From Chic Silber #1

Another Sarasota Attraction May Be Lost The museum is currently threatened to lose their current home due to a decision by New College of Sarasota to terminate the lease arrangement that was extended in 2006 when the building and the surrounding property was sold by the airport authority to the college. History of the Sarasota Car Museum Brothers, Herbert and Bob Horn, decided that Sarasota would be a perfect place for a car Museum. The Horn’s collection of cars began as their hobby. They were in the farm and school equipment business based in Fort Dodge, Iowa. They had been collecting old cars and restoring them for years. After visiting Sarasota in the early 1950s, the Horns decided to shift their attention totally to the cars. In March of 1953, "Horns’ Cars of Yesterday" opened. Over the next twelve years, the Horns expanded the collection and enlarged the museum to include a Music Box Arcade and a Nickelodeon Room. In 1967, the Horns sold the museum to Walter Bellm, founder and president of Bellm Freight Lines, a trucking company based in St. Louis, Missouri. Bellm was an active collector of antique cars and music pieces, and had a personal collection of more than 20 antique cars. He enlarged the building to accommodate his growing collection. Martin Godbey purchased the Museum and auto collection from Mr. Bellm in July of 1997.