Good things come in small packages, or at least that’s what I took away from a recent gathering of the Fenders & Friends car club. The group assembled for a Saturday-morning excursion to the town of Maricopa, Arizona, about 50 miles south of Phoenix.
There, Ernie Adams showcases his collection of handmade, miniature classic cars at what has become known as the Dwarf Car Museum.
Photo credit: Greg Brown
Most of Ernie’s custom creations were built to about two-thirds scale, and almost every part of each car’s body was hand-formed from flat steel sheet metal, including the panels, grilles, bumpers, and dashboards. Adams’ first dwarf car, built in 1965, was crafted using old refrigerators. Some 60-plus years later, it reportedly still runs.
Ernie’s son, Kevin, greeted our group and gave us a little bit of backstory on how his father’s hobby evolved. There are about 15 dwarf cars on display. Most of the eight street-legal models use 1972-83 Toyota Corolla 1,300cc engines, along with the five-speed manual transmissions and rear ends from the same donor cars. Kevin said the dwarf cars can do 100 miles per hour, and some of them have been driven as far as Indiana, Illinois, and California for shows and events.
The level of detail on the dwarf cars is exacting — right down to the dashboards and interior details. One of the cars, the below-pictured 1940 Mercury, even had working air conditioning!
Along with the cars, there were all sorts of memorabilia on display, including promotional materials, diecast scale models, gas station signage, and even a theater where patrons could watch video clips and learn about Ernie’s story. A gift shop near the entrance had all manner of merch, too.
One of my favorite cars was the 1942 Ford Deluxe convertible. The frame was fabricated using one-inch by two-inch rectangular tubing. Everything was engineered to be fully operational, including the hydraulic top, windows, heater, defroster, wipers, radio and clock.
Power was harvested from a 1,290cc Toyota 4KC engine, and the car was registered as a 1999 homemade vehicle. Kevin said it was driven to Illinois and back in 2003! He started it up for us, and it sounded great!
Ernie is now 86 years old and has retired from the hands-on car-building hobby, but he likes to chat with visitors to his facility and is still very involved with oversight of its operations. Now, if only I could get him to draw up some plans for a scaled-down 1992 Acura NSX!
The Dwarf Car Museum is privately owned and non-profit. Admission is $10 per person, and children five and under are free with a paid adult. Cash is preferred.
Address:
- 52954 W. Halfmoon Rd.
- Maricopa, AZ 85139
Hours:
- Summer: May 1 – October 1
- 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. daily
- Winter: November 1 – April 30
- 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. daily
