Dwarf Car Museum Visit

Friday 24th February - 2023

Hello again everyone,

Reporting live from the most amazing Dwarf Car Museum right here in the desert of Maricopa County in Arizona.

Before l start to write this post, I must tell you all that this time next week 'Sheila' & l will be well & truly into our 8-hour trek across the desert driving west on Interstate Highway 10 towards Los Angles via Arizona & California. It will end an era for 'Sheila' & myself.

Over the past 13-years we have accompanied each other over many, many thousands upon thousands of miles crisscrossing America, enjoying ourselves like you would not believe & not once in all that time has the old girl let me down.

I sure hope that I do not jinx myself by saying this. Our journey from Phoenix to Los Angeles is only 375-miles or 600 kms. 

L-R. ‘32 Ford - ‘34 Ford - ‘39 Chevy - ‘41 Mercury.

The plan is to depart Phoenix early on Tuesday morning the 28th February & arrive at my shippers in LA mid afternoon. Once we have arrived safely in Richmond, California we will say cheerio to each other & l will not cast my eyes on the love of my life until she arrives in Sydney a few months later.

Bon-Voyage “Sheila”. l am going to miss  you, l wish you a safe passage across the mighty Pacific Ocean to the lucky country, to the place they call the land Down-under.

Don't you just love 'Rust Rooms'

Now back to my blog story about the Model A Ford Restorers Club of Arizona’s outing yesterday to the famous Dwarf Car Museum here in Maricopa County Arizona.

We had a roll up of eleven Model A Fords, other club members rolled up in their modern cars & in total there we 39 people for the 100-mile or 160 kms round trip to the Dwarf Museum in Maricopa.

I was aware of the Dwarf Museum because over the years I have seen TV shows about this Museum plus l have read about this unique place in magazines.

Never in my wildest dreams did l think for one moment that l would be rubbing shoulder with Ernie Adams (see photo below) the creator of this wonderful Dwarf Car Museum.

Ernie is a spritely 82yo gentleman that is sitting on the left of me, what a legend he is.

Every day he spends at the Museum talking & chatting to all the punters that visit his museum from all over the world, he is as sharp as a tack telling stories & jokes of how he first started building these unbelievable miniature driving cars.

On the right is the 1949 Mercury that rich guy wanted to pay US$450,000 for.

Towards the middle of the afternoon l introduced myself to Ernie & his friends sitting around the table of knowledge (see photo). For some unknown reason Ernie took a liking to me & allowed the 'Squire' from Down-Under to join his inner circle of friends (see photo). I suppose with my good looks & eccentric personality they had no other option.

I sat with them for a couple of hours listening to all their stories while consuming a few chilled Coors beers, as any Aussie worth his salt would.

Ernie is a spritely 82yo gentleman that is sitting on the left of me in one of the photos. What a legend he is.

Needless to say l did ask Ernie some questions of how his dream all started way back when, he told me that the his first miniature metal car was built in 1965. He has never sold any of the miniature cars that he has built, which leads me into another great yarn.

When world acclaimed car tragic Jay Leno came to do a show from Ernie’s Dwarf Museum, for his TV show Jay wanted to purchase one of the miniature vehicles to add to his own personal collection.

It did not happen. I asked Ernie how much these treasures would be worth on the open market. He told me that the first miniature car he ever built was a ‘39 Chevy. He was offered US$150,000 for it & guess what that ‘39 Chevy is still parked in his Museum.

Another yarn he told me was about a real rich guy that wanted to buy the blue 1949 Mercury (see photo) this is the car that I saw featured in one of those car shows on TV a few years ago. Ernie tells me that this bloke went as high as US$450,000 & say no more the 1949 Mercury is still parked in his Museum.

I also wanted to know what type of engines are installed in these miniature cars due to the lack of space. He told me that they are all fitted with 4-cylinder ‘72-‘82 Toyota engines, these miniature cars are fully street legal for the road & are capable of speeds up to 100 mph or 161 kms.

At the moment they are building a miniature ‘64 Chevy Convertible Impala SS (see photo) check out the rear bumper bar, you can see how narrow the Chevy will be when completed by the width of the original bumper bar.

Miniature ‘54 Chevy.

During the conversation yesterday Ernie & his friends wanted to know how on earth l ended up at his Dwarf Museum there in Maricopa County about 8,000 miles or 12,900 kms from Sydney Australia. I mentioned that I was visiting with the Model A Restorers Club of Arizona group. He then said to me do you own one of those Model A Fords parked out there in the paddock to which l answered, yes.

What followed next completely knocked me off my feet, he said that there is a green 1931 Model A Ford Town Sedan parked out there. Ernie then told me that as far as he was concerned that vehicle was his pick of all of the 11 Model A Fords out there.

I was ecstatic to think that he had chosen “Sheila” to be his choice from the other 10 cars, because let me tell you there were some other very nice Model A Fords that he could have chosen. (see photos).

In finishing off this blog, money cannot buy the fun l had with those guys yesterday at the Dwarf Museum, l feel so privileged to have had the opportunity to meet Ernie & his friends to share their stories & jokes, absolutely priceless.

Moving right along, l certainly hope that you have enjoyed sharing this great adventure with me.

Stay safe. Regards for now.

Warbo.