Tupelo Automobile Museum

The History

Establishing the Tupelo Automobile Museum was a 28 year process. It began when founder Frank Spain acquired his first antique car in 1974. Spain and his good friend, museum curator, Max Berryhill, spent the next many years researching, finding and acquiring the 150 rare automobiles in the collection. Cars were gathered from all over North America and Europe.

Until the late 1990’s the vehicles were stored at various locations throughout the United States. Spain and Berryhill desired to develop a museum so the public could enjoy and learn from the collection. Spain’s hometown of Tupelo, Mississippi rallied support for the museum. With the help of the Tupelo Convention and Visitors Bureau and Tupelo Mayor Larry Otis, placing the museum in Tupelo became a reality.

The Tupelo Automobile Museum opened on December 7, 2002 and was designated the official State of Mississippi automobile museum in the spring of 2003.