Nethercutt Collection Tours

WOW! And again … WOW! I may not be an antique car buff, but who cannot be amazed at seeing over 100 cars in mint condition? When I say «mint» I really mean showroom new! This was like being in the 1920 and car shopping. Then they have the music collection. Although they have some stand-​alone instruments like the 2 million dollar piano, most of them are nickelodeons (a full mechanical band that plays like a player piano). Everything is fully functional and they play them for the private tour.
Downside: The curators who give the tours are way over qualified to walk people around and although they smile through their performance, they are not interactive or responsive. Frankly, I feel for them and don’t hold it against the museum which after all is FREE.
Tip: Only go if you have a reserved tour time or you can’t go into the 4 story building that has all the best stuff.
Spoiler Alert: The finally is finding out that when standing in the top floor you are really inside of one of the largest cinema pipe organs in the world. Then it plays … ahhhhhh

I wish I could give this tour six stars because five just doesn’t do it justice! I’m a local and was looking for new things to do in LA and found this jewel after much digging. It’s the most amazing collection of priceless classic cars and man-​made musical instruments. Awe-​inspiring pieces of work you just don’t see anymore. Our tour guide Kyle – who was also a full-​time staffer responsible for the upkeep of the instruments – was so passionate and excited, you just couldn’t help but get sucked into the stories he was sharing about each piece and the era from which they came. The end of the tour was an AMAZING concert demonstration of one of the few Wurlitzer organs built for silent movie theaters. These are the same computer generated sounds you hear in movies today; the difference is these sounds are produced by thousands of man-​made organ pipes that surround you. This tour is perfect for enthusiasts as cars, music, as well as mechanical engineers, and history buffs. Truly breathtaking. A must-​see for locals and visitors alike!

How this could not have five stars is beyond
Me, this is a one of a kind experience that is
Free, gratis, nada, so anyone who complains
Should just shut up! Fabulous cars amazing
Musical instruments, and a great one of a kind Wurlitzer theatre organ! If you can go you should and the car museum across the street is just as amazing! Where else can you see one of a kind automobiles for free!

Unbelievable! A must see for people that like history, music, trains and classic cars. Admission is free but to see the «collection» you need a reservation. There are 2 buildings. What makes a great tour is the tour guide. «Kyle» was 5 star! He knew his stuff, was enthusiastic, upbeat – they need to give him a raise! The volunteers do a great job as well! «Shel» was very helpful. I highly recommend visiting this place! Worth the drive!

Impressive museum of vintage/​antique cars. Make a reservation to see the musical collection across the street, because it is only open during limited viewing hours. Unfortunately they kind of whisk you through and book a lot of visitors so you may not get to see everything that you are interested in BUT it is free to the public so you can return in the future for repeated viewings.
One is on their feet for a long time and I felt bad for the elderly that made up for most of the group, but they do offer limited elevator service to travel up and down the four floors of the building and by the finale, most of the visitors were sitting on the furniture provided.
Enjoyable on many levels, artistic, mechanical and historical.

I love this place! I can’t believe it’s free you just need to make a reservation. I agree it’s longer than it needs to be but I appreciate things like this! They have the most iconic Duesenberg car here it’s gorgeous! They don’t make them like they used to. I took my 13 year old son and his friend and they enjoyed it.
You can sit on any of the fancy chairs during the tours so take advantage of that. Our guide was nice and very informative. I’m planing on returning with family and friends.

If you can appreciate a truly STUNNING collection of classic automobiles and more, then a visit to the Nethercutt Collection /​Museum is an absolute MUST!
Located in a rather non-​descript industrial part of Sylmar, the Nethercutt collection is divided among two buildings, one across the street from the other. One building houses a large part of the car collection, in addition to a 1937 Canadian Pacific steam locomotive and a fully restored private pullmen car out back. This building is open Tuesday — Saturday from 9 to 4:30, parking and admission are always free.
The other (4 story) building across the street houses more of the collection, but it’s not limited to just cars. Admission is also free, but advanced reservations are required for the 2 hour guided tour, available Thursday, Friday & Saturday only.
During the tour you’ll see some very elegant cars displayed in a VERY grand fashion, in addition hundreds of hood ornaments, some Louie the 15^th furniture and a stunning collection of reproducing pianos, music boxes, nickelodeons, orchestrions and other automated mechanical musical instruments!
The Grand Salon features 30 of the finest automobiles from 1910 through the mid 1930’s.
This includes a stunning 1932 Maybach and the 1933 Duesenberg «20 Grand», which is what it actual sold for in 1933 (nearly $ 360K in todays dollars)!!!
As we look around in the Grand Salon, we are treated to the beautiful sound of the Rhapsody in Blue, playing on a grand piano EXACTLY as if George Gershwin were actually sitting there playing it himself!
Up the stairs to the 3^rd floor you will see a very large collection of hood ornaments…
…as well as more beautiful sounds from vintage music boxes on display around the room.
After 10 or 15 minutes we ascend a very unique spiral staircase to the music room on the 4^th floor. As amazing as the car collection is, this IS the highlight of the tour! A number of European orchestrions built between 1905 & 1930 line the walls of the room. These are basically self-​contained, automated orchestras in a box.

A 1918 «Mighty Wurlitzer» Theatre Pipe Organ console stands proudly in the center of the room. This organ console has command of 5000 pipes in chambers at the back of the room, plus numerous other «real» sound effects for the silent movies of the time.
I could go on and on and on about this various items in the music room and how they sound, or the hundreds of rare cars (all are kept in running /​driving condition!). But no, you’ll just have to go experience the Nethercutt Collection /​Museum yourself!

The date of this review is February 28, 2015.
We decided to take our 11 & 12 years old grand children to the Nethercutt Collection. The Museum features antique cars and a restored locomotive. We toured the museum looking at every automobile. There were over 100 cars in the museum. The grand children were fascinated with the Bugatti cars. After two hours of touring inside, museum officials offered an outside tour featuring a locomotive and a restored car.
Admission to the Nethercutt Collection was free and so was parking. I am sure not if they allowed photo taking. I did not ask.
We all had a great afternoon and everyone in my family enjoyed the Nethercutt Collection. We will be back to enjoy it again.

This place was recommended to my fiancé and I by our landlord who actually was buddies with JB Nethercutt in his early years. We called and made an appointment for a Saturday tour and took my finances father here for his 65^th birthday. I expected to see a showroom filled with classic cars but was beyond blown away at all the other collectibles, musical pieces and different makes of cars included in this collection.
We had two tour guides whose main jobs are to research the history of each car and musical piece in the collection to make sure they are restored historically correct and make sure they stay running properly. Knowledgeable is an understatement when describing these two. It was so cool to see the passion they had and absorb all the knowledge they shared about each piece. I wish I could remember their names… But the lady wore glasses and the gentleman was bald. :)
There are three floors in the collection. The main floor is the grand showroom which has rotating cars so you may see different models if you come multiple times. The second floor is filled with various collectibles (hood ornaments, trophies, porcelain dolls). The third floor (my favorite) is the musical floor. I don’t want to give away too much about this floor because it’s quite an experience to walk into when you have no expectations of what you will see/​hear. But, it was an entertaining and amazing experience on that third floor. You gotta see it!!! Also, grandmas and grandpas would enjoy this tour because there are a lot of nostalgic and rare musical instruments that I am sure would put smiles on their faces once they heard again. I will be coming back with my grandma soon!
The only drawback about the tour is that there isn’t enough time allowed to explore each floor of the collection. There are so many things to look at!
After the tour, you can head next door to check out the Merle Norman cosmetics store or head across the street to the actual Museum (no appointment required) to see MORE cars! There is also a train caboose behind the museum that was restored to its historic origins (interior décor and all!) that was an added bonus to be able to walk through.
I can’t say enough great things about visiting the collection and taking the tour. Book an appointment on your next free weekend, you will leave this place with an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia…
Oh, and the best part, it’s FREE!!!

The collections are both amazing and definitely worth seeing. However, the tour could use some improvement. There are far too many people allowed in one tour — it was so crowded that we couldn’t really see a lot of things well. They really should have smaller numbers of people at a time. It made it very uncomfortable, and our elderly parents were struggling to try to see things.

I returned for a Nethercutt Collection tour for the first time in probably a decade, and it was as much fun to return as it was to experience it the first time. I brought two friends who agreed it is truly a hidden gem in Southern California. I can’t imagine stumbling upon this place.
Staff were friendly and really seem to love their jobs. They enjoyed answering questions and giving us a closer look at the cars and instruments.
The collection might not be anything I personally would collect if I had such means, but it’s fascinating to behold. Even to a non-​car-​lover, the vehicles are impressive. It was a great look at [luxury] automotive history. The musical instrument machines are strange but impressive, even if you don’t enjoy their sound.
And for the price of FREE, it can’t be beat.

Amazing, and FREE!. I dont know much about cars, but the three people i took with me go to every car show they can. They said they had never seen such a beautiful collection. Yes it was a tad bit rushed, but i felt priveliged to see this private collection of cars. Every one of those cars and «music boxes» for lack of a better description was beautiful. I already made plans to go again. And it was FREE!

I wish I would’ve read the review by Glamourbomb S. prior to going.
Hated the control freak lady who dragged us through the first 2 floors of awesome autos and bored us on the 3^rd floor.
Loved the nice guy who did the music tour on the 4^th level but, personally, I hated the 3^rd and 4^th floor tours. Which is a tour of tons of collectibles and music history.
My back hurt from stand for 2 hours. I wanted to leave so bad, It was horrible.
I will say that my nephew’s girlfriend said that she liked the 3^rd and 4^th floors the best but, the tour was so long that she was really tired. And she’s 21.
Yes, the first 2 floors of autos were cool. They have the DeLorean «Back to the Future» car here.
So, after you see the cars… leave. It’s very hard to continue to stand for 2 hours especially, if you were at the museum first. There were about 50 people in the tour and EVERYONE was struggling.

Amazing cars and Art

This is my second time at the Nethercutt in a month.
The first time I just went to the museum. The second time I went, I made reservations to see the collection.
When I read the vitriolic review from a guy named Bob on Google dated 7÷6÷11 I thought to myself «Well, there’s two sides to every story.» But now after taking the tour, I kinda have to agree with him just a wee bit.
In a nutshell: the collection is truly lovely, but the employees are extremely rude. The place is not kid friendly as stated but the problem is: everybody is treated like a child. Want to feel young again? Nethercutt is a fountain of youth!
The curator of the collection that led the tour talked to us like we were 4 years old. She even required us to raise our right hand and repeat after her that we wouldn’t touch the cars, turn on the radio, kick the tires, sit on the fenders, etc.
Now, I’ll sign a waiver and agree not to touch these classic cars but I won’t raise my hand and make this ridiculous promise because it’s just extremely condescending. She said it as if to say she were joking but you know she was serious.
It makes you wonder what her average visitor is like that makes her contempt so obvious.
The only employee that seemed cool was the fixer dude that managed the mechanical music device collection. He seemed to have a passion for his work and it showed. He really gave a great presentation on the items on display and lord knows how many times he’s had to repeat his spiel. But like I said: he’s cool and super informative.
Oh, and what that guy Bob said on Google is true: I got yelled at by the sweaty morbidly obese security guard, too. He told me I could not come into the museum with my mono-​pod although there were other folks on the premises shooting photos with tripods.
Maybe the policy changed because like I said, I was here last month and took pictures using my mono-​pod and it was no problem at that time. It’s a classic situation where you put a person in uniform and suddenly they act like they’re Gawd or something. He was a real douche. I mean, I literally was just shooting pictures, minding my own business when he just came at me. I’m OK if the policy has changed but there’s no reason to yell at me. Just say it in a calm way and I’ll comply. Instead, I just left.
At any rate, this is a first class collection marred by a bunch of rude employees. To be fair, these folks have to deal with the public day in and day out and they’re showcasing really rare and valuable items so maybe visitors can be really ridiculous at times. Who knows? I’d say it’s worth the visit but just don’t piss the staff off or you’ll be sorry.