Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, known for its elegant French cars, to close
Rare vehicles with smooth curves and bold colors chronicling French automotive history stand arrayed among early 1900s art and décor in Oxnard's Mullin Automotive Museum.
The grandeur of the collection gives guests the opportunity to step into a European time capsule without leaving modern day Ventura County.
But car enthusiasts have mere weeks to check out the one-of-a-kind 20th century French vehicles on display.
Opened in 2010, the museum will close Feb. 10 as a result of the death of cofounder Peter Mullin in September, the museum announced last week.
Dozens of people took advantage of the museum's last days to admire the collection on Saturday. The site boasts over 60 European cars from the 1900s, according to the Mullin website. The selection also includes carriages dating back to the 19th century.
Oxnard Mayor John Zaragoza mourned the loss of Mullin and soon the museum on Monday, noting their significance to automotive history.
“We’re an automobile society and museums are those entities that really keep us abreast of what happened in the past,” he said. Museum officials declined to comment on the closure.
However, Santa Monica-based auction house Gooding & Company will sell 20 items from the collection in February and March, ranging from an estimated $50,000 to $800,000.
Four cars will also be donated to the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, Mullin Museum staff said in a news release. The 1937 Talbot-Lago T150 CS “Teardrop” and 1938 Hispano Suiza H6B Dubonnet Xenia are two of the vehicles making the move to LA.
The Oxnard museum was known for its art deco design and housed over 47,000 square feet of exhibit space. In addition to the vehicles, the gallery includes sculptures, artifacts, a roof top garden and theater.
“Sharing these ‘rolling sculptures’ and beautiful art with others was Peter’s truest passion, and the museum helped bring that to life,” said cofounder Merle Mullin, museum director and Peter Mullin's widow, said in the release.
For the last 25 years, Peter Mullin entered and drove cars from his collection in races and rallies throughout the country and world.
Oxnard's other museum to cars, the Murphy Auto Museum, which displays classic, vintage and antique American cars, continues to host guests, according to its social media pages.
Brian J. Varela covers Oxnard, Port Hueneme and Camarillo. He can be reached at brian.varela@vcstar.com or at 805-477-8014. You can also find him on Twitter @BrianVarela805.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Oxnard's Mullin Automotive Museum to close
