Chrysler Museum to Close at Year-End

The Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills, Mich., will shut down at the end of December, Hemmings Daily reports.

Chrysler Group LLC opened the three-story, 55,000-sq-ft building on its headquarters campus in 1999. It spun off the museum eight years later as the company slid toward bankruptcy, leasing the facility to the museum.

As a non-profit entity, the museum's fortunes slipped from $5.4 million in black ink in 2008 to a loss of $804,000 in 2010 and $658,000 last year, according to Hemmings, which cites the facility's tax reports. The company attributes the slide to "economic factors."

Chrysler tells the newsletter it is buying the museum's exhibits and 67 vintage vehicles to prevent the collection from being scattered. But the facility itself will open only during special events.