Nice Rides

Cool cars, in a scenic setting

ne of the coolest Boston-area museums you haven’t seen yet is the Larz Anderson Auto Museum, a fairy-tale-like castle that houses the oldest car collection in America. Although the autos date back to the 19th and early 20th centuries, the surrounding 64-acre grounds are just as impressive. The estate’s former owners, socialites Larz and Isabel Anderson (he also served as U.S. ambassador to Japan in 1912 and 1913, and she was part of the prominent Massachusetts Weld family), developed the land with plenty of lush green space and a man-made pond, and since then a baseball diamond has been added, along with an ice-skating rink and grills for cookouts. With extraordinary city skyline views and an abundance of history, this one is worth the drive. Rineman

Shhhh! The collection’s oldest car is the Andersons’ own 1899 Winton Runabout, produced by
onetime bicycle manufacturer Alexander Winton, whose company was America's first automaker.

Shhhh! Isabel inherited her
grandfather’s $17 million shipping fortune
when she was five years old and by 21 was
the richest woman in the world.

Shhhh! The idea for the museum came
from the Andersons’ Sunday tradition of opening their doors to fellow car enthusiasts.

Shhhh! It's a copy of the Weld ancestral home
in Dorset, England, Lulworth Castle.

Shhh who knew

The Larz Anderson Auto Museum includes a little-known collection of antique bicycles given by a Boston dentist who biked across three continents in two years. It includes high-wheel bicycles and jarring wood-framed bicycles with iron-banded wheels whose less profane name was "bone-crushers."