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For those who love the DeLoren time machine from “Back to the Future,” K.I.T.T. from “Knight Rider,” the Mutt Cutts van from “Dumb and Dumber” or any of the many rides from “The Fast and the Furious” franchise, there’s a hidden gem of an attraction in Branson that should not be missed.
Located on the lower level of Dick Clark’s American Bandstand Theater, The Celebrity Car Museum: The Velvet Collection features an immersive variety of more than 100 vehicles from some of Hollywood’s biggest movies and television series.
Social Media Manager Andy Simpson said the owner of the museum, Scott Velvet, is constantly buying, selling and trading vehicles, so the celebrity cars on display are always changing.
“In general we change out about 30% of the cars every year. It equals probably two or three cars a month constantly that we change,” said Simpson. “The newest stuff, which doesn’t even count what I have on the way, is the ‘Thelma & Louise’ car, which is a big one because that’s old school Hollywood. It’s not a newer movie and there’s not a lot of older cars left out there.”
Simpson added that the museum has a good relationship with Netflix and Universal, so they’re able to get a lot of their cars from those studio properties.
“Lots of stuff from ‘Stranger Things,’ ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Fast and the Furious.’ ‘Fast and the Furious’ has a new movie coming out. We’re already working on buying new cars from the new movie. They want to sell them to us, but they can’t until the movie’s out,” said Simpson. “Actually 95% of our cars are the screen used cars used to film the movie and not reproductions, so we do a lot with purchasing from production warehouses.”
The Celebrity Car Museum opened in Branson in 2012. However, long before the Branson museum came along, the Velvet family had been collecting cars and celebrity memorabilia for many years.
“After Elvis passed they did a lot with Elvis Presley museums and Elvis Presley memorabilia,” said Simpson. “For a while that turned into screen used outfits and costumes and prop guns, and then it just became cars. Cars were the easiest way to do it.”
Alongside the museum’s many vehicles, Simpson shared they also have a number of movie props, screen used outfits and more on display.
“We’ve got about 12 screen used outfits right now. Stuff from Bruce Willis and we have a full warehouse full of stuff that’s not here. There’s probably about 60 more cars that are in storage right now that we don’t have room to do anything with,” said Simpson. “We’re constantly scheming to figure out how to build a new display and fit more and more in here.”
Simpson said some the upcoming changes to the museum will include a couple of superhero themed displays they’ll be putting together soon.
“We’re getting ready to do a giant Avengers thing that’s going to be real nice. We’ve got one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Acuras. It’s from ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ and from the original ‘Avengers’ film. We’re going to park it sideways and we’ve got life-size statues of Hulk, War Machine, Iron Man and Spider-Man. We’re going to build a whole thing around that with maybe some cinder blocks to make it look like destroyed New York from the first movie.”
The museum will also be setting up a new display for all of their DC Comics themed vehicles.
“In storage we have Harley Quinn’s Jaguar from ‘Birds of Prey.’ That’s going to be one of the next ones we move in here. The yellow car that she’s driving at the end with the hyena in it,” said Simpson. “The whole wall back there is going to end up DC Comics, from ‘Robocop’ to the end.”
Simpson shared anyone coming to the museum will have a swell time, but they’ve geared the attraction toward a specific audience.
“It’s a great place to bring your family, because everybody loves movies. It’s not just a car museum. It’s a car museum and pop-culture built together, so it hits every kind of nostalgia,” said Simpson. “You don’t just come here and look at a bunch of Corvettes or a bunch of Mustangs. These are all cars that were used in movies, and you’re going to remember watching the movie and the enjoyment you got from the movie.”
At the museum, guests are both allowed and encouraged to take photos of all the vehicles on display.
“You can take as many photos and videos as you want when you’re walking around. We promote that. We want you to take as many photos as you can, post them all over social media and tell us how great it is,” said Simpson.
Patrons of the attraction also have the opportunity to have their photos taken while sitting inside some the famous cars.
“You can pay an extra $10 and sit inside of the car and we’ll take a whole bunch of photos of you in the car. Pretty much any car I can get the doors open on, you can pay 10 bucks and get your photos taken in it,” said Simpson. “The ‘Fast and Furious’ cars are real popular, ‘Supernatural,’ the Batmobile; we do photo ops in just about everything.”
While the museum is a bit of a hidden gem, those driving along the 76 Strip will have no problem finding the entrance. In the parking lot of the attraction, folks will find iconic vehicles from movies like “Scooby-Doo,” “Ghostbusters,” “Cars,” “Jurassic Park” and much more.
“If you’re driving by and you’re going, ‘What is this place?’ Then you see the Hawkins Laboratory van from ‘Stranger Things,’ you’re going to be like, ‘Wow, check that out’ or the ‘Jurassic Park’ Explorer,” said Simpson. “I got Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s school bus out there in the corner (from ‘Twister’). Things to draw people in and also the stuff that’s just too big to bring inside.”
Recently, Simpson said the museum has had the chance to welcome in several travel vloggers, which has helped both them, as well as Branson as a whole.
“I talk to these guys and I get them to come here and do our museum. Then they also spend three or four more days in town and just go all over the attractions,” said Simpson. “Over the last year, the people that I’ve brought into town for the museum to come film here, are actually responsible for about a million views of Branson attractions on YouTube. We’ve had eight top travel vloggers come through here and make our video with us. Then they go make one at the aquarium or one at WonderWorks or Beyond the Lens, so it works out great for people all over town. With Branson, the best thing we could do is lean into the travel vlog industry.”
Some of the bigger name YouTube vloggers that have made their way to Branson in the last year due to Simpson’s efforts include Boggie2988, Jacob the Carpetbagger, Justin Scarred, Adam Woo and Nomadic Fanatic.
Another great thing about the museum is that outside of Christmas and Thanksgiving days, Simpson shared they are one of the few Branson attractions that remain open year-round.
“With the business being based around buying and selling cars, there’s always a reason for us to be in the building. In the winter time is when we start buying cars,” said Simpson. “Usually Scott goes on a trip to California and buys a bunch of stuff, brings it back and that’s when we start resetting things and changing the museum around.”
Outside of Branson, The Velvet Collection also makes its rounds to auto shows and comic cons such as the Philadelphia Auto Show, the Cleveland Auto Show, the Wizard World Comic Cons and the San Antonio Comic Con.
The Celebrity Car Museum is open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Tickets are $17.95 for adults, $12.95 for teens 14 to 17, $7.95 for kids ages five to 13 and $15.95 for seniors age 55 and older.
For additional information visit celebritycarmuseum.com or follow the ‘Celebrity Car Museum’ Facebook page.
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