Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum, Cleveland

The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum, located in Cleveland, is a transportation museum dedicated to showcasing the rich history of cars and aircraft. As part of the Western Reserve Historical Society's Cleveland History Center in University Circle, the museum's collection boasts around 170 automobiles and a variety of aviation-related artifacts.

Founded in 1965 by Frederick C. Crawford, a key figure in the automotive industry and former chairman of TRW, the museum began as the Thompson Products Auto Album. Crawford’s passion for preserving automotive history stemmed from his belief that many historic machines were being unnecessarily scrapped. He felt it was crucial to save these items for future generations, leading to the establishment of one of the most comprehensive collections of its kind in the region.

The museum's automotive collection includes vehicles from an 1897 Panhard et Levassor to the first production 1981 DeLorean. Highlights include DEXTER, a self-driving car that competed in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge. Beyond cars, the museum showcases motorcycles, boats, and bicycles, as well as notable aircraft like a P-51 Mustang racing plane, a Goodyear F2G Corsair, and an Airco DH.4—key pieces from Cleveland's aviation history.

One of the museum’s most notable non-automotive artifacts is Tinkerbelle, a small sailboat used by Robert Manry during his solo voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in 1965. Manry donated the vessel to the Historical Society in 1967, adding a maritime aspect to the museum’s transportation-themed collection. Another highlight is the 1913 ALCO Model Six Berline Limousine, which won the prestigious Ansel Adams Award at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in 2016.

The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum continues to captivate visitors with its permanent exhibits, including Setting the World in Motion, featuring locally-made cars and airplanes, and REVolution: The Automobile in America, which narrates the evolution of the automobile in the United States. Spanning more than 2,000 square feet of archival collections, the museum remains a testament to Frederick C. Crawford’s vision of preserving transportation history for generations to come.