(270) 763-6175 1080 North Dixie Avenue, Elizabethtown, Kentucky 42701
Swope’s Cars of Yesteryear Museum on North Dixie Avenue, Elizabethtown, Kentucky

Swope’s Cars of Yester Year

Sixty magnificent machines of the past

A free museum of vintage and antique automobiles in Elizabethtown, Kentucky — from the 1910 Brush Roadster to the 1970 Cobra Torino.

See the collection Take the virtual tour

No admission charge 10 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Saturday 53 vehicles on the floor

Swope Museum

Welcome to the Swope Auto Museum, home to an impressive collection of vintage and antique cars. Our museum, Swope’s Cars of Yesteryear, allows you to take a tour of different eras, from the early 1900s to the 1960s. Our museum features vehicles of all makes and models.

Everybody has a car story to tell

Three cars, three wars, one family’s thanks

Every car on the floor carries a piece of American history. These three are the ones we tell visitors about first, and the story behind them starts with the museum’s founders.

“Everybody Has a Car Story to Tell”, Bill Swope, Louisville Life on KET, January 2013.

Also from the museum floor: Remembering Our Heroes, our Memorial Day film.

How much does it cost?

The Swope Auto Museum is owned and operated by the Swope Family of Dealerships, open to the public with no admission charge. You won’t find a “suggested donation box” either — our museum is completely free. We welcome all to come and enjoy, a way of expressing our appreciation for the sixty years that the Swope Family of Automobile Dealerships has been embraced by the Kentucky community.

Hours and tours

The museum is open from 10 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Saturday. A knowledgeable hostess is on duty to greet you and give guided tours. The Swope Museum offers ample tour bus and RV parking. The museum is air-conditioned and is handicapped accessible. Don’t miss our vintage car library and a do-it-yourself car video theater! Cameras are permitted.

From the collection

All 53 museum cars ›
The 1910 Brush Roadster on the museum floor, brass lamps and white tires, with the collection behind it
1910 Brush Roadster E26, on the floor in Elizabethtown.

Inside the museum

Sixty cars sit on one air-conditioned floor, each with its story card beside it, from brass-era runabouts to the muscle cars of the late sixties. Walk it with our hostess, or wander on your own and read as you go.

Can’t make it to Kentucky today? The Google Street View tour walks the whole floor.

Take the virtual tour Browse the cars

Cars for sale

Full inventory ›

The museum is not selling its collection. Vehicles that have left the floor — and listings from fellow collectors — are offered here.

How the Swope vintage collection came to be

It was May 8, 1945, and Bill Swope was a young soldier fighting with the United States Army in Germany when the cheering started — Germans, Americans, soldiers and civilians alike. The war in Europe was over. After V-E day Bill came home, married his college sweetheart Elizabeth Sanford, and, after Japan surrendered, finished his schooling at Miami University of Ohio.

Selling building materials out of Cincinnati, he found he was far more interested in his company car than in anything he was selling. So the family moved to Winchester, Kentucky, where he opened his first dealership — a Dodge/Plymouth store on Main Street. Sixty years of Swope dealerships followed, and the collection grew alongside them.

Read more about the museum

Come see them in person

1080 North Dixie Avenue
Elizabethtown, Kentucky 42701
(270) 763-6175

Look for the stone sign on North Dixie, right beside Swope Nissan. Tour bus and RV parking out front.

Plan your visit