FAIRBANKS - Inside the Golden Heart City is a pearl of great price -- many pearls and beyond price.

I’m talking, of course, about the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum at the Wedgewood Resort. This nationally acclaimed showcase features more than 75 antique classic cars dating from the pre-1900s Hay Motor Vehicle to the 1938 Southwest Chrome Special.

Now, museum aficionados can get their car fix 24/7 with the newly released museum book featuring the autos and an outstanding collection of historical fashion clothing. Written by Nancy DeWitt, researcher and historian for the museum, “Alaska's Fountainhead Collection: Vintage Treads and Threads” is a delightful addition to Alaska historical lore.

The museum arose from owner Tim Cerny’s passion for classic cars, as DeWitt tells us in the Introduction.

Driving a 1951 Dodge Wayfarer in the early 1970s, Cerny learned about antique and classic cars and the history of automobiles in America. As with most hobbies, it began to grow to enormous proportions as Cerny acquired a top-class collection of cars, culminating in his 2007 purchase of the J. Parker Wickham collection.

Now came the classic collector’s dilemma: What to do with all those cars?

Unlike books or figurines, cars take up a lot of space. Fortunately, Cerny’s company, Fountainhead Development, had the land needed to properly display and maintain the collection. In 2008, Fountainhead broke ground for the construction of a car museum in Fairbanks.

While the museum was under construction, Cerny continued his collecting, adding not just cars but knowledge. He chose his cars carefully, looking for their representation of a significant place in history, rareness, or a link to Alaska or Alaska provenance.

This was going to be more than some rich guy’s display of his hobby. He wanted his museum to represent the automotive history of Alaska, to be a testament to the ingenuity of American car manufacturers and designers.

When the museum opened in 2009, the 30,000-squarefoot Fountainhead Museum showcased 78 vehicles, each “exemplifying some of the most fascinating developments in U.S.

automotive history prior to World War II.”

Several are the only models of their kind known to remain, including an 1898 Hay Motor Vehicle, 1906 Compound and 1920 Argonne. Twenty-three autos came from the William Harrah, Parker Wickham, Henry Austin Clark and Al Garganigo collections.

In addition to the cars, the museum also features numerous examples of vintage clothing, collected, researched, and curated by Tim’s wife, Barbara Cerny.

This “extensive assortment of formal wear, everyday fashions, motoring clothes, and accessories” gives the visitor a remarkable glimpse into the way the automobile influenced every part of society. Some of the pieces were actually worn by Alaska’s pioneers, which, juxtaposed with some of the early Alaska automobiles, are truly priceless pieces of history. The 130 items of vintage clothing, including dresses, coats, hats, men’s suits, shoes and accessories, span eight decades in 60 displays.

Along with 70 historic photographs, interactive exhibits and antique movie footage illustrating the challenges faced by Alaska’s pioneering motorists, complete with period music, the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum “illustrate[s] how technology, culture and style evolved as America fell in love with newfound speed and mobility provided by the automobile.”

As if that weren’t enough, these cars, some of them more than 100 years old, actually work. It is not uncommon to see Cerny, his wife, or other Fountainhead staff motoring around town or participating in summer and Golden Days activities in one of these beauties.

While a few of the autos are in their unrestored condition, to “preserve a living example of (the models’) history,” most have been fully restored to factory condition, using original parts, if available.

The book features 42 of these magnificent pieces of art, showcasing their history, their composition, and how they added to the lore of knowledge or furthered the art of automobile technology.

DeWitt’s book is divided into the same eras as those in the museum: Veteran, Brass, Nickel, Classic, and Midget Racers. Beginning with the veterans, DeWitt catalogs the history of the automobile in the U.S. and Alaska. Woven through the text are nuggets of Alaska history and facts, giving the reader a full picture of how Alaska fit into the automotive scene.

The images in the book, for the most part, were photographed by Ronn Murray, and the historic photos come from various collections. The exquisite details of engines, plating, trim and tires are a visual feast.

Once you’ve gotten the car history down, you can move on to the clothing. For those of us who don’t know a gusset from a brocade bustle, it is a learning experience. Following the same timeline as the cars, elegant stitching, detailed embroidery and bright colors make for a fascinating look through the past. As with the autos, Murray’s photos capture the hues and shades and details so well.

My favorite part of the book is at the end, when DeWitt details Alaska’s motoring history, from Robert Sheldon’s 1905 runabout to the passenger stages and passenger cars that quickly put horses and sled dogs out of business.

Although we complain about driving today, we have it so easy compared to our Alaska ancestors.

Conditions then ranged from extreme cold to roads that were roads in name only, being mere muddy trails interspersed with glaciers, rivers and tundra.

Driving cars did not come naturally to Alaskans, used to driving dogs. DeWitt details the “excitement and entertainment” new drivers afforded their friends and neighbors. “…[A]ccidents were frequent and some terrified passengers demanded to be let out after only a few miles.”

Vehicles developed in the Lower 48 weren’t designed for our far below zero temperatures, so motorists had to be repairmen. Ingenuity and resourcefulness were required as much as chains for the tires and belts for the engines.

The highlight for any Alaska history buff at the Fountainhead Museum is Bobby Sheldon’s original, homemade runabout.

Sheldon had never seen a real car, but using pictures from magazines, he constructed a woodenframed vehicle with four wagon wheels, a salvaged marine engine, and used gears and hand-built chain drive. Other components in his little car included bar stool seats, tin and oil cloth hood and cover and a top speed of 15 mph.

Sheldon’s industriousness came about from his wanting to impress a young lady, thinking a modern vehicle would far outshine other suitors’ horse and buggies. He took his young lady for many rides but sadly, did not impress her into marriage.

However, he did drive his way into the history books, including a piece in Ripley’s Believe It or Not. The car belongs to the University of Alaska Museum of the North, on loan to Fountainhead.

The Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum is at Wedgewood Resort, 212 Wedgewood Drive. Call the museum for winter and summer hours. DeWitt’s book is available at the museum.

Libbie Martin is a freelance writer who lives in Fairbanks.

She can be reached at martinlibbie@yahoo.com.

"Alaska’s Fountainhead Collection: Vintage Treads and Threads"

By Nancy DeWitt

Fairbanks Antique Auto Museum

• 2011 $19.95