Cartersville is quickly gaining a reputation as Northwest Georgia’s museum town. This is largely due to the work of Georgia Museums, Inc., a nonprofit foundation that is the brainchild of an anonymous family/donor. The first three of GMI’s programs were the Booth Western Art Museum, the Tellus Science Museum (with its Bentley Planetarium), and the Bartow History Museum. And these are no rinky-dink affairs either. They are world-class institutions with all the bells and whistles one might expect to find in Chicago or New York City or London. GMI’s final (for now) offering to the public is the newly opened Savoy Automobile Museum.
Style, history, and beauty on display
Entering the Savoy Automobile Museum’s Great Hall is a jaw-dropping experience. The combination of stunning architecture and the presence of rare, sparkling automobiles can stop visitors in their tracks. Whether people are car enthusiasts or not, there is plenty to hold their attention. They may want to spend a couple of hours looking around or while away the entire day, studying every detail of what the museum has to offer.
The Savoy is divided into several different displays. First, there’s the Savoy Collection. These are classic cars of a wide variety of makes, models, and eras. It’s a semi-permanent collection, meaning some of the automobiles reside full-time at the museum and others rotate in and out of the display for the sake of variety.
American Racing is a collection that showcases race cars, some on loan, some donated. Presently, there’s a drag racer, a Bonneville Salt Flat car, an Indy car, and a 2018 NASCAR (#66), which was driven by Cartersville resident Mark Thompson, who at age 66 was the oldest driver to ever compete at the Daytona 500. A stand-out in this area is one-of-a-kind: Richard Petty’s 1970 Plymouth Superbird.
The Great American Classics collection displays the grand cars from the 20th century’s golden age of automobile design and manufacturing. These cars are long, heavy, ornamented, and audacious. They are cars with attitude, like Auburn Speedster, Packard, Stutz, and Duesenberg.
Sure to become a favorite for visitors are the Woodies: glossy, wood-accented beauties that epitomize a Norman Rockwell image of the American family. These charming station wagons speak of a time when interstate freeways were new, and people set out to explore on long cross-country adventures.

The iconic 1970 Richard Petty Plymouth Superbird