The nice weather is a boon for everyone: flowers, birds, parents looking to get their kids out of the house.
But you know who benefits the most? Cars and car lovers. Seriously, how can one appreciate a beautiful white-walled tire, a gorgeous chrome bumper, or an immaculate cherry red paint job when it is covered in salt and slush or buried in a foot of snow? Now, with the nice weather, one can really see the benefit of that extra shine job or hear the kick of a muscle car as it ramps up a couple gears.
But now those car aficionados – and all of HRM for that matter – have the opportunity to enjoy their love of chrome and steel 12 months of the year with the opening of Steele Wheels Motor Museum this week in Bayers Lake. Steele Wheels is the culmination of a vision of Steele Auto Group’s leader, Rob Steele, to bring a fun family-friendly classic car experience unique to Halifax.
“The idea began small in the early days of COVID, the idea of opening a classic car dealership that could present rare and collectible cars to people in an accessible way and, still, double as an event space,” explains Steele Wheels Operations Manager, Jennifer Holm. “Over time, it evolved to become a larger family-friendly space with lots of tech, an arcade, and an expanded mezzanine level for meetings and events. Work began in September 2021 to convert the space.”
Located at 66 Otter Lake Court (the former home of Kartbahn Racing), Steele Wheels calls itself a classic and exotic car museum. But the goal is that this 40,000 square foot facility becomes a place for the whole family to enjoy while becoming the HRM’s premium event destination capable of holding state-of-the-art events for up to 500 people. The facility actually held its first event in the winter – The Rolling Stones UNZIPPED – a collection of memorabilia from the career of the legendary rock band, which ran until March 19.
“UNZIPPED was a whirlwind and an adventure,” says Holm “We were alerted to the UNZIPPED opportunity less than two months before our initial target opening date and pivoted to bring it to life here in Halifax; we received a shout out from (Stones guitarist) Ronnie Wood himself and The Rolling Stones even posted on their own social media about UNZIPPED Halifax! Those who attended loved it and people traveled from all over the Maritimes to have a chance to see it before it left Canada and headed back to Europe. Never say never about another exhibit like UNZIPPED, but it would need to be just as unique and exciting.”
The main draw, at least for now, will be the ever-changing collection of classic cars, muscle cars, motorcycles and supercars. Amongst the collection is a 1990 Black Lamborghini Countach, Porsche 911s, and even Scooby Doo’s Mystery Machine among others. Steele Wheels is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm. The cost is an affordable $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and students while children under 12 are free. Meanwhile the building is fully wheelchair accessible and there are food and drink facilities on site.
So give yourself a couple hours as soon as you can and come out to Steele Wheels and find out what HRM’s most epic attraction is all about.
“With educational displays about automotive history, a theatre area, an arcade, and an airstream cafe, Steele Wheels has something for everyone,” says Holm.
