Dezer Auto Museum
Miami, Florida
Allante member also Classic Car Enthusiast
I have to travel as a part of my day job and on a recent trip to Miami I flew in a day early to actually spend some quality time, not working. I did this because I had recently read an article online about a very large automobile collection very near to several of my Cruise Line customers.
Frankly I had no idea what to expect other than what I'd read about the auto museum. I recall reading the brief article and thinking to myself, "I'm in Miami quite often on business l need to check this out". Several weeks later the opportunity afforded itself, a Monday morning meeting was in order. I would have to travel Sunday regardless; so why not leave earlier in the day and check this thing out. What I had learned from the online article was there were over 1,000 cars in the Dezer Museum in North Miami including a 1948 Ford from Grease, a 1959 Cadillac from Ghostbusters, a 1981 DeLorean from Back to the Future, an original Batmobile, the Land Rover from Skyfall, and a T-55 Soviet tank from GoldenEye. That was enough for this car enthusiast to want to make the trip.
So I booked a flight which had me in Miami by noon. I did a quick google search for the museum, plugged the adress into my smartphone using google maps and off I went. Now I'll admit a little nervousness as I dutifully followed the instructions and found myself, what seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. Yes, that is possible in Miami and nowhere is far better than finding yourself in some of the seedier parts of Miami if your a gringo like myself. But alas I turned the corner and found this very non-descript set of buildings with little signage other than the name painted on the side of a very large pair of buildings in what felt like an industrial park. So I parked my rental car and went into one of the two buildings that had the infamous phrase "Admission" painted on a sign over the door. I entered the building and immediately to my right was one of those half doors you usually think of as a being coat closet. A young girl greeted me with a smile and asked, would I be interested in seeing the building with classic cars or the building which held the Hollywood cars of the stars? I had the afternoon and so I purchased the whole enchilada, at which point I was faced with where should I start?
And so I chose first to view the classic car collection. My journey started by walking past an empty but fully staffed 50's style diner, replete with a single staffer, whom I was certain played the role of both server, chief cook and bottle washer. I wasn't alone though, no there in one of the booth's were two fully dressed mannequins one replete with a vintage Maxi skirt replete with puppy. The other mannequin reminded me of "the Fonz" although not the face. This was the first of many mannequins to come. So many in fact, I'd realized this was not only an auto collection, but perhaps a former mannequin factory. So to make a long story a little shorter I'll share the following. There was a nice gentlemen dressed as and clearly playing the role of a security officer. He was very kind and asked me if I'd ever been before. I explained that I had not, how I'd come to be there and admitted I had no idea why this museum was named the Dezer Museum.
It was then that I learned a little about Michael Dezer. Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, the son of a bus driver and a man who had served in the Israeli Air Force. In 1962, he immigrated to the U.S. where he went to night school and worked in advertising before starting a typesetting business. He then started investing in real estate founding Dezer Properties in New York City which focused on the Chelsea neighborhood. Chelsea was then transitioning into an arts community from its former identity as a manufacturing center. In the 1980s, Dezer purchased a good deal of ocean front property in Miami and in partnership with Donald Trump, developed numerous properties including the $900 million Trump Towers, the $600 million Trump Grande Ocean Resort and Residences and the $166 million Trump International Hotel and Tower in Fort Lauderdale. As of 2013, Dezer owns and manages 1.3 million square feet of commercial space in Chelsea and is also the landlord of the luxury auto retailer Manhattan Motorcars. This security guard was a fountain of knowledge and it helped me put things into perspective as I followed the yellow arrows on a self guided walking tour through each of the two buildings.
I will say this, those two buildings held more than 1000 cars' and mannequins combined, they were filled with history. Bicycles, Motor Bicycles, Museum quality artworks galore, Military vehicles and yes, even Airplanes!
Both buildings were well lit with the most obnoxious flourescent lighting you could possibly imagine. It made photographing the collection very difficult, which made me wonder if the lighting was intentional. To make matters worse, I hadn't brought a professional camera (my Nikon!) and so the photographs I've included with this article are compliments of my smartphone.
One final note. If you ever find yourself in Miami and have some free time, (I suggest 3 hours minimum), do yourself a favor, find this place and make a visit. You will be astounded by what you see. As you'll see in the photographs, I did find a single Allante in the collection. It however wasn't in as fine of shape as the other long list of Cadillacs I came across in each of the two buildings.
Have a Happy Allante Top Down Day!
Thomas B.
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