On a recent trip to Florida, I visited the Revs Institute in Naples which I “discovered” while doing research for my upcoming book, Racing with Roger Penske.

The Revs Institute, a 501 C-3 founded by Miles Collier, started as a personal collection of Porsches and later expanded to include other noteworthy cars. Miles followed in the footsteps of his father and uncle (Miles and Sam) in racing Porsche Speedsters and was the inaugural recipient of the inaugural SVRA Driver of the Year Award. His father and uncle were among the early racers in the Sports Car Club of America and raced in a 1960 Cadillac at LeMans finishing 10th. The collection expanded when, in 1986, he acquired the collection of Briggs Swift Cunningham, a close family friend. He opened the collection to the public in 2008.

The Revs Institute has small group tours limited to 10 people per tour led by a very knowledgeable docent. The tour lasted over two hours as we viewed the 119 cars in the collection with a couple of exceptions.  One of the amusing tales told was that there is a residential housing development one street over and a man, who frequently rode his bicycle by the facility, thought that perhaps it was a CIA location as the building has no windows visible from the outside and at the time had no signage.

The collection includes a 1896 Panharde et Levassor Wagonette, a 1901 Benz Dos-a-Dos and a 1909 Ford Model T Touring car from the Brass era. Having written The Indianapolis Automobile Industry, a History I enjoyed seeing the 1928 Stutz BB Black Hawk Boatail Speedster designed by Fred Moskovics and the 1930 Duesenberg Model J Phaeton. Duesenberg would provide the chassis and engine while the buyer contracted another company for the body and the interior trim making each auto distinctive.

There were also the race cars including the 1950 Cadillac raced at LeMans by Miles (Sr.) and Sam Collier, a 1924 Miller racing car designed by the legendary Harry Miller whose cars dominated racing in the 1920s and 1930s. They also have a Dan Gurney All American Racers Eagle which won the 1967 Belgium Grand Prix. Also on display is a collection of glass car mascots.