Chrysler Car Museum to Close

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV next month will permanently close the Walter P. Chrysler Museum and convert the space into offices.

The carmaker reopened the 55,000-sq-ft museum, which is located at its Auburn Hills, Mich., campus, this summer on rotating weekends. It had been shuttered for more than three years due to financial constraints.

FCA says it will preserve and showcase the 65 vehicles currently on display at the museum—along with another 250 historic models that were periodically rotated in—at the Chrysler Technology Center in Auburn Hills and other company facilities throughout North America. The carmaker also plans to display the vehicles at select internal and public events in coming years.

The collection includes vintage models from Chrysler, DeSoto, Hudson, Jeep, Nash, Plymouth, Rambler and Willys-Overland.

The three-story museum opened in 1999 when Chrysler was owned by Daimler AG. The layout features a two-story atrium, vehicle displays and information about company founder Walter Chrysler, who died in 1940.

About 90,000 people per year visited the museum until its temporary closure in 2012. Dec. 17-18 will be the final weekend the museum is open.