MELBOURNE, Fla. – Whenever there’s a cool car show or museum event happening in Florida, you can bet that our own super-enthusiast and roving photographer, Jeff Burgy, either knows about it or will be there. That’s precisely how we were able to snag this special inside peek at Florida’s American Muscle Car Museum for you. Burgy happened to be attending a car show at the private museum last year (we’ll cover that for you in a later Quick Look) and was able to head inside with his trusty camera in hand to check out the Fords on display there.

Located in Melbourne, Florida, this new, 123,000 square-foot complex houses the collection of Mark Pieloch. Mark has been a car enthusiast for over 40 years and has amassed over 325 cars that range from classic 1950’s to 1970’s American muscle cars, to modern “sophisticated” muscle like a 2019 Ford GT. 

The 501(c)3 museum, located on 42 acres in Melbourne, includes a 90,000 square-foot vehicle display area, an 18,000 square-foot showroom, and an adjacent 15,000 square foot maintenance and restoration facility for the collection. It is a private museum that is not open to the public -- but is open to host numerous non-profit fundraisers, car activities and educational tours for assisted living communities and school-age children.

The collection itself, in addition to the cars, has vintage balloon tire bicycles, auto-related neon signs, antique gas pumps, jukeboxes, pedal cars, vintage soda coolers, motorcycles, and much more. Within the car collection itself, there are 100-plus cars with less than 100 original miles, 40-plus cars with between 100 and 999 original miles, and 30-plus cars with between 1,000 to 9,999 original miles. As you stroll through the museum you will literally see the "Who's Who" of American Muscle cars. The collection also boasts over 80 First Place national show winners, some 50 Indianapolis 500 Pace Cars and Trucks and more than 35 Shelby’s.

Burgy, a longtime Shelby enthusiast and SAAC-MCR (Motor City Region) club founder, offered us his photos from his time inside the American Muscle Car Museum, so we picked some shots of Shelby’s and classic Fords for you to enjoy in the gallery below:

FORD PERFORMANCE PHOTOS / COURTESY JEFF BURGY