[Auto] One of the world's most comprehensive muscle car collections is hidden in Salem, Oregon

[FazzNoth]

Editor's note: Due to overwhelming response, The Brothers Collection is no longer accepting tour reservation requests.

Imagine the biggest and best car show you’ve ever been to, or heard of, and multiply that by size and rarity.

Visualize row after row of impeccably restored Camaros, Chevelles, Corvettes, 'Cudas, GTOs and Mustangs, plus entire sections dedicated to Ferraris and Shelby Cobras.

Now picture them displayed in showroom quality on mirrored turntables, tilted platforms and three-high racks, a kaleidoscope of color and shine.

That place exists, and not just in the wildest dreams of car buffs, but right here in Salem.

A local warehouse turned museum is home to the jaw-dropping private collection that is open only to private group tours by reservation, with all proceeds going to charity.

The Brothers Collection is a collection of rare cars on display in a Salem museum that is open to private group tours by reservation only. A Dodge Charger Super Bee, one of nine with a 426 Hemi four-speed, is in the foreground. 

 

Some 355 cars are meticulously exhibited in the 117,000-square-foot space decorated with original neon car signs and other automobile memorabilia.

All of the cars are rare and valuable. Some are prototypes or one-offs, single cars produced by an automaker. Some are worth multi-millions of dollars.

It’s a collection that could make even Jay Leno drool.

"It boggles my mind what’s here," said Doug Nelson, board chairman of the Northwest Vintage Car & Motorcycle Museum, who recently reserved a tour for its members.

 

These cars, plus another 250 or so in storage, make up The Brothers Collection.

While the museum may be one of the best-kept secrets in Salem, that name is like royalty in the vintage car hobby and industry.

A video series featuring a muscle car of the week from the collection dates to 2013 with more than 300 episodes, many of them on YouTube.

The Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals, a renowned indoor event held annually in Illinois, was staged virtually at the museum in November 2020 because of the pandemic, giving an expanded audience a behind-the-scenes look at The Brothers Collection.

The museum opened for its first private tour around the same time.

An estimated 2,170 people have since seen the collection, all making a pinky promise to not reveal who the owners are and where the museum is located because of privacy and security concerns.

Mystery owners
The owners of The Brothers Collection are brothers, that much we can confirm. But they value their privacy almost as much as their cars.

"It's not about them, it's about the cars," said Doug Dwyer, who was on-site for the most recent private tour. "That's how they like it. That's how they want to keep it."

Dwyer has worked for the brothers for 13 years. He is one of two paid employees for the museum and wears many hats, including spokesman, caretaker and mechanic.

He described the brothers as private businessmen with Salem roots and said they were talking about opening a museum when he was hired in 2009.

A 1971 Dodge Charger Super Bee WM23R with a 426 Hemi 4-speed is believed to be one of nine with a sunroof, and it's on display in a car museum in Salem.

 

The brothers acquired the warehouse in 2016 to house their growing collection. Significant rehabilitation was done on the building, including seismic upgrades.

Creating a proper environment for storing the cars was paramount because protecting the paint and shine on the outside is as important as preserving what's under the hood.

One visitor was impressed that he didn't see a speck of dust, which brings up the question, 'Who keeps the cars so polished?'

"This building is very sealed," Dwyer said, "so they don't need that much cleaning that often."

Heart of the collection
Classic cars from the 1940s and '50s are scarce in The Brothers Collection, a contention for some visitors. But substantial sections of Corvettes, Cobras, Ferraris and other sports cars and exotics provide more than enough variety for most.

The heart of the collection, though, is from 1964 to 1971, the golden age of muscle cars.

Muscle cars were American-made with powerful engines designed for high-performance driving. Pontiac set the standard with its 1964 GTO, other manufacturers followed, and muscle cars became mainstream until federal safety and emissions rules and soaring gas prices put the brakes on the era. 

The Brothers Collection is considered the most comprehensive muscle car collection in the country — if not the world — with Hemis and Yenkos as far as the eye can see.

Narrowing down a list of the most noteworthy is a futile exercise. They're all noteworthy.

 

 

https://eu.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2022/01/29/brothers-collection-oregon-muscle-cars-camaro-ferrari-shelby-gto-corvette-mustang/9210885002/