{"id":29068,"date":"2025-03-26T00:01:51","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T07:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/?p=29068"},"modified":"2025-03-28T15:05:37","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T22:05:37","slug":"deer-park-winery-and-auto-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/03\/26\/deer-park-winery-and-auto-museum\/","title":{"rendered":"Deer Park Winery and Auto Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Joe Berk<\/h6>\n

My sister Eileen is a time-share person, and she frequently swaps places to stay with other time-share owners.\u00a0 \u00a0She recently landed a suite of rooms at the Lawrence Welk Resort in Escondido, so she and Susie and I stayed there for a week.\u00a0 I didn’t realize this before our visit, but there’s a very cool winery and museum literally next door to the Welk resort.\u00a0 The entrance to the Deer Park Winery and Auto Museum is only a few feet away from the Welk resort entrance, so on our first day there we stopped for a visit and a wine tasting.<\/p>\n

I was surprised.\u00a0 I had never heard of the Deer Park Winery and Auto Museum before, the collection was substantial, and there are even a few motorcycles (vintage Indians and a Harley, to be specific).\u00a0 Wow, this was going to be fun.\u00a0 I did not have my Nikon, so everything you see here I shot with my iPhone.<\/p>\n

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Vintage Indians. You gotta love those paint themes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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An Indian Four.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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An Indian V-twin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When we entered, I asked the guy at the counter if the Museum had a focus, and his answer was immediate:\u00a0 Convertibles.\u00a0 And boy oh boy, did they ever have an impressive collection.<\/p>\n

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A Franklin convertible. These were a luxury American motorcar. They had air cooled engines.\u00a0 \u00a0See our blog on the Franklin Automobile Museum<\/a> in Tucson, Arizona.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A beautiful 1948 Chrysler Town and Country convertible.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Imagine that: A woody convertible! At $3,395 (a lot of money in 1948), Chrysler only sold 8,369 of these. Like the initial years of the Chevrolet Corvette, the Woody Town and Country convertible’s job was to get people into the showroom, where salesmen could convince to buy less-expensive models.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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There was real Arkansas white ash beneath what you see here; the wood grain is a decal over the real wood.\u00a0 Even back in 1948, wraps were an in thing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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I like this car. I took a lot of photos of it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Nice. Very nice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Museum consists of three buildings that display over 100 cars.\u00a0 It starts with a collection in the main entrance building.\u00a0 After seeing it, walking a few feet down the sidewalk brought us to another display area, with a lot of cars parked side by side, crammed into sort of barn-like building.\u00a0 These were cars mostly from the 1950s and 1960s, and they were fun to take in.\u00a0 I think they are, for the most part, restored and repainted cars.\u00a0 I grew up in that era.\u00a0 \u00a0Lincolns, Imperials, Buicks, and many more, and all were convertibles.\u00a0 A Pierce Arrow was just inside the entrance, parked in front of a 1950 Buick.<\/p>\n

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A Pierce Arrow convertible.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A close up of the Pierce Arrow radiator cap. I can only imagine what such a radiator cap would cost today.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A 1950 Buick convertible.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A 1960 Imperial Crown convertible. Imperial produced 618 of these costs. MSRP in 1960 was $5,774. They had a 413-cubic-inch engine and a 129-inch wheelbase. Fuel economy was not a concern in 1960.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When walking from one building to the next, we saw other convertibles scattered around the grounds in unrestored condition.\u00a0 They were cool, too, wearing the patina you’d expect on cars that were new when guys like Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johson were in the White House.<\/p>\n

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A late ’60s Camaro convertible awaiting resoration.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A 1959 Cadillac limo. I’d kind of like to own one of these, too.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Another view of the ’59 Caddy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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An 1950’s Caddy convertible. It’s not on display yet. I spotted walking around the Deer Park grounds.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The entry building and the long barn-like building were interesting.\u00a0 The best part was yet to come, though.\u00a0 It was showroom on top of a hill.\u00a0 We made the trek up to that building, and I was blown away by an absolutely stunning 1953 Cadillac convertible in showroom condition.\u00a0 It’s the photo featured on top of this blog.<\/p>\n

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The Museum’s centerpiece: A 1953 Cadillac convertible.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Cadillac you see above was recovered from a fire.\u00a0 The restoration process was essentially a manufacturing venture.\u00a0 The car was stripped down to the frame, and then rebuilt with all new, hand-formed, hand-painted, hand-rubbed body panels.\u00a0 It is stunning.\u00a0 I want it.<\/p>\n

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The ’53 Caddy convertible’s wire wheels.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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An obligatory selfie: Me in the ”53 Caddy’s bumper.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We enjoyed a leisurely walk down the steps to get back to the entrance building, where the Deer Park Winery and Museum offers wine tasting for a modest fee.\u00a0 The wine tastings include five varietals, which vary depending on the time of year (or, you can opt for six wines and select the ones you want).\u00a0 We went with the five wine option.\u00a0 They were all good and the tastings were not small.\u00a0 One was exceptional.\u00a0 That was a dessert wine that I believe would pair exceptionally will with a slice of carrot cake (I went to a sommelier presentation once many years ago, so I now consider myself an expert qualified to make such pairing suggestions).<\/p>\n

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Deer Park Peach wine. It’s peach-flavored champagne, basically, and it’s good.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The\u00a0Deer Park Winery and Auto Museum<\/a> is located at 29013 Champagne Boulevard just north of Escondido, California (the phone number is (760) 749-1666<\/a>.\u00a0 Tickets are reasonable at $14 (if you’re in the military or senior citizen you can get in for $12).<\/p>\n

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