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Background-California Vehicle Foundation (CFV)

 California Vehicle Foundation (CVF) was founded by automobile enthusiast Dick Ryder and attorney Burl Waits. During the summer of 1982, the two men were discussing development ideas for the south area of Sacramento. Two locations were the primary focus of their talks. One was the Southgate Shopping Center, then in a state of decline. The other was the site of a closed drive-in. Vision options included a car museum surrounded by automobile related commercial ventures, the possibility of bringing from Chico the internationally known auto restorer Joe Cruses, with his collection and shop, and a miscellany of other dreams and ideas. 

To increase their knowledge, Ryder and Waits went to Reno, to the Harrah Museum. When Bill Harrah died, he had left no instructions for the disposal of his vast auto collection. The Sacramento men probed the direction this huge collection was taking. The Harrah operation was found to be in a state of flux, but the acting executive director, Don Brown, suggested that the first step should be to apply for the IRS non-profit 501c (3) foundation status.

 Soon after the Reno visit, Ryder began a search to locate key local collector car hobbyists. The auto editors of the Sacramento Bee and the Sacramento Union provided not only a number of names, but some valuable publicity. The editors placed well-written announcements of the intention to begin efforts to establish an auto museum, and details of the informative breakfast to be held.

Saturday, October 3, 1982, approximately twelve people met at the Del Prado Restaurant, in Sacramento. This meeting produced the conception of an auto museum--a car museum for California to be located in Sacramento--the first auto museum in the West to be established in perpetuity. Before the close of the meeting, a challenge was made by an attendee, who produced a one hundred dollar bill and asked who among the group would match it. Five additional one hundred dollar bills came forth and the idea was born. On Monday, October 5, 1982 the paperwork was begun to form the non-profit corporation and foundation. The non-profit status was granted immediately. The fruition of the foundation status was exactly one year later, on October 5, 1983.

 During the week of October 5,1982, informal weekly meetings were begun. The first order of business was to choose an appropriate name. The California Vehicle Foundation was the only name to be given serious consideration.  It was decided that meetings would be held on the first Saturday of each month, to begin in November of 1982. This first meeting, well-heralded by the press, presented a program of interest to auto hobbyists and reported on the progress of the group, which had adoped the slogan On the Road to a Car Museum.  Meetings continued to be held each week for those who were interested in "core" discussions of planning for the direction of museum development. The Mission Statement of CVF became: to develop an every person auto museum.

The first auto to be donated to CVF was a restored 1938 Buick sedan, a gift from John Joyce, president and general manager of the Golden One Credit Union. A restored 1915 Dodge, donated by Chuck Swift, a prominent local car dealer, became the fledgling museum's second auto. These cars are still on display at the museum. Two other cars of special note that were added to the collection were the Cadillac limosine used by Earl Warren, when he was California Governor, and the Plymouth used by Jerry Brown when he was Governor.

Fund raising was an important element of the new organization. Several cars were donated to be used as raffle cars. Speakers were scheduled for the monthly brunches and a membership drive was begun. In addition to the monthly meetings, weekly meetings were held by the various committees. A monthly newsletter kept the growing membership informed. As CVF had no official office, the newsletter was mimeographed in Dick Ryder's driveway and assembled in his living room. In early 1984, the office of Burl Waits became CVF's official home.

Members of CVF participated in a number of activities in order to promote the concept of a permanent auto museum in Sacramento. There were excursions to the Harrah Collection and to the newly established Blackhawk Museum in Danville. Members also participated in local events, such as parades, River City Classic Auto Show, other auto shows, swap meets, and providing celebrities with transportation to various events.

October 5, 1985, Edward Towe sent a letter inquiring as to our interest in his Ford collection, as his museum was in danger of losing its space in the old Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge, Montana. Members of the Towe family came to Sacramento to explore this possibility. After a search of the area, it was determined that the best available location for the car museum might be a 72,000 square foot warehouse, located in the shadow of the interchange of Interstates 5 and 80, near Old Sacramento. With supervision and commitment by the City of Sacramento, a CVF committee negotiated the purchase of the property for the City in exchange for a long term lease from the City for the museum.

In June 1986, Hadley Auto Transport offered to haul the auto collection to Sacramento, at no cost to CVF. A very busy summer of 1986 began the transformation of changing the warehouse into a museum. Cleaning and painting, both inside and out, were monumental tasks.

The Towe cars arrived at the museum on September 27, 1986 at 10:30 a.m. A large crew of enthusiastic people was assembled to unload the cars from thirteen transporters and push the cars into the building.

May 1, 1987 was set as the date when the museum would be opened to the general public. Much work remained to be done if the group was to meet this target date and additional volunteers were recruited. From September to May, the painting of the building was completed and the offices were remodeled for the use of museum members and staff.

Soon after the museum opened, Thursday lunches began to be served at a nominal charge. The purpose of the lunches was twofold: to provide fellowship and to attract more enthusiastic supporters. The lunches continue to the present and are a popular draw to the Towe Auto Museum.

The museum is served by some three hundred volunteers. Without these auto enthusiasts, the museum would not be a viable enterprise.

Come visit us. We are open 362 days a year from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. The museum is closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.