During the depths of the Covid pandemic I explored random back roads. For example, one Sunday close to sunset I came across a large building whose front yard was filled with rusting old cars. A modest sign said “Busek Auto Museum.” Across the street was what looked like an old gas station.
I later learned that this was a project of Richard Busek, who has been collecting cars much of his life. At one point he decided that he had so many cars that he needed a place to put them. So he bought an old church and a gas station in Galvin, which is an unincorporated town outside of Centralia, Washington. It was founded in 1910 as a logging settlement (Kiddle, 2025).
Inside the roughly 4,000-square-foot main building is a collection of dozens of classic cars, bikes and motorcycles that “have been lovingly restored — mechanically and cosmetically — by the Centralia native,” according to a feature story in the local newspaper (Marks, 2005).
“Not only do the autos feature sparkling paint jobs and authentically restored detailing, they boast the kind of accessories that Busek takes pride and pleasure in using to add to the period effect,” wrote Judy Marks (2005). “Canvas water bags, vintage copper stills and countless old whiskey barrels make some of the vehicles look as if they came straight out of Al Capone’s Chicago.”
To tour the museum you need to make an appointment. Blogger Robert B. Sullivan (2010) did so and spoke with Busek about his collection, which included a 1929 Ford Model A woody wagon.
“I drive it quite a bit,” Busek said about the car, which he bought from William F. Harrah’s personal collection. However, he has found a Model T in his collection “a little more challenging to drive.” It has three pedals: “shift, reverse and the brake. The throttle is on the steering wheel” (Sullivan, 2010).
If you don’t want to arrange a tour, you can stop by whenever and look at the cars and other artifacts on display at the corner of Galvin Road and Lincoln Creek Road. Show up right before sunset and the place can have a haunting glow.
The museum has the quality of a passionately personal project — and Busek appears to be getting up there in age. However, this has become such an important landmark that I hope the next generation will carry it on.
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RE:SOURCES
- Kiddle; 2025. “Galvin, Washington facts for kids.” Page accessed May 4.
- Marks, Judy; 2005. “Galvin antique car enthusiast unveils collection.” The Chronicle. Posted July 22.
- Sullivan, Robert B.; 2010. “Galvin man gets his hands dirty pursuing his passion.” My Portfolio. Posted March 18.
We belong to a local Mercedes Benz car club and it’s surprisingl how many local private automobile museums there are. My parents belong to three Model A clubs and same thing… all the clubs arrange for tours of places like these. Many of them just look like warehouses but inside it’s the “Garage Mahal” with murals, dioramas, diners, and memorabilia from radiator caps to jukeboxes, pinball machines, music boxes, you name it. Some are run by foundations. Others are owned by families with ties to car dealerships. As an aside, Barry Maguire used to run detailing clinics for the Model A clubs and he was very personable to everyone.
The gas station was built and run by my Grandparents Guy & Myrtle Ingalls. My mom & her 2 sisters grew up in the house attached in the back of the garage. One of the pumps was electric and the other you needed to hand pump the gas into the glass container on top of pump and then it was gravity flow into the car, if I remember correctly that was the premium gas. When I was little my family would visit and stay in there and us kids would fight to pump the gas for customers. Granddad did car repairs as well as bike repairs, clock repairs, gun repairs and rebuilt player pianos.