{"id":32560,"date":"2026-03-08T00:01:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T08:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/?p=32560"},"modified":"2026-03-29T21:33:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T04:33:19","slug":"the-san-diego-automotive-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/2026\/03\/08\/the-san-diego-automotive-museum\/","title":{"rendered":"The San Diego Automotive Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Joe Berk<\/h6>\n

The building you see above is the San Diego Automotive Museum.\u00a0 Take a good look at it…the sculpted trim, the mosaic panels, and its architectural splendor.\u00a0 We’ll touch on those topics again at the end of this post.<\/p>\n

Our travels this year have focused mainly on motorcycle museums.\u00a0 Why, then, you might ask, an automotive museum?\u00a0 The name (i.e., an automotive museum) suggests four-wheeled transport.\u00a0 But the San Diego Automotive Museum popped up when I Googled motorcycle museums, and when subsequently searching the definition of “automotive,” I learned that the word can be used to describe anything related to or concerned with motor vehicles, including motorcycles.\u00a0 \u00a0In the case of the San Diego Automotive Museum, it does indeed relate to motorcycles.\u00a0 In fact, much to my surprise there are as many motorcycles in the San Diego Automotive Museum as there are cars.<\/p>\n

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The main motorcycle display area in the San Diego Automotive Museum. In addition to the dozen or so motorcycles in this hall, the Museum has other motorcycles displayed in other locations.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some of the motorcycles in the display hall were ones I had never heard of, and as a guy who’s been fascinated with motorcycles since the early 1960s, that’s saying something.\u00a0 I’ve been doing some great things with Cycle Garden in Indio, California recently for Motorcycle Classics magazine, and I’ve always been interested in the V-twins from Mandello del Lario, so any day I see anything associated with that marque is a good day.\u00a0 Ever hear of the Dondolino?\u00a0 Yeah, me neither. It almost sounds like an Italian restaurant’s signature dish.<\/p>\n

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The Moto Guzzi Dondolino, and to be specific, this is a 1951 model. It means a small swing, as one would have for a child. The Dondolino…I like that. Check out the bologna slicer flywheel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Another shot of the Dondolino, this time a close of the fuel tank.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another one that was fascinating for several reasons, not the least of which was its paint treatment, was a 1912 BSA single.\u00a0 Surprisingly, the Museum operations manager told me flash photography was okay (in most museums it is not).\u00a0 It was hard getting decent photos in the display hall, even though I shoot raw photos (not jpegs), as the raw photo format preserves all photo data (jpegs compress the data).\u00a0 The display hall was lit with tungsten lighting, which always make getting good color balance difficult.\u00a0 Even though the the raw photos allow for color temperature adjustments in Photoshop, it was tough getting these right.<\/p>\n

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The 1912 BSA single. Check out the bulb horn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Museum has a beautiful AJS motorcycle on display.\u00a0 Some of you older folks and more serious students of the motorcycle may know of the original A.J. Stevens and Company of Great Britain, which manufactured motorcycles from 1909 to 1931.\u00a0 AJS sold to Norton, and ultimately became part of Norton Villiers in 1966.\u00a0 That company went belly up a few years ago.\u00a0 \u00a0Several organizations picked up the Norton name and tried to make a go of it; to my kn0wledge, none succeeded (although I haven’t checked in the last month or so, so maybe yet another Norton-named manufacturer snuck in).\u00a0 \u00a0The AJS name has been revived as a small bike manufacturer, or rather, a name attached to 125cc motorcycles made in China by Jianshe.<\/p>\n

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A 1948 AJS 7R “Boy Racer.” The colors are classic. Note the megaphone exhaust.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You know, AJS is indirectly (and partly) responsible for the CSC name.\u00a0 When founded in 2010, today’s CSC was initially known as the California Scooter Company.\u00a0 The California Scooter Company manufactured Mustang replicas (the Mustang was a small American motorcycle made in the 1950s).\u00a0 The name, California Scooter Company, caused us no end of grief because people would look at the little Mustangs and ask, “is it a motorcycle or a scooter?”\u00a0 We always explained how “scooter” was a slang term for a motorcycle.\u00a0 I wanted to tell people they were too stupid to ride if they didn’t know the difference (but in an unusual display of politeness I never did).\u00a0 Ultimately, we shortened “California Scooter Company” to “CSC” based on the industry’s history of three-letter acronyms for company names.\u00a0 You know:\u00a0 BMW, BSA, KTM, AJS, etc.\u00a0 Then the questions changed to “What does CSC stand for?”\u00a0 I couldn’t resist that one and my answer was immediate:\u00a0 Chop Suey Cycles.<\/p>\n

To get back to the main attraction (the San Diego Automotive Museum), both ends of the main motorcycle display hall are anchored by big American V-twins.\u00a0 One is a 1978 XLCR Harley Cafe Racer, which I think is one of the most beautiful motorcycles Harley ever made.\u00a0 The other end of the display hall has a garish chopper, one from a company appropriately named Big Dog.\u00a0 In an act of photographic mercy, I didn’t get a photo of it.<\/p>\n

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The Harley Cafe Racer. Always wanted one, never bought one. They were a shade over $3,000 in 1978 when new. I came close to buying one back then, but I didn’t pull the trigger.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Moving outside the motorcycle exhibit hall and into the rest of the Museum, as mentioned earlier there are motorcycles displayed throughout the other displays.\u00a0 One of the first is a Dan Gurney Eagle.\u00a0 Dan Gurney was a famous automobile racer who formed a company that mounted Honda engines in a frame in a manner that positioned the rider low in the bike.\u00a0 The seating arrangement was said to improve handling.\u00a0 Maybe it does.\u00a0 To me, it just weird, and rider visibility has to be terrible.\u00a0 I think I would look weird (or weirder than usual) when stopped with my legs splayed out to the sides.<\/p>\n

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A Dan Gurney Eagle. Weird, huh? The concept never caught on.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As soon as you enter the Museum, there’s a 1974 Triumph 750 T150V Triple on display (along with a two-stroke Suzuki 400cc dual sport).\u00a0 The Triumph Trident was supposed to be Triumph’s answer to the Honda 750 Four, but it was too little, too late.\u00a0 The Honda was far ahead of its competition.\u00a0 Triumph ultimately went out of business a few years later.<\/p>\n

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A 1972 Suzuki Apache and the Triumph Trident 750.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The San Diego Automotive Museum has a library, and our host explained to us that they are often visited by elementary school classes.\u00a0 Students use the library for homework assignments related to automotive topics.\u00a0 There are a couple of interesting motorcycles in the library.\u00a0 One is a Scott two-stroke (another motorcycle I had never seen before); the other is a 1914 Indian V-twin with a sidecar.<\/p>\n

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A 1927 Scott Flying Squirrel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A 1914 Indian C-3 with Sidecar.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the Museum’s main display area, there’s a land speed record streamliner that at first I thought was a motorcycle.\u00a0 You know, kind of like the land speed record Triumph that hit 247 mph back in the 1960s (Triumph included a “world’s fastest motorcycle” decal on every bike).\u00a0 But this vehicle wasn’t a motorcycle; it actually had four wheels beneath its narrow body work.\u00a0 \u00a0 The Vesco Turbinator is powered by a helicopter engine, and it set a world speed record for wheel-driven (as opposed to jet propelled) vehicles.<\/p>\n

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The Vesco Turbinator. It set a world speed record for wheel-driven vehicles, cracking the 500-mph barrier.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I poked around a bit on the Internet and found this very cool YouTube of the Turbinator’s Bonneville speed run:<\/p>\n