It's not millennials or Gen Z losing interest. There are many more millennials and zoomers interested in cars/trains/planes/boats than you think. The problem is boomers running museums often have smug attitudes about how things should be run - and how bad young people are, which drives them off from making an effort.

Topic drift but I gotta say something about this.... We see a lot of comments in a similar vein on this forum so I have to assume it's true. If so, send us your Millennials and Zoomers. We're a comparatively tiny outfit and we do have our fair share of boomer old farts, this poster included (though I generally don't think I am, the wife keeps reminding that I ain't no spring chicken), but we welcome with open arms anyone that wants to work and learn with us. We'll listen to your ideas and likely learn something from you as well in return. Our team consists of rail fans to retired career railroaders and we're all a friendly bunch. We want to pass down our knowledge and history to the next caretakers as we continue transitioning our focus to preserving rusted hulks and ancient buildings from the excursion operator we once were. So come on down. We'd be happy to have you.

That's our attitude on the younger generations. If not yours, you might consider changing it.

Agreed, and our boomers are very happy to have younger people join up and pitch in, especially since they're not getting any younger and we definitely need new blood to keep things going! (Okay, we're not really a museum, but it still applies to any organization involved in preservation and/or restoration.) Mr. Kapuscinski also has hit the nail dead on, and we'd all do well to follow his advice.

I think the biggest mistake we all make when dealing with other people (and especially younger people) is to automatically pigeonhole them into one or more categories and forget that they are individuals who aren't necessarily carbon copies of others in their generation (or whatever group or category we lump them into). That mistake has been made literally for thousands of years by far too many humans, and it's a safe bet that what you say about millennials and others who aren't of your own generation has been said about your generation too. I've dealt with folks from all walks of life, and I can say with certainty that there are just as many "snowflakes" among baby boomers as there are among millennials; just because they're older and are whining and moaning about a different set of topics doesn't mean they're any more likely to get off their butts and actually do something than the younger 'uns, after all! Just treat others as the individuals that they are and give them the chance to prove to you that they are better than you think, rather than plugging them into one or more categories based on superficial nonsense (especially when you don't even know the person or persons in the first place!).

Locally, our organized shows tend to have an expansive number of categories for production cars and trucks. The guys that have a harder time are those with commercial or military vehicles. Our museum usually just goes to exhibit, since there really is no category for buses. Our buses are popular with attendees as they're usually the only vehicle that you're actually encouraged to touch, much less go inside. Want to get a picture of your kid sitting in the driver's seat? Go right ahead.

There's also something to be said for museums that are privately endowed but operated for the public. Sometimes things work out for those museums better than the non-profit museums. One such museum is the Hall of Flame Museum, fittingly located in Phoenix. It is a private museum that is open to the public and houses the largest private fire apparatus collection in the world. The museum is quite interesting, having examples of fire apparatus dating back to the 1700s and associated items. It has regular museum hours and operates pretty much like any other museum (hosting birthday parties and special events). Every motorized engine on the property runs and they have three parade engines that appear during the Fiesta Bowl events.

Tucson has a respectable facility at the Franklin Auto Museum. The Franklin museum is of interest to students of early American automobiles as it has the largest collection of Franklin automobiles and the company records. It is open to the public during the main tourist season-October to March and closed the rest of the year except by appointment. Due to limited space, some autos in their collection are stored and others displayed elsewhere-our museum has their 1909 REO touring car. They do alright as far as attendance goes, but aerospace is the big museum attraction here.

Something that I noticed that hasn't been touched on all that much is the idea of interactivity. When it comes to auto museums, very few have something that one can actively engage with. Of the ones I've been to, only one (America's Car Museum in Tacoma) had any sort of interactive area. At that museum (a fine auto museum if you ask me), they had simulators and a handful of cars (I recall being able to climb into something rather large from the late 1920s, a Pierce-Arrow or something of that nature) that you could actually climb into and get in. Most museums just seem to have cars tucked into roped off areas that essentially limit one to just being able to view the vehicles from a two foot (or more) distance.

On the contrary, rail museums almost usually have something that visitors can climb onto/into to look at and inspect. A number go further and have operating equipment. How many auto museums take out their cars and give visitors rides? Not many I'd imagine.

You've hit on something critical.

Who is the biggest public spokesperson for the car-collecting/restoration hobby?

Not Barrett-Jackson or Mecum Auctions.
Not Hemmings Motor News.
Not the old Harrah's collection.

Jay Leno's Garage.

He maintains a collection of 136 cars and 90 motorcycles (last count I heard) where his intention is that he can grab the keys to anything impulse stokes him to drive that morning, and he drives/rides it. There may be a few pieces too precious to drive daily, under restoration by a staff, or not street legal, but it's an OPERATING collection. And he, notoriously, is prone to "spontaneously" showing up at collector car events and shows in one of his cars (and usually with a camera crew in tow, it seems--he's not dumb).

Now, true, he's "monetizing" both his hobby and his status with more TV/web programs, magazine columns, etc. But the absolute closest we could have to this in our field would be Age of Steam Roundhouse or the old Steamtown--that is, if you doubled or tripled the collection with "crown jewels" and had everything operable.

I don't think you would have to double or triple the number of "crown jewels."

All you would need would be for everything to be operable!!

Of course, more engines are always nicer, with the caveat that you be able to pay for them!--and a place for them to run.

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Talk to a young man couple weeks ago about rust bleeding through a 57 Chevy wagon that was at his shop. I know this guy. I said to him Isn't that awful? He said I couldn't care less about cars like these I would rather have a muscle car.. It's very difficult today for a young person to restore an old car because the cost factor also.Things always change, my heart doesn't exactly sing when I see a model T. I've been driving the same Avanti for the last 32 years ,so Phil if you're in the neighborhood. I would be happy to take you for spin.

The Owl’s Head Transportation Museum here in Maine. They fly WW-1 airplanes, give free Model T Ford rides, drive most of the cars and motorcycles on display and have interactive things for kids to do.

Keith