Professionals Serendipity 
Possibly one of the most fascinating attractions to appear in our local area in recent times is the Gold Coast Motor Museum: a timeless love letter to anything with an engine, historical vehicles are on display from one end of these hallowed halls to the other. Carl Amor has managed the museum since its opening sixth months ago, and the story of how it came to be and what goes on under the hood is both heart-warming and fascinating.
by Kyle Hitchmough
What made you want to open the museum?
It was our father’s dream, and he died when I was 16. He had a few cars, but we sold all of those when he died to look after Mum. So, it was always in the back of our heads to do this one day. About 20 years ago, we started collecting cars. It’s taken 3 years to find the property, build the buildings, and everything else.
Where do you source your exhibits from?
We’ve collected them from everywhere. America, England, New Zealand, all over Australia… a wide variety of places. We stumble across new finds, mainly because the stuff we’re interested in is a little bit unusual. We just keep our eye open and if we see something that’s a little bit different, then we generally are interested. We receive donations from people who have either got things we might be interested in. A couple of cars are likely to be donated in the near future.
Are any exhibits more popular than others? Do you have a favourite?
Oh, they’re all interesting depending on which side of the car fence you’re on. We don’t have a lot of one thing. A lot of car museums are one make or one brand, motor racing, something like that. We have motor racing stuff here, we have Buicks, we have Holdens, we have Fords, we have Cadillacs… it’s a great museum for people to come and visit because it doesn’t matter what you like, there’s something here for you. I don’t have a favourite. The cars are like kids, you can’t pick a favourite. You have a favourite one day but it might be not the favourite the next.
What kinds of cars do you look for when acquiring new exhibits?
Unusual, eclectic, slightly different, not your run of the mill car. Something that people can’t go to a car show on the weekend and see. They come in and go “wow, haven’t seen one of those in a long time” or “I’ve never seen one of those”. That’s the sort of thing that we’re looking for.
Do you have to restore the cars after finding them?
Some, yeah. We’ve got a section over here called the barn find area, which is how we found them, unrestored. They still have the dust on them from being stored for years. They will eventually get restored when we get around to it. We do all our own restoration work.
You also have a restaurant attached here. What can you tell us about that?
The restaurant and bar delivers very good food. It’s an extension of the museum, and it’s built out of 106-year-old trusses and 8-year-old wood panels. It’s a very cool visit just on its own. We look forward to having the locals from the area enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinners, which we do Friday and Saturday nights, and we have a great venue for them to come to.
Are there any particular trends in your clientele?
No, not really. A lot of car clubs on the weekend. During the week it’s probably the older generation who are retired and have their weekdays off. They’ll come and have lunch, go for a wander through the museum… I guess the dynamics are older through the week and younger plus clubs and collectors on the weekends.
Are you a local? What’s your opinion on the area and the community?
I’m ten minutes from here, yes. We’re getting a lot of the community coming in. For the locals, this is their new go-to place. They really love it and this area is growing in popularity exponentially. We’re tweaking our menu; we’ve just finished a tweak and that’s towards the locals who are coming on a regular basis. We want to make sure we’re looking after them and this is a go to place for them for breakfast and lunch.
What do you think the motor museum really provides to the area?
What it definitely has done is increased the value of properties in this area. There’s no question about that. We’ve invested a lot of money into this, and we’ve seen property prices increase because of it. The value of this property has increased.
What do you enjoy most about doing this?
The enjoyment that both my brother and I get is people walking out of here with memories and smiles. That’s what it’s about. This is a hobby for us, and apparently our obsession according to our wives. We do it, not for the money but for the pleasure that it’s giving everybody else.
Are you open every day?
We’re closed on Monday and Tuesday, apart from on school holidays. Admission is $20 adult, $15 for seniors, and kids 14 and under are free.
What’s your most memorable experience from your time here?
The thing that stands out and the coolest thing is that we have surpassed what we thought we would do in a year at the six-month mark. The response of the locals and the people of the Gold Coast and Brisbane, even in the middle of COVID, has surpassed our twelve-month projections. That’s astonishing. My accountant thought we were being optimistic with our predictions and now that’s been blown out of the water. Had it not been a passion of ours, we wouldn’t have done it.
We are always looking for new topics for our blog. If there’s something you like to see more of, email your suggestions to: social@professionalsserendipity.com.au, or email the writer at kyle.hitchmough@hotmail.com.
