Sprinkled throughout Driving America are 18 interactive 42-inch touchscreens that offer thousands of additional details, images, videos and oral histories about artifacts. Many of the collections, for example, are presented with a 360-degree view, original advertisements, repair manuals, expert insights and much more. You can even digitally travel under the hood of select vehicles and get inside the engine. Or, feel free to draw up your own car comparisons and let your favorites duke it out on screen spec by spec.
With the tap of other widgets on the screens, you can also hear fascinating stories and personal accounts about how cars are interwoven in so many of our lives’ milestones and memories – from that first kiss at the drive-in and that favorite childhood road trip to grandma’s in the station wagon, to the drive home from the hospital with your newborn buckled up tight in his or her car seat.
As you create your own custom collection, you can set it up so you can take it with you. A handy Driving America smart card, given to you when you enter the exhibit, can store what you experience and then digitally transfer your personalized compilation for online viewing later.
In addition, the interactive kiosks contain 12 interactive activities and games to help enrich your Driving America experience:
Getting There in 1910
How did people get from place to place before cars were our primary means of transportation? Follow three different people as they to go to work, to town and on vacation in 1910.
Rivers, Rails, and Roads
From early settlement to current day, people have traveled a variety of pathways to get across the country. Use this map-based activity to discover America’s evolving transportation routes and modes.
Compare Power Options
Who knew there have been so many ways to power cars? Explore the similarities and differences of cars that use gas, steam, electric, diesel and turbine as power sources.
Test Drive the Model T
Start a virtual Model T and then complete a series of real-world driving challenges to earn a driving certificate.
Help Henry Innovate
Become one of Henry Ford’s assistants. Explore and test new ideas and car innovations that eventually led to and included the Model T.
Plan the Car of Your Dreams: 1947
Step into the shoes of 1947 consumers and choose features for your new Ford car based upon an actual 1947 Ford advertising mailer in The Henry Ford’s collections.
Explore Car Safety
Match up car safety features with intended safety goals through an interactive game show hosted by a crash test dummy.
Car Tunes
Popular music and the automobile share a long history. Listen to songs about cars and the freedom of the road dating from 1900 to today.
Create a Car Commercial
You can create a commercial using marketing graphics, jingles, video clips and voice-overs relating to four different car models.
From Concept to Reality
Take on the role of a design student and learn about the design process—which involves both engineering and styling—to meet a set of realistic design requirements.
Talk like a Trucker
You are a car driver who has just purchased a new CB radio. Race to Lamy’s Diner for a piece of apple pie using special CB trucker language to get there before the pie sells out.
What Car are You?
Ever wonder how your choice of car reflects your personality? Take this quiz and discover what that car is.
