Tampa Bay Automobile Museum showcases cars from as far as Czechoslovakia

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. - Off the beaten path in Pinellas Park is a historical collection of vehicles.

The Tampa Bay Automobile Museum has been around since 2005. Inside is a fascinating collection of historic automobiles from the 20th century. The collection is focused on cars which demonstrate special creativity and imagination in their history and engineering.

This includes rare, early front-wheel drive cars, Tatra rear engine cars, rear-engine Mercedes-Benz, Citroën cars, the only surviving car by French engineer Émile Claveau, and a unique working full-scale replica of the first self-propelled mechanical vehicle, the "Fardier à vapeur" of Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot. 

The museum is next door to its parent company, Polypack, a manufacturer of automatic packing machinery, according to the museum's website. Alain Cerf is the owner, who bought his first "vintage car" in the 1950s -- and the rest is history.

LINK: Learn more about the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum by visiting their website.