Vintage cars in Nová Bystřice trace roots to America
Nová Bystřice is a small South Bohemian town near the Austrian border. Allegedly the oldest town in the Jindřichův Hradec region, it attracts visitors with its monuments as well as its historic vehicles. In fact, it boasts the largest collection of American vintage cars in central Europe.
Even a seasoned admirer of historic automobiles who has visited dozens of car museums will be stunned after visiting the Veteran Museum in Nová Bystřice. Of course, it cannot be compared to the enormous Bugatti Museum in Mulhouse, where the Schlumpf brothers collected 450 vintage cars, or to Fiat in Turin and Mercedes in Stuttgart, but car enthusiasts say it surpasses the factory museum in Mladá Boleslav and the car collection of the National Technical Museum.
In a former textile factory near the town square, you step from the setting of a small Czech town straight into the grand world of American motoring, right among the greatest road cruisers.
The owner of this remarkable museum is local native engineer Pavel Janouš, who explains how he came to own dozens of these historic beauties.
“The beginning was very prosaic. It was basically the story of a collector whose collection was slowly growing and who, like every collector sooner or later, hits a ceiling, not in the number of cars, but in where to put them. Fortunately, around the same time, the mayor of Nová Bystřice was wondering what to do with an abandoned factory almost in the town center, which had been deteriorating for several years. One thing led to another, and since I’m from Nová Bystřice myself, we knew each other and had a good relationship, so we quickly agreed that my growing collection would find its future home in that factory.”
The museum owner continued explaining why he chose to collect vintage cars from the United States:
“My collection didn’t build on any previous collection. My father had a few vintage cars, but that wasn’t something I could develop further. If I had decided to continue his path and collect well-known brands like Praga or Tatra, I would have faced a huge handicap from the start. Many collectors in our country are already far ahead in that field. It would have taken me decades to reach their level, only to end up where others already are. That was one of the main reasons why I chose American cars. At the time I was founding the museum, there wasn’t a single museum of American vintage cars here.”
The memorable meeting with the mayor of Nová Bystřice, Vladimír Bláha, took place in 2012. In just two years, Pavel Janouš opened his veteran car museum. This year, it celebrates its eleventh season in operation.
“Honestly, in 2012, I had no idea we would be able to bring it to its current state, both in terms of the collection and the historical sets and props from that era. When we opened the museum, we received a small subsidy on the condition that we prepare an investment return forecast. We assumed that if everything went ideally, up to 8,000 visitors might come during a season. But in the very first year, when no one really knew us and we had no advertising, fifteen thousand people came. We were absolutely stunned. None of us expected such huge interest in a brand-new regional museum.”
Last year, the museum in Nová Bystřice opened two new halls, increasing the number of displayed vehicles from 50 to 70. But the entire collection now includes nearly 200 cars. Dozens more are waiting in storage for demanding renovations, after which they’ll take turns with the vehicles currently on display.
Among the exhibits in the museum, the Lincoln brand appears frequently, a personal passion of Pavel Janouš.
“I’m absolutely crazy about Lincolns. Since 1922, this brand has been the showcase of the Ford Motor Company. Back then, Henry Ford’s son, Edsel, convinced his father that it was important to have a luxury division. And that was the start of a glorious era that continues to this day. Lincolns have always been progressive, high-quality, and exemplary cars, a classic example of how to make a good automobile. That’s why I love them.”
A Museum That Keeps Growing
The American vintage cars in the Nová Bystřice museum are gaining fame. Visitor numbers are rising. This year they’ve surpassed 30,000, with 40 percent returning visitors.
The museum regularly rotates exhibits to show different models and is expanding its exhibition space by another 1,000 square meters, extending its wide boulevard of an American city even further.
