About Us
In July 1984, a group of individuals in the San Diego area got together to discuss problems that were occurring with their efforts to preserve old trucks and their history. Many of these problems had to do with finding locations to store, restore and maintain them, and appropriately display them to the general public. They were soon joined by other antique and special interest truck enthusiasts in the Orange County, Los Angeles and Riverside, California areas.
As with many other areas in California, the attitude of local government was making it increasingly difficult for anyone interested in old trucks to keep them. Over the years, zoning ordinances were causing a lot of historically important old trucks that should have been preserved to be scrapped. But this was only part of the problem as they saw it.
Their biggest concern was that they were seeing an important part of our history goes unnoticed because too many people just. didn't understand the importance of our commercial transportation heritage. Too many important resources and historical knowledge of the past were being lost. They decided that the proper course of action would be to take a more positive approach to inform and educate the general public about the historic aspects of old trucks, and attempt to create a better understanding and appreciation of old trucks and trucking history. Early on, it was recognized that since our primary goal would be to interest and inform the general public of the important heritage of the motor truck and the commercial transportation industry, it would be necessary to make a truly spectacular and permanent contribution to preserving old trucks and trucking history. From this realization, the idea of the Motor Transport Museum was born.
The museum is housed in the historic Campo Feldspar Mill which is located within the community of Campo, California. The Mill is a landmark, representing some of the Industry that was once located in the historic community of Campo. The museum has been located in the mill since 1987 and has become a home for more than 200 motor transport vehicles. Within the Mill the Motor Transport Museum has a complete auto and fabrication shop and display area where the vehicles are restored and showcased. The Mill is also in the process of restoration, with plans for the addition of new showroom. The recent addition of our new Research building on the property shelters a unique collection of archival reference books, manuals and literature.
