Harry Blomberg (right) at a car show downtown. Photo courtesy of Biltmore Industries, Inc. archives
The Estes-Winn Antique Car Museum at Grovewood Village celebrates its 55th anniversary this month. The museum, which features a collection of antique and vintage automobiles as well as four horse-drawn vehicles, was established by Harry Blomberg in 1966. “The building that houses the museum was once filled with the looms that wove Biltmore Industries Homespun,” says Barbara Blomberg, Harry’s daughter. “When the weaving stopped, my father thought that it would be a perfect place for his collection of cars, and the museum was born.”
Blomberg started in the automobile industry in 1923 when he opened one of Asheville’s first filling stations. He then opened a Cadillac-Pontiac dealership, which is now run by his granddaughter Pat Grimes. “My dad was always fascinated by anything that moved,” says Barbara. “His high school principal told him that he might as well leave school, saying, ‘Harry, you’ve got wheels in your head.’ How prophetic this was!”
Blomberg named the museum after Cathryn Estes, the first wife of General Motors president EM Estes, and Barbara Winn, granddaughter of Pontiac executive Lonnie Holmes. Some of the highlights in the collection include a rare 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, of which only 400 were ever made, and Asheville’s own 1922 American LaFrance fire truck. All cars are in running condition. “There’s genuinely nothing else like it in the area,” says Ashley Van Matre, marketing manager for Grovewood Village. “I mean, how many car collections are housed in a historic building with custom-made Roycroft chandeliers?”
Admission to the museum is free, but donations are appreciated and help to maintain the collection. Free parking is available on site. For more information on the museum, call 828.253.2698 or visit Grovewood.com/antique-car-museum.
