It may come as a surprise when you come to visit the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and find some of Hollywood’s most famous vehicles right around the corner.
The Hollywood Star Cars Museum is a two story museum that features a great variety of cars – everything from a Buick owned by Bob Hope to the family car that transported The Beverly Hillbillies.
General Manager Cameron Katen says that visitors from all over the world stop in to see the museum in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
The largest vehicle in the collection is the Ecto 1 from the film Ghostbusters. Inside the vehicle, all of the four main characters have signed their names in the front seat.
You’ll find a car that once belonged to Dolly Parton as well as the actual Herbie The Love Bug. The museum even has the car Michael Jackson drove around the Neverland Ranch – including a photo of the wall of MJ in the front seat, with his trademark surgical face mask. There’s a car that Elvis drove, a patrol car from the Andy Griffith Show, a truck from the film Twister and a Delorean from Back To The Future series – all part of the 40 cars on display.
Fans of the Fast & The Furious movie franchise will love seeing many of the vehicles used in those films. In fact, it’s said to currently be the most popular part of the collection.
The 1966 Batmobile used in the TV series
There are two versions of the Batmobile on display – one from 1966 and the early days on television with Adam West & Burt Ward. The second version sits upstairs in a dark corner, that was part of the Michael Keaton Batman film.
One of my personal favorites was seeing KITT from the TV series Night Rider. If you recall the show, David Hassolhoff drove a car that talked to him. Not only does the car still talk – it has the trademark moving red light in the front of the vehicle.
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While you can’t pose for photos in most of the vehicles – there are some exceptions. For a small fee – you can sit inside the vehicle used in the Flintstones movie. Photos are allowed through out the museum which is a very cool touch.
The Beverly Hillbillies car
In addition to all of the recognizable vehicles – you’ll see one of kind memorabilia as well. Props from Batman and the James Bond series as well as personal belongings from Elvis round out the collection.
So why Gatlinburg?
Mr. Katen says “We get that question all of the time. It’s the perfect location because the Smoky Mountain National Park is the most visited park in the country and we’re located right near the entrance.”
Posing with the iconic Ecto 1 vehicle from Ghostbusters.
