Originally Posted by
MikeyinBrooklyn
There are a million reasons why Autorama was a failure, a great many of which wouldn't be applicable to Detroit. Among them: it was in Flint, not Detroit. Millions more people live in or nearer Detroit than Flint, and infinitely more people visit, for business or pleasure. Detroit also has many other museums, entertainment venues, hotels, etc. Most travelling visitors to an auto destination will also want to do other things on their trip, too. Detroit clearly has much more to do than Flint. Also, while Flint is GM's birthplace, Detroit has the greatest density of auto-related people, places and things in the world. Detroit will also have a lot more sources for donations [[of both money and artifacts, including cars) than Flint did.
Autorama was also a cheeseball name. Americans love cars. They also love old cars, high technology vehicles, and history. We could definitely put those elements together into a compelling museum.
I don't think a "Detroit Auto Museum" or whatever it would be called should be government funded. Money is already kind of tight in these parts. Also, government money always comes with strings attached. That could drown the baby museum before it has a chance to become anything. It should be a non-profit, and vigorously fundraise, especially from the auto industry [[including suppliers, dealers, advertisers, etc). Of course, they would also need to solicit people to give or long-term loan classic cars and other artifacts that are now in private hands. Where the government could be a help is in helping to organize transit & parking, and making the land acquisition and permitting fast and easy.