Vanderbilt Museum selling 1937 Chrysler

The Chrysler Corp. founder commissioned it. The Vanderbilt Museum obtained it. Now the one-of-a-kind 1937 Imperial Town Car can be yours -- for a minimum bid of $125,000.

The car, made of handworked aluminum and with leather interior, has been put up for sale by the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum to raise funds for an endowment to maintain its archives, collections and exhibitions.

Walter P. Chrysler commissioned the car for his daughter, Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, and had her initials inscribed on its rear doors. It is 19 feet long, weighs 8,000 pounds and seats seven. It comes with a 130-horsepower 8-cylinder engine and a 3-speed manual transmission. The odometer reads 25,501 miles. It represents "a masterpiece of Art Deco automotive design," according to the museum's prospectus.

But the car has been parked out of public view for years. Its once-shiny black paint is faded and peeling, window glass has cracked and portions of the leather interior have peeled away.

"We don't have the means to restore it," museum interim executive director Lance Reinheimer said. "Even if we did, we don't have the place to exhibit it. We're doing the car really an injustice by having it sit."

Qualified bids will be accepted through Dec. 23. Reinheimer said museum officials recently had the car appraised. Estimates of its value ranged from $75,000 to $307,000.

Huntington resident Harry Gilbert donated the car to the museum in 1959 and it was displayed for a few years before being moved to the Long Island Automotive Museum in Southampton. It returned to the Vanderbilt in 1992.

Establishing a new endowment with the sale proceeds will enable the museum to preserve its existing collection of sea creatures and African animals, hunting weapons and shields, paintings, furniture and draperies that date to the late 1920s.

"They've been untouched, unchanged, unrestored since then," Reinheimer said. "Those things need to be cleaned and cared for, and we haven't done that."

The museum, on Little Neck Road in Centerport, is housed in the early 1900s mansion of William K. Vanderbilt II. In addition to its marine and natural history exhibits, the museum operates a planetarium, which is closed until spring for renovations.

Museum officials have looked at new ways to increase revenue, including hosting weddings and other special events, and exploring the possibility of installing a restaurant, cafe and cell tower on the property.

The Vanderbilt museum's efforts to raise funds comes as other Long Island museums struggle under a weak economy and budget cuts. Earlier this month, Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano reversed plans to close two museums. But the Garvies Point museum in Glen Cove and Tackapausha in Seaford still must cut their operating hours and lay off some workers. In October, Huntington arts supporters urged the town board to reduced funding cuts to several nonprofits, including museums and historical societies.

Reinheimer said hard times or not, selling the car is the right thing do.

"This car is rolling art and we can't take care of it," he said. "It's important to find the proper person to restore it and bring it back to the glory it deserves."