HICKORY CORNERS, MICH. (AP).- A museum celebrating Ford Motor Co.'s Model A is being planned for southern Michigan that will be housed in a building designed to resemble one of the automaker's old dealerships.

Organizers hope to break ground next summer on the Model A Ford Museum at the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, about 115 miles west of Detroit. The effort to build the $1.6 million museum is led by the nonprofit Model A Ford Foundation Inc.

"The museum ... will be more than just a car collection," Art Callan, the foundation's executive director, said in a statement. "It will take you on a journey through the Model A years — the end of the Roaring '20s, the stock market crash in '29."

Organizers said it will be the largest public museum dedicated to the Model A, which was built in the late 1920s and early 1930s following the wild success of Ford's Model T. Michael Spezia, executive director of the Gilmore Car Museum, noted that the automaker put nearly 5 million Model As on the road.

"It was an affordable and very popular automobile," Spezia said.

The Model A Ford Foundation is working to bring together Model A enthusiasts from around the country to support the project. It has about a third of the money on hand for the museum, and will solicit donations. More than 50 representatives of Model A clubs gathered at the Gilmore Car Museum to unveil the plan earlier this month.

The Model A Ford Museum will serve as a permanent home for the foundation's collection of automobiles, display engines and artifacts, including factory photos, blueprints and research materials.

The Gilmore Car Museum includes nearly a dozen historic structures on 90 acres. Its campus also houses the Classic Car Club of America Museum, the Tucker Historical Collection and Library, and other attractions.


Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.