Chicago’s Greatest Car Museum Will Be Closing And Selling Off Over 290 Incredible Cars This Fall. Check Them Out

This September, car enthusiasts will have a chance to own some incredible pieces of automotive history. After nearly 15 years of existence, Chicago’s iconic Klairmont Kollections will be closing its doors on September 14, 2025. A handful of days later, on September 19, the museum’s incredible collection of about 295 cars will roll across the Mecum Auctions block. Along with them will be over 1,000 pieces of road art. It’s a sad end for one of the greatest car collections in America, but the historic cars will get to live on with collectors.

I visited the Klairmont Kollections for the first time last year, and I was simply blown away. This museum is nestled between the sprawl of America’s Second City, and when you approach the Klairmont Kollections building, it doesn’t even look that special. Then I stepped inside and discovered cars that I did not know even existed. I found other cars that I thought had been long lost to time. While the Klairmont Kollections might not have the eclectic nature of a place like the fabled Lane Motor Museum, this museum has historic cars that you are unlikely to ever see again.

Chicago car enthusiasts noticed something odd about the Klairmont Kollections earlier this summer. The museum’s site had a statement saying: “We apologize for the inconvenience, but the museum is closed until further notice.” Meanwhile, the museum’s social media accounts had been deactivated, and the official website link died. The Klairmont Kollections is a staple of Chicago car culture, and everyone wanted to know what was going on. As it turns out, the museum is preparing to sell its collection in a gigantic Mecum auction. The museum is slated to reopen, just in time to close for good.

This is all very sad. I love reading and writing about car and motorcycle history. There are innumerable vehicles that would simply not exist anymore had it not been for museums preserving their history. These vehicles aren’t just rubber and steel, but they tell stories, and transportation museums keep that history alive for generations to learn about.

The Klairmont has cars that you just don’t see anymore, like a 1947 Tatra T87 and icons like a replica Tucker ’48. The museum even has a slew of bombastic autos that never entered production, like the 1962 Vortex X-2000.

I wrote about that car when I last toured the museum:

Jerry Woodward, one of the greatest creative car builders in the U.S., started with a 1952 Lincoln V8, designed it for a 3-wheel design, a delta shape, and other futuristic features. It took Woodward six years to assembler and complete the design of this Vortex, building this vehicle for the streets and highways of Utah.

Jerry Woodward claimed the vehicle can take a 90-degree turn at 60 mph, though there is no proof of this. The Vortex has a tubular steel frame in the front of the vehicle for safety purposes, the headrests contain radio and TV speakers, electric fans are linked to the V8 engines with thermostatically controlled temperatures.

Only one Vortex was ever made, and it was originally named the X1970-Vortex. It was renamed to the X-2000 to emphasize that the vehicle was a look into the future at the time. It’s been in the Klairmont collection since 2013, and it’s one of the vehicles slated to roll across the auction block. This is a car that you just won’t see anywhere else,e and who knows if it’ll ever be seen again once it gets sold to a collector.

This is going to be the case with so many of the rare vehicles contained within the Klairmont Kollections. Thankfully, the public will have one last shot to get a look at these fine rides. I will try to be one of those people and take one last look at a legendary collection before it’s sold off.  I might even try to buy something, too.

There isn’t yet a public-facing explanation for why the museum is closing, but it likely has to do with the fallout of its founder’s passing. Larry M. Klairmont passed in 2021 after a life of thrilling adventures, and his museum, which was officially opened to the public in 2018, was passed on to his family. Now, Klairmont’s collection and legacy are being passed on to other enthusiasts.

Klairmont’s story sounds like the American dream. Here’s what I wrote last year:

Larry M. Klairmont was born in 1926 to a poor family. As a boy, he worked odd jobs selling shoes and delivering Chinese food to help support his family. At 16, he enlisted in the military and found himself on the battlegrounds in World War II. Reportedly, Klairmont fought in the deadly Iwo Jima and Saipan battles. He came out of the other end of his military service with two Purple Hearts, two Silver Stars, and a Bronze Star.

In 1952, Klairmont was able to take advantage of America’s post-war boom by opening the famed Imperial Cleaners. The enterprise quickly grew to 100 stores and for a decade was Chicago’s largest dry cleaning business. It wasn’t long before Klairmont found a new passion: Real estate. Klairmont started by buying the oldest building in Highland Park and then refurbishing it. That became a whole business under the name of Imperial Realty Company. Klairmont would find historic buildings in and around Chicago, restore them, and put them on the market. If you live in northern Illinois, chances are you continue to see Imperial Realty everywhere. The company leases space to such big names as Dollar Tree, Walmart, and Subway.

The fortunes from Klairmont’s businesses allowed him to donate to charitable causes, but also to live his childhood dream of collecting fascinating cars. According to the Chicago Tribune, Klairmont studied cars while making his Chinese food delivery runs as a kid. When he returned home from the war, his first car was a 1935 Plymouth. That was only the start. Later, he’d buy a 1951 Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn. The Chicago Tribune notes that Klairmont hated how the car drove and how it didn’t even have heat or air-conditioning, but people around Chicago couldn’t get enough of his $9,000 Rolls. Klairmont soon learned that some cars could be investments as his Rolls-Royce went from being a relatively inexpensive car to being worth $125,000 or more.

Like many car enthusiasts, Klairmont became hooked and began collecting tons of cars that he enjoyed with his wife, Elaine, for an incredible 57 years. Elaine would pass in 2008, and two years later, Klairmont met Joyce Oberlander.

At the time, Klairmont had been sitting on a huge collection of 600 cars, which were stored in Klairmont’s numerous properties spread out all over Chicagoland. Oberlander, who would become the co-creator of the Klairmont Kollections, suggested that Klairmont put all of his cars in one place. Klairmont apparently loved this idea and chose a 100,000-square-foot building that used to be a printing facility. The Klairmont Kollections was established in 2011, and at first, it was open to charities and community groups. Then, the Kollections became a non-profit museum and fully opened to the public.

How awesome is the Klairmont Kollections? It hasn’t even been fully open to the public for a decade, yet, for many enthusiasts, it’s easily one of the coolest museums in the nation. I’m with those people. Sadly, all great things come to an end, and Chicago will miss the Klairmont.

The Auction

Thankfully, while the museum will be closing, Klairmont’s legendary collection will go on. Mecum is hosting the Larry’s Legacy: From the Larry Klairmont Collection auction on September 19, ending on September 21. Mecum says:

This auction celebrates the lasting impact of the late Larry Klairmont, whose lifelong passion for preserving automotive history led to the creation of one of the most extraordinary car museums in the country. Headlining the collection is the legendary Golden Sahara II, a futuristic custom car icon that captivated America’s imagination in the late 1950s, and the one-of-a-kind 1926 Rickenbacker Eight Super Sport that is believed to be the only example still extant today.

With an incredible array of rare, unique, and historically significant automobiles and collectibles, the Larry’s Legacy auction will stand as a fitting tribute to Larry Klairmont’s memory and vision, offering collectors and enthusiasts the opportunity to own a piece of his remarkable story.

Mecum has published the incredible list of cars that will be sold next month, and here are some highlights. Each caption contains a link with more information.

2002 Lincoln Continental Concept Sedan

1937 American Bantam Frankskar Roadster

1947 Tatra T87

If you love your vehicles with fewer than three wheels, you’re in luck, because Klairmont loved collecting vintage Vespas. A ton of them will be crossing the auction block, and I have my eyes on a few of them.

Nearly all of the vehicles in the Klairmont Kollections are in spectacular condition. These are cars, microcars, and scooters that pretty much don’t exist anymore in the shape that you’ll find them in the Klairmont. Sadly, this means that it’s unlikely that many of these vehicles will go for prices that the average enthusiast can afford. If that sounds like you, the museum is also selling off over 1,000 pieces of road art. Those pieces, as well as the little scooters, will probably go for prices that you and I should be able to pick up.

As of right now, the Klairmont Kollections museum is in a weird state. It’s officially no longer open. However, the museum is slated to crack open its doors for just two more days, September 13 and September 14. It’s that time, Mecum says, when bidders will be able to see the vehicles in person before the auction. These two days will also be the final two days that the museum will ever be open to the public before its permanent closure. Ticket sales from the final two days will benefit the Larry’s Legacy Foundation. Mecum says to visit its Larry’s Legacy: From the Larry Klairmont Collection page, as more details will be added soon.

So, if you want to catch the greatest car collection in Chicago and one of the best museums in the nation, you have only two days left to see it. I’m considering hosting an Autopian meetup that weekend, so stay tuned for more information.