The New Frontier (Museum)
We chatted with Jeff Wandler, owner of The Frontier Auto Museum in Wyoming, to talk business, vintage toys and classic car nostalgia!
Can you tell us a little about the Wandler family’s early involvement in the car industry and the area?
Simply Leon Wandler was born in 1932 and when he became a teenager his first and favorite car was a Hudson. Jeff, who was born in 1966, grew up with muscle cars. Around when he turned 30, he started spending more time with his dad and took a liking to his dad’s Hudson’s and older cars. Jeff began adding the pumps and signs and globes to his dad’s car collection in 1997.
X
What was the process like, turning the collection into a museum for public enjoyment?
Jeff had frequently visited a car museum in Worthington, Minnesota, owned by Marv and Jeanine Spomer. That inspired him to look for an old building downtown Gillette in order to move the display from a private building on a ranch to a vintage building in town, so that the collection would have a more legitimate purpose other than being a personal man cave. A local realtor helped Jeff get the original ford dealership built in 1949 downtown Gillette and the vision was started.The family pitched in and his daughter and son-in-law, BJ and Briana Brewer, took the project on along with a lot of contractors, friends and family. The building was remodeled and turned in to a museum in 8 months.
X
What were some of the biggest challenges along the way? 
Starting a company and cash flow. Remodeling stinks as you know and time played a factor. There was a challenge to the electrical, in lighting up all those cool signs and globes, and also attracting enough customers, especially in the winter months.
X
You’ve been open over a year, what sort of responses have people shared when visiting the museum?
They like how clean and unique it is, they’re amazed to find a collection like ours in a small town.
X
How would you say the museum has changed or grown over the past year?
After we roughed out the core, we enhanced and added an old-time garage and a barbershop and a lot of enhancements in the main museum with more signs and more.
X
You guys have a remarkable collection of cars and memorabilia! What are some of the best or most interesting pieces on display right now?
The rarest stuff we have is from Wyoming and Montana, and locally being one of the best Frontier oil collections from Cheyenne, WY. Regionally we have Parco, Husky, Litening Gasoline, Big West and Westland globes and signs so we have rescued a lot of the old refinery memorabilia from this region.
X
Do you have any great acquisition stories to share about the pieces in your collection?
Lots of them! Every piece has a story, though interestingly, hardly anything came from Wyoming. Most stuff had left the state and Jeff bought it from other collectors and auctions and swap meets.
X
What has been the best or most rewarding part of starting and running the Frontier Auto Museum?
When older people come in they are very sentimental about the memories it triggers for them. It reminds them of when they grew up so I like experiencing that with them. Also I have been amazed at how some young people have responded, they are very interested and intrigued about learning what things were and how they worked. I’ve even been told that they would have liked to live back then.
X
Why do you feel it’s important to have car museums and places of preservation?
For me it reminds me of a simpler time and I really think things were handcrafted and amazingly well built for what people had to work with back then. It’s important because it shows the evolution of technology and craftsmanship.
X
Can you tell us about some of your events?
Show and shine in May and hoping to have an annual 20’s to 50’s street dance.
X
What plans does the Frontier Museum have for the future?
Hopefully doubling its square footage and then building a small town inside and expanding our retail store. We hope to have more annual events as well.
X
What should every visitor know about the museum?
It’s an antique shop and also an excellent transportation museum. We have something that everyone will enjoy, from our classic cars, gas and oil signs and pumps to our old time general store, mechanic shop and barber shop!Learn more about The Frontier Auto Museum on the website!