{"id":3168,"date":"2017-03-15T04:00:18","date_gmt":"2017-03-15T04:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.leithcars.com\/blogs\/1421\/?p=3168"},"modified":"2017-03-15T04:00:18","modified_gmt":"2017-03-15T04:00:18","slug":"leith-cars-travel-report-road-escondido","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.leithcars.com\/?p=3168","title":{"rendered":"Leith Cars Travel Report: On The Road to Escondido"},"content":{"rendered":"

No, it\u2019s not the title to the 2006 album by Eric Clapton and J.J. Cale we\u2019re referring to but rather a hidden gem, squirreled away in the hills of northern San Diego County, California and just a stone\u2019s throw from the Lawrence Welk Resort near Escondido. If there was ever a Mecca for classic American cars from the turn of the 20th<\/sup> century right up through to the 1970s muscle car era, as well as iconic Americana from days long gone-by, Deer Park Winery and Auto Museum is it!<\/p>\n

\"Entrance
Entrance to the Winery & Car Museum, open Friday through Sunday.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LeithCars\u2019 Zero to 60 TV and WRAL.com Car Smarts host, Mark Arsen, recently took a family vacation out to San Diego where he discovered one of the county\u2019s best kept secrets. Deer Park, on old Highway 395, a.k.a. Champagne Blvd., is easy to miss as you make your way past the front gate at 55 mph, but with a keen eye, you\u2019ll spot the old metal archway at the entrance that leads you up to the first of three large buildings on the site.<\/p>\n

\"Building
Building #1 is a bit crowded with so much unique history!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For a modest admission price of $10 dollars, or $9 if you\u2019re 55 or older, you get access to an incredible display of California car culture featuring a very special collection of antique and classic cars, old-style gas pumps, automotive and pop-culture signage, arcade games, bicycles and more! Culled together from the private collections of four different families, their love for classic American design is evident inside every building of the museum.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll start your tour in Building #1, where you enter and buy your ticket (kids 9 and under get in free). As you enter and encounter a room packed bumper to bumper with an early example of a \u201chorseless carriage\u201d by Buick, an elegantly chromed and detailed Lincoln roadster, a Chrysler convertible, a Hudson, a Packard and more, you\u2019ll feel as though you have time traveled!<\/p>\n

\"Building
Building #3, known as the \u201cnew car showroom,\u201d as viewed from below the vineyard.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But that\u2019s just the beginning. Before you exit the first building to stroll past the beautiful grounds of the vineyard and on to building #2, you\u2019ll see one of the many automobile oddities found at Deer Park, a red, 3-wheeled micro-car by Messerschmitt. Yes, the German aircraft manufacturer temporarily banned from building planes after World War II, switched gears to build a quirky, unconventional car. This ungainly vehicle was made from 1955 to 1964 and Deer Park has one, complete with aircraft-inspired steering handles!<\/p>\n

\"

Is that an airplane cockpit or the driver\u2019s view from inside the Messerschmitt micro-car?!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Buildings #2 and #3 house an even more extensive collection of cars, some that appear un-restored and in original condition. Row upon row of Studebakers, Packards, Plymouths, Pontiacs and even a rare Pierce Arrow! The museum features an even more unbelievable collection of old dealership neon signs, tube-style TVs, radios and appliances from the \u201830s to the \u201860s, as well as classic kids\u2019 toys. There\u2019s even a bridal room filled floor to ceiling with Barbie dolls and a child\u2019s pink Corvette pedal car!<\/p>\n

\"Just
Just a few of the wonderfully preserved & restored dealership neon signs at Deer Park.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So, if a trip to the San Diego area is in your cards this year, Mark Arsen recommends you stop by Deer Park Winery & Automobile Museum. If you go, make it your destination for the day, and you\u2019ll thank yourself later! There\u2019s a bonus too if you\u2019re a connoisseur of wine as the winery offers samples of a variety of wines bottled on-site\u2014just make sure you have a designated driver after all that wine tasting!<\/p>\n

Plan your trip to the museum at www.deerparkwine.com<\/a> and tell them, \u201cLeith Cars\u201d from North Carolina sent you!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"6\"
Building #2\u2019s Main Street America. \u201cCan I interest you in a shiny new ’52 DeSoto?\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No, it\u2019s not the title to the 2006 album by Eric Clapton and J.J. Cale we\u2019re referring to but rather a hidden gem, squirreled away in the hills of northern San Diego County, California and just a stone\u2019s throw from the Lawrence Welk Resort near Escondido. If there was ever a Mecca for classic American […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,4,14,20,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-automotive","category-cars","category-events","category-lifestyle","category-zero-to-60"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.leithcars.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.leithcars.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.leithcars.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.leithcars.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.leithcars.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blog.leithcars.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.leithcars.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.leithcars.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.leithcars.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.leithcars.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}