Brothers Collection: Muscle Car Memory Lane

Most drivers travelling along Interstate 5 through the heart of Salem, Oregon, would never imagine that one of the most unique and largest automotive museums in the world sits less than a mile away in an industrial complex.

The Brothers Collection, a showroom-type private car collection located inside a nondescript 117,000-square-foot warehouse-turned-museum, houses more than 350 vehicles that are flawless examples of automotive collectors’ dreams. Included in this amazing display are more than 150 of the rarest of muscle cars—machines that marked the pinnacle of performance in the early ‘60s and early ‘70s when the U.S. auto manufacturers were in a flat-out race to one-up the other on the street and strip.

Those ten years were automotive nirvana for an adrenaline-seeking performance car buyer, because checking the right box on the dealer order form during that time would put you behind the wheel of a car like nothing else on the road. Among those muscle cars were Corvettes, Chargers, Cudas, Road Runners, Chevelles, Camaros, Satellites, Mustangs, Tempests, GTOs, and Firebirds. All of them could be ordered from the factory with the most powerful V-8s available, making them icons of performance on both street and strip.

That time period was an era when someone mentioned 429 SCJ, 426 Hemi Cuda, 427 ‘Vette, 426 Wedge Satellite, 440 Cuda, 454 Chevelle SS or Firebird SD 455, it brought an instant smile of recognition and appreciation on the faces of street car lovers.

Today some of the rarest of those have found a permanent place at The Brothers Collection. Inside, more than 150 of the crème-de-le-crème of muscle cars represent every manufacturer of that era. Each vehicle is flawless in presentation.

In total, Doug Dwyer, the collection’s curator for the past 16 years, says there are more than 355 vehicles on display in this immaculate setting. Those include classics, European exotic sports cars, and other unique vehicles that have a place in performance automotive history.

The Brothers Collection has included as many as 600 vehicles. About half are hidden away in another warehouse close by where they are rebuilt, restored, or refreshed, awaiting their possible turn to be shown in the museum.

“We ran out of places to store them a few years ago and had to thin the herd,” says Dwyer. “Now the line-item count is 525, which includes a few historical motorcycles and boats.”

But it’s the muscle cars on display in the museum that usually steal the show. Touring through The Brothers Collection is like entering a time machine that transports visitors to the showroom floor of some mega-sized muscle car dealership.

What makes this collection of American street iron even more interesting is that it showcases not just one version of a performance automotive icon, but often multiple iterations of that historical year or years, from hardtop to convertible to special colors, interiors, and options that were offered.

Dwyer and his teammates have made the tour very informative, even to non enthusiasts, by placing signs in front of most of the vehicles on display that explain, in detail, what makes that particular model so special and its place in automotive history.

Collecting this array of classic cars, muscle cars, and exotic sports cars didn’t happen overnight. It’s the result of a local family who caught the car collecting addiction some 50 years ago.

Local lore has it that this all started on a small scale with the “brothers’” father, who was a car enthusiast and started collecting a couple of muscle cars back in the mid-‘70s. “The boys caught his car bug and continued on,” says Dwyer. “However, the collection really started growing in the early 2000s. In 2009, when I came to work for them, it was up to 168 cars. Now there’s more than 500.”

Amassing this number of highly prized automobiles positions The Brothers Collection in the rarefied air of being one of the largest private collections of this type in the world, similar in size to Mark Pieloch’s American Muscle Car Museum in Melbourne, Florida.

What makes The Brothers Collection different from other car museums, such as Mark Pieloch’s American Muscle Car Museum in Florida and The Petersen in Los Angeles—other than having some of the rarest of the rare muscle cars—is that it’s not advertised and open to the general public only a few days a year via pre-sold tickets. All the vehicles are displayed indoors.

Awareness about this historical array of hot rides used to be really difficult unless you knew someone who knew someone who knew someone. Fortunately, the owners are now making those special dates and ticket information a little more easily discoverable through their new website: www.thebrotherscollection.com.  

They have also added a new and different opportunity to see the museum: The Brothers Collection is hosting the 1^st Annual Brothers Collection Cruise-In August 17, a huge outdoor car show at the venue that includes admission to the museum. The event details can be found here.

Another really cool aspect of The Brothers Collection is that they donate every dollar of ticket sales to a variety of different charities, including Safe Sleep, Oregon Police Officers Association, Honoring Heros, Shop With a Cop, and Project Joy. Giving back to the local community is as high on their list as finding the final ’69 Hurst/Olds 455 convertible.

If you are a lover of classic cars, muscle cars, and exotic sports cars, taking the time to walk The Brothers Collection would be time well spent. A tip: Wear comfortable walking shoes and plan on spending several hours checking out some of the most iconic cars ever made.

• 1
• /
• 11

***

About the author: Bruce W. Smith is a veteran automotive photojournalist who has covered all aspects of the industry for more than 35 years as a writer, editor, and contributing editor for a wide variety of national media. He lives in Newport, Oregon.