History & Heritage

Keeping the history and heritage of the automobile alive is an important defense and argument for its continued enjoyment and protection in the future. This is important as the automotive industry faces new challenges – including stricter emissions regulations, safety and fuel-economy standards – which together push the automobile closer to a utilitarian role and further away from its onetime role as a symbol of optimism, progress and success.  Drawing upon our industrial heritage and emphasizing the engineering, styling, social and cultural significance of these vehicles will yield a wider appreciation for them as modern transportation becomes ever more homogenized and regulated.

Numerous museums, collections, and personal and public libraries have already preserved every stage of automotive history, and the Historic Vehicle Association supports many of them. As such, the broader mission of the History & Heritage Commission is to actively promote the artistic, technological, social and economic significance of historic vehicles, ensuring that they remain visible, valuable and recognized as important parts of American and Canadian culture – today and in the long-term.

Among the current projects of the History & Heritage Commission is an economic-impact study of the historic vehicle hobby, along with efforts to identify and interconnect independent libraries, museums and reference centers with significant historic-vehicle resources.

For more information about the HVA History and Heritage Commission, contact historyheritage@historicvehicle.org