Ideal Classic Cars is located in Venice. The question is, is it a museum or a dealership? Well it appears to be both.
Set along the US 41 Bypass, Ideal Classic Cars has over 100 vintage, classic and custom cars, trucks, vans and motorcycles. They are parked in a 30,000 square foot, air conditioned building. Moreover, as the ICC staff buys and acquires vehicles, the inventory changes on a daily basis. That means each trip is something new.
A Great Collection
While most of the inventory consists of American made cars, there also are imports and even some customized vehicles. On our trip, we saw a couple of Star Wars Landspeeders, the Mystery Machine from the Scooby Doo cartoon series as well as Speed Racer’s Mach 5.
Cars date from the early days of automobiling, to very recent models. There also are movie cars and celebrity owned vehicles. What is amazing is the sheer number of vehicles and the amount of detail that has been put into each one. Each is pristine – and ready for sale.
It’s More Than Cars
In addition to the cars and signs, there are pieces of automotive history. There are old gas pumps, soda machines and even some fully restored paper towel dispensers that sat on the pump island where the attendant could check your oil and wipe your windshield.
You literally can spend hours inside Ideal Classic Cars looking at the different vehicles and quietly reliving the time when those things were new – or at least commonplace. They also have a wonderful little gift shop full of vintage items and re-creations of old signs and such.
The best thing is, it’s free to browse for as long as you like. They only ask that you fill out a short form and give them your email. Ideal Classic Cars is well worth the time and effort to stop by and see these wonderful, immaculately restored vehicles and think about the good ol’ days.
