Tampa museum honors engineers behind vintage, rare autos

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — Say hello to the 1937 Peugeot, with an overhead cam and 4-cylinder engine.

It’s the first of about 100 cars in Olivier Cerf’s family collection — now the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum.

Each vehicle is here for a reason.

“It has to be about engineering and the man behind the car,” said Cerf.

And it had to leave a mark in its time, like the winner of the Le Mans — the famous 24-hour race in France.

“This car, the engine has never been rebuilt. And this is the original car, and it still runs today,” said Olivier.

Andy Kinworthy is one of the mechanics who keeps engines purring.

Of course, his whip is a fully restored vintage baby.

He can make anything go fast.

And he can explain all of it to visitors.

“I love blowing their mind and showing them how things worked,” said Kinworthy.

One of his current projects is working on a rare 1909 Elmore two-stroke.

“Not like a 4-stroke engine like a regular car. It’s like a lawnmower, a weed eater—something like that,” said Kinworthy.

Back to that 1937 Peugeot — the car that started all this. In 1957, Cerf’s dad Alain bought it at a police auction in Paris.

“You know he couldn’t afford a new car. So you know that was a used car back then,” explained Cerf.

What’s it worth now? For Cerf — it’s priceless.