This coming February 3-5, the Wheels Through Time Museum in Maggie Valley, NC is celebrating its first special weekend opening of 2012. The museum will be open Friday-Sunday, from 10:00a.m.-5:00p.m, and will be holding demonstrations and exhibitions of various new machines on display throughout the weekend.

During the special weekend opening, the museum will be honoring the 2011 WTT Annual Motorcycle Raffle Winner, Chris Hemminger from Centreville, MD. Chris was the grand prize winner for the beautifully restored 1936 Harley-Davidson "Knucklehead" Bobber and will be returning to the museum for the first time since he bought the winning ticket in June of 2011 to pick up his new motorcycles. A special presentation will be held on Saturday for Mr. Hemminger, who was notified that he had won the motorcycle while attending his daughters first birthday party.

The museum closed for the 2011 season this past November, and since, it has been a busy few months at Maggie Valley's anchor tourism attraction. Museum staff have been hard at work, taking on several initiatives to enhance the overall museum experience for their visitors. New displays have been created throughout the museum, and several current exhibitions have been expanded upon. New and enhanced lighting has also been installed throughout the museum providing a better visual experience for guests.

The museum's interpretational signage has also been expanded, and in mid April, a new Smartphone component is being introduced, which features a QR (quick response) code that links visitors to the museums vast library of video content on hundreds of the rare and historic machines housed within the facility.

The museum, which officially opens for the 2012 season on March 29, has also announced several preliminary weekend openings prior to their season opener, including a special guest appearance and book signing on March 19th by renowned women's author, Cristine Sommer-Simmons, who is best known for her recent book titled "The American Motorcycle Girls" which highlights over 50 years of women in motorcycling.

For more information on openings and upcoming museum events for 2012, visit www.WheelsThroughTime.com or call the museum at (828) 926-6266.

Congratulations Chris Hemminger from Centreville, MD!!!!!

Chris is the Grand Prize Winner of the 9th Annual Wheels Through Time Motorcycle Raffle.   Its a big day for Chris -- Not only did he win the 1936 Harley-Davidson Knucklehead Bobber, he won it on his daughters very first birthday! 

Chris has already decided that he'll be taking the bike instead of the cash prize, which makes us here at the museum proud.   He'll also be taking home an extremely limited edition painting of the bike titled "Autumn Knuckle" by our good friend and renowned Harley-Davidson Artist, David Uhl.

Congrats Chris!  Now enjoy that motorcycle!!!!

America's Ultimate Barn Find Auction!!!

This November 3-5, 2011, Auctions America by RM in partnership with RM Auctions will be lifting the gavel on one of the Chicago area's best known treasures -- The Lee Hartung Collection.  Billed as the "Ultimate Barn Find Auction", the three-day sale will include over 2500 lots, and will put up for sale literally hundreds of America's rarest and most unique two- and four-wheeled vehicles.

Lee Hartung was a collector's collector.  Based in Glenview, IL, Hartungs collection rested on 4 acres in the middle of the North Chicago suburb, and was amassed over the 60 years since he purchased the property in the 1940s.  For those fortunate enough to get a glimpse of Lee's collection over the past decades -- they were among a select few to step into a time-warp that told a unique story of 20th century Chicago ---- from Lee's point of view.

Dale was one of those fortunate individuals, having stumbled across the collection in the mid-1980s during a trip through the Chicago area to visit a friend.  Immediately, Dale recognized the gravity of the collection, as well as the unique and passionate individual that had made it his life's mission to preserve and amass the history housed within those walls.

"Upon walking on the property, one would have no idea what to expect," said Dale.  "Unless you had been there before, you might even thing that you'd ventured into the wrong place.  But after being greeted by Lee and dropping a few bucks for admission in the donation jar, you knew that you'd stumbled onto one of America's most little known treasures".

"Lee collected everything Chicago." says Dale.  Resting just inside collections main building were over a hundred rare automobiles and motorcycles.  A collection of Ford Model-A and Model-T cars and trucks sat within inches of each other, covered no only in dust, but with various other collections Lee had amassed over his decades of accumulating history, including Early televisions, toys, radios, and hot-rod automotive parts many of which had never been used.  Motorcycles and bicycles lined the walls and sat on shelves twenty feet off the ground, put up by Lee as far back as the 1950s.  Gas pumps, piles hit and miss engines, childrens rides, and vintage outboard motors rested in every corner, having most likely sat since Lee had discovered them who knows how long ago.

Lee had an eye for both rarity and originality.  Many of the machines in the collection had never been restored or modified, including the very rare 1948 One-of-a-kind Veritas and the 1951 Sterling Edwards Roadster, as well as a host of motorcycles including original, unrestored examples of a 1912 Harley, 1910 Pope, numerous four-cylinder Hendersons and Indians, a 1910 Excelsior, 1902 Wagner, and even a 1913 Flying Merkel. 

"Since the first day I met Lee Hartung, I knew right away that I was in the presence of one of the most passionate, yet eccentric people I've ever met," says Dale.  "From that day on, I made it a point to stop by at least once a year, to see the collection grow, sit and share stories, occasionally swap a few parts, and to hear Lee's general outlooks on life.  I always left amazed, and with a new life lesson that only 'The General', as we called him, could teach."

As fate would have it, Lee Hartung passed away in May of 2011.  "It was a very sad day," says Dale, "as a good friend and one of the world's most interesting and passionate collectors was gone forever."

While we may never see the likes of another Lee Hartung, nearly ever piece of his collection will have the opportunity to live on, as RM Auctions/Auctions America has announced a 3-day sale of the collection on November 3-5, 2011, with a total of over 2500 lots, and a special two-day preview for those interested in attending.

Since RM's announcement, Dale has been hard at work helping to uncover, identify and value many of the machines that will be up for bid, as well as lending his particular expertise in breathing a little life back into several of the motorcycles and autos for the first time in ages.

Watch a few of the videos to see first-hand the magnitude of the Lee Hartung Collection, and even catch Dale and crew get a few of the bikes running for the first time in decades.

For more information on the Lee Hartung Estate Auction, visit RM Auctions Website!