exhibits, including the 1907 Renault 35/45 ‘Vanderbilt’ racer, the Schumacher/Irvine 1997 Ferrari F310B F1 car, the 1927 Isotta Fraschini 8AS Fleetwood Roadster, 1901 Winton Runabout, 1948 Tucker to name a few, allows us to make the stories tell in our exhibitions and events even more compelling.”
Changing exhibits often, with multiple efforts to involve not only the local community but also the larger online world. The latest exhibit, “Shining Bright,” is a history of auto lighting. That exhibit will be up only until Aug. 9, and it will be replaced on Aug. 15 by “From the Racetrack to the Opera: Marques That Did It All.” The reason Audrain needs to rotate shows quickly is that the exhibit space can host only about 20 cars.
Starting Nov. 21, Mr. Osborne will be able to showcase his model collection in a show called “Small Wonders: Mini, Micro, Pedal and Toy Cars.” Newport is not usually thought of as an automotive town, but it has some history. Willie K. Vanderbilt II raced his Daimler Phoenix (a $10,000 purchase) around Ocean Drive at the turn of the 20th century, and when that earned some neighborhood blowback he and his friends organized an actual race, held at the Aquidneck Park horse racing track in Newport on Sept. 6, 1900. John Jacob Astor was a participant. From those humble beginnings grew the Vanderbilt Cup events on Long Island, which awarded the first significant trophy in American auto racing.
In support of local businesses throughout the state of Rhode Island, Gustave White Sotheby’s International Realty’s has leveraged the use of their 3D Matterport imaging system, to give the general public an insider’s view into Audrain Automobile Museum current exhibit - Located at 222 Bellevue Ave, Newport, RI 02840. For additional museum updates, and upcoming event information, follow along on Instagram HERE.
You can also join CEO, Donald Osborne as he brings you on a tour through our most recent exhibition, Shining Bright: Advances in Automotive Lighting and previews of our upcoming exhibitions on YouTube - WATCH HERE.