• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Forum
  • Design Studio
  • Upholstery Jobs
  • Newsletter
  • Sponsors

The Hog Ring

Auto Upholstery Community

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Where to Find the Owner’s Manual for a Classic Car

December 19, 2019 By Nadeem Muaddi

The Hog Ring - Heres Where to Find Owners Manuals for Classic Cars

Are you restoring a classic car and need the original owner’s manual to ensure the upholstery is period correct?

Few people know that the Free Library of Philadelphia has the world’s largest collection of automobile owners’ manuals, technical bulletins, photographs, books, journals, advertising literature and historic license plates. It’s called the “Automobile Reference Collection.”

But before you apply for a library card, know that it’s moving.

The library just announced that it’s selling the entire collection to the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Southwest Philadelphia and the Antique Automobile Club of America Library (AACA) in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

The Hog Ring - Heres Where to Find Owners Manuals for Classic Cars

Derick Dreher, vice president of special collections for the library, said the two organizations are better equipped to manage the collection of more than 100,000 reference items — which have been “hiding in plain sight for the last 60 years” without an audience.

The Simeone Foundation and AACA, which purchased the collection for $1 million, will catalog, digitize and make it fully accessible to the public for free.

The organizations couldn’t be more ecstatic to own the collection.

“It’s the single best collection of owners’ manuals in the world,” Steve Moskowitz of the AACA, told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “For people who own classic cars, that’s a great resource.”

The Hog Ring - Heres Where to Find Owners Manuals for Classic Cars

“They need factory documentation. That’s the key. You’ve got to be very careful not to rely on Wikipedia, so to speak, because that could be a compilation [of potentially unvetted information],” he added.

“If you’ve got the factory brochures and the actual service manuals, you’ve got something that literally and definitively tells you what that car should look like and how it should be equipped. If you get it right from the horse’s mouth, you can be sure you’re doing the right thing.”

The collection will be renamed the “Thomas McKean Collection,” after the original collector, and transferred to the two organizations early next year.

Filed Under: Archive, Industry History, THR Favorites Tagged With: Antique Automobile Club of America Library, Auto Trim, Auto Upholstery, Automobile Reference Collection, Car Interior, Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum, Thomas McKean Collection

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Fayyaz says

    December 20, 2019 at 2:07 pm

    When the catlouge will be ready pls let me know
    Thanks

  2. Rob Ernst says

    May 11, 2021 at 6:17 pm

    Just tried to sign up for the Free Library of Philadelphia and you have to be a resident of PA to sign up. Bummer

Primary Sidebar

anal porno bangbros rus porno yaşlı porno konulu porno olgun porno porno izle sarışın porno bakire sex 69 porno

THR Sponsors

NC Sewing Machines
Miami Corporation - Right Rail Ad 3
  • Big Z Fabric
  • Douglass Interior Products
  • Albright's Supply
  • Keyston Bros
  • Leather Craft
  • Hyde Leather
  • OEM+ Banner Ad - The Hog Ring

THR Favorites

The Problem With DIY Upholstery

Ever have a customer come to your shop with a … [more] about The Problem With DIY Upholstery

The Hog Ring - 5 Gorgeously Trimmed Motorcycle Helmets

5 Gorgeously Trimmed Motorcycle Helmets

You won't find a lot of auto upholstery shops … [more] about 5 Gorgeously Trimmed Motorcycle Helmets

Auto Upholstery - The Hog Ring - Stitches Custom Auto Upholstery

Shop Profile: Stitches Custom Upholstery

Tony Miller of Stitches Custom Auto … [more] about Shop Profile: Stitches Custom Upholstery

The Hog Ring - Sid Chavers Honors Shops with Stitch of Excellence Award

Sid Chavers Honors Trimmers with an Award

Sid Chavers is a legend in the craft of auto … [more] about Sid Chavers Honors Trimmers with an Award

Auto Upholstery - The Hog Ring - Dodge Challenger Vinyl Top

Hot or Not? Dodge Challenger Vinyl Tops

To honor the first-generation Dodge … [more] about Hot or Not? Dodge Challenger Vinyl Tops

The Hog Ring - Meet the Trimmers Behind Auto Kustoms

Meet the Trimmers Behind Auto Kustoms

Although our "Meet the Trimmer" series … [more] about Meet the Trimmers Behind Auto Kustoms

Categories

Footer

Recent Articles

  • From Factory Match to Full Custom: LEATHER CRAFT Has It Covered
  • JLR Uses Robots to Simulate 10 Years of Seat Wear in Days
  • Trimmer James Lloyd Wheeler Dies at 75
  • Apex Leather Launches Custom Color Program
  • Sewing Machines, Seat Covers and Badass Women: A Look Back in Time

Recent Comments

  • Edward Munday on Hidden Mouse Nest? How to Charge for the Extra Dirty Work
  • Jack on Keyston Bros. Acquires DLT Corporation
  • Brodie Smith on Aston Martin Just Introduced a New Convertible DB12
  • THE CAPTAIN on 6 Tips for Turning Callers into Customers
  • Dmei on Star Wars Seat Covers are ‘So Wizard’

Advertise With Us!

We're always looking for companies to collaborate with. Watch this short video about the benefits of sponsorship and then email us to say hi.

Copyright © 2025 · Magazine Pro On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in