Exhibits
The Canadian Automotive Museum has three gallery spaces on two floors. Explore the elegance of British and American cars in the main gallery before exploring Canada's automotive story upstairs.
Current Exhibitions and Displays at the Canadian Automotive Museum
All current exhibitions are available in both English and French. Tous les expositions sont disponible en anglais et français.
Permanent Collection
Main Floor: Masterpieces from the McDougald Collection
Second Floor: Cars Built in Canada - 1903-1999
Current Exhibits and Displays
Exit the horse: the early years of canadian motoring, 1851-1910
Who drove the first Canadian car? Who built the first Canadian car? How did Canadians come to rely on cars and trucks to get around? Explore the dawn of the motor age, through stories, legends and exploits from communities across Canada.
The history of the motor car in Canada begins well before Confederation. Explore the exploits of Canada’s first automotive inventors and tinkerers, the birth of a Canadian auto industry, and the deep roots of motoring realities we take for granted today. From vigilante justice on the highways, to history’s first snowmobile, to the surprising connection between ice skates and steam cars, Exit the Horse is a journey through Canada’s forgotten motoring past.
Click the image to find out more!
Lightning McQueen
The Canadian Automotive Museum is excited to announce the arrival of a full scale model of Lightning McQueen from Disney Pixar’s Cars 3, now available on Blu-Ray™.
The iconic main character from Pixar’s Cars animated film franchise, Lightning McQueen is part athlete, part stock car. McQueen is voiced in the films by actor Owen Wilson and was named after the late Pixar animator Glen McQueen, who passed away in 2002. According to Cars director John Lasseter, McQueen’s shape was influenced by sports cars like the Corvette C6 and Ford GT40, as well as sports stars Muhammad Ali, Charles Barkley and Joe Namath.
Lightning McQueen is on display on the main floor of the Canadian Automotive Museum.
Canada’s Car Stories
This exhibit was supported by the Young Canada Works in Building Careers in Heritage program. French translation provided with support from the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Canada’s automotive story began at the turn of the 20th century with local entrepreneurs and creative inventors experimenting with motorized carriages. Since then, the automobile has emerged as an integral part of Canadian society; influencing economy, geography, and culture from Newfoundland to the Yukon.
Canada’s Car Stories explores the shared automotive experiences that connect Canadians from across the country. From building and repairing to driving and displaying, discover how the car has shaped modern Canadian life.
Canada's Car Stories introduces visitors to Canada's unique automotive heritage.
Online exhibits
Wires to Wheels: ELECTRIC VEHICLES IN CANADA AND BEYOND
An Italian physicist puts paper and acid together and makes lightning. A Dutch genius builds a motorized model. A Belgian daredevil breaks a land-speed record. A Canadian lawyer wants a slick new ride. This is the story of the electric car.
The electric car has been around for much longer than most of us realize; its roots in Canada date back to the 19th century. Discover the history of electric vehicles, from early experimenters to the electric boom years before the First World War, the dominance of gasoline in the 1940s and 50s, the alternative-energy revival of the 1970s, and the new reality of electrics on our roads.
Wires to Wheels is supported by Digital Museums Canada.
Explore online through Digital Museums Canada: English Français
Oshawa’s Automotive Community
What is life like in a city defined by the automotive industry? How do ordinary people make their way through a society dominated by a single industrial corporation? What do they do when that corporation begins to fail?
Discover the history of the McLaughlin Motor Car Company, the millions of Oshawa-built vehicles sold around the world, and the personal stories of generations of local residents who defined their identities through the automotive industry – and had to find a way of coping when it started falling apart.
Oshawa’s Automotive Community is supported by Digital Museums Canada.
