By Lucas Phan

Deutsche Marques is an all German car show that features everything from daily drivers to weekend treasures. 2019 marked the 8^th annual Deutsche Marques and five major brands (Porsche, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Volkswagen) are very well presented. Porsche used to be the largest group but BMW has taken over the title this time as the Marques’ largest group.

Deutsche Marques is held at the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan. The Gilmore Car Museum started in early 1960s and it is North America’s largest auto museum with over 190,000 sq.ft. of exhibit space. The museum features over 400 vehicles from the Ford Model T to vintage Rolls Royce, Duesenberg, Pierce-Arrow, Cadillac, Lincoln and many more models. There are also over 8000 transportation artifacts including vintage hood ornaments, pedals cars and the Rolls Royce used in Disney’s Gnome-Mobile movie.

I wanted to visit the Gilmore Car Museum and attend Deutsche Marques for a while, but finding an excuse had been particularly hard since it always coincides with 4^th of July family vacation time. For some reason, my wife did not schedule anything this year and left it up to me. I suggested a four day trip to the Grand Rapids/Saugatuck-Douglas/Kalamazoo area with one sleep-in/relaxing day for me to attend the Deutsche Marques and visit the Gilmore Car Museum.

The drive from Grand Rapids to Hickory Corners were great, many corners with elevation changes and smooth (mostly) roads woke my soul that morning. The event was very well organized with each brand/marque grouped together. Porsche’s specific parking area was located near the 1930s vintage Shell gas station with iconic green Porsche 356 and 991.2 GT3 Touring models parked right in front of the gas pumps. Almost all Porsche models were represented this year, from 356s all the way to latest generation Porsches could be seen here.

It was an incredible experience. You can easily spend the entire day or two socializing, enjoying the German car display and admiring the museum’s vintage vehicle collection. I wish I could have spent more time there this year, but that’s what next year is for, right?

More Porsches in the parking and display area	Muscle Car exhibit at the Gilmore Car Museum
Porsche 356 and GT3 Touring models in front of the iconic Shell Station	Porsche parking and display area
Another view of the Porsche parking and display area	1886 Benz replica in the center with an iconic 300SL on the left
Gilmore Car Museum vintage automobile exhibit