RELEASE DATE: November 28, 2025
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New Historical Interactive Exhibits Installed at Sloan Museum's Durant Vehicle Gallery
~New Soap Box Derby and Community Car Exhibits Reinforce Historical Contributions of Flint Vehicle City ~ Flint, MI – Two new interactive exhibits in Sloan Museum's Durant Gallery help tell the history of Flint's engineering and automotive contributions.
A history of The Flint Soap Box Derby program incorporates two derby race cars from Sloan's artifact collection, a miniature race track where kids can create and race toy cars, a touchscreen interactive, and the names of all the Flint area winners starting in 1936. The exhibit was supported financially by philanthropist Steven Katz.
"The Flint Soapbox derby was a major part of the community's history. It provided great educational opportunities to area youth to learn about engineering and helped those that competed in it develop skills that they would use later in life,” stated Katz. "This exhibit is dedicated to the many men, women, public officials, sponsors, and the thousands of participants who supported the Flint Soap Box Derby program over the years. Without their support and time, the success and duration of the program would not have been possible," added Katz.
Flint was an early adopter of gravity powered racing starting in 1936 when racing took place off Cadillac Street. Rules stipulated how boys ages 11-13 would build their own race carts and race them. In 1969, Flint's Mayor Donald R. Cronin created a permanent Soap Box Derby track called The Cronin Derby Downs behind the former Southwestern High School near Van Slyke Road. It was one of the few permanent tracks in Michigan. By 1971, girls were invited to participate as well. Racing ended in Flint in 1997, but through recent efforts of Mayor Cronin's grandson, Kevin Cronin, the Flint Soap Box Derby races returned in 2019. According to Cronin, restoration of Cronin Derby Downs will allow a return to that historic site in spring 2026.
Another new exhibit highlighting the passion for classic cars and automotive ingenuity is the Community Cars exhibit. This new display area in the Durant Gallery showcases three cars and the owners who have meticulously preserved their historic vehicles. The1965 Pontiac GTO owned by Keith Seymore, 1988 Pontiac Fiero GT owned by Joe & Colleen Grathoff, and 1997 Buick Skylark Custom owned by Thomas Nadolski were selected from all applicants to be displayed for one year alongside Sloan's rare historical vehicle collection. Visitors to the Durant Gallery can also watch the classic car owners' oral histories through a video kiosk. Applications are being accepted for the next three vehicles to go on display in 2026. Interested vehicle owners should go here to complete an online application. The Community Cars exhibit was made possible by funding from the Margaret Dunning Foundation.
Both new exhibits can be seen with general admission to Sloan Museum of Discovery during regular business hours Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday Noon-5 p.m. General admission is free to Genesee County residents due to the Arts Education & Cultural Education Millage voters passed in 2018. Learn more about Sloan Museum’s historical vehicle gallery at SloanLongway.org/DurantVehicleGallery.
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About Sloan Museum of Discovery & Longway Planetarium
Sloan Museum of Discovery and Longway Planetarium are overseen by the non-profit Flint Institute of Science and History (F.I.S.H.) with a shared mission to engage communities on a learning journey in history and science. Together, they served over 308,000 visitors and students during the 2023-2024 fiscal year. Located within the Flint Cultural Center Campus in Flint, Michigan, Sloan Museum of Discovery opened in July, 2022, with four primary hands-on learning galleries and one exhibition hall for special traveling exhibits. The original Sloan Museum opened in 1966 as the Sloan Panorama of Transportation, named after long-time General Motors president, chairman and CEO Alfred P. Sloan. The new Sloan Museum of Discovery is nearly twice the size at 107,000 square feet and completely re-built into a re-imagined world-class, hands-on science and history museum. Longway Planetarium, named for Robert T. Longway, a community leader and one of the men responsible for the development of the Flint Cultural Center, opened in 1958. It has undergone several upgrades and renovations, most recently in 2015 and remains the largest planetarium in Michigan. Classes on the solar system and general science are offered to school groups and the general public, as well as full-dome, animated and laser light shows. Both institutions are supported in part by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and Michigan Arts and Culture Council (MACC). Educational programs are supported, in part, by the Genesee County Arts Education and Cultural Enrichment Millage. Learn more at SloanLongway.org | Facebook - Sloan | Facebook - Longway | YouTube - Sloan | YouTube - Longway Planetarium |
