Classic racecars at Woodland Auto Display.
A hidden gem of the Central Coast
—Spend a day at the Estrella Warbirds Museum and Woodland Auto Display. See rare military aircraft and vehicles, as well as an amazing collection of restored automobiles ranging from American and European classics to racetrack winners. The Woodland Auto Display has been called the best auto museum on the Central Coast.
The museum was established 30 years ago at the Paso Robles Municipal Airport and is dedicated to restoring and preserving military aircraft, vehicles, and memorabilia. From its first hangar, the museum has grown to a 20-acre, 14-building complex of exhibit halls, workshops, a library, a gift shop, and conference facilities.
Estrella Warbirds Museum
Experience history firsthand by standing next to an amazing array of military aircraft and armored vehicles.
The displays feature fighter airplanes from the Cold War to the present and include a Link Trainer Flight Simulator to a state-of-the-art, full-size F/A-18 cockpit simulator used for pilot training. Make an appointment for a Friday or Sunday, and reserve your own flight time in the simulator! The displays in Freedom Hall include artifacts from WWI to the present, featuring actual cockpit instrument displays from US and Japanese fighters, as well as a Norden bombsight used by US bombers in WWII.
The museum hosts the Gooney Bird Group (GBG) and its C-47, Betsy’s Biscuit Bomber. Betsy has chronicled quite a history, logging over 9400 flight hours in service with the air forces of the US, Belgium, France, and Israel. The group acquired Betsy from Canada where she had been mothballed for six years and returned her to full flight status in 2009. In 2019 Betsy flew to the UK to participate in the 75th D-Day anniversary reenactment along with many of her sister C-47s and DC-3s. For a visual treat, search online for “Daks over Duxford,” and watch your choice of YouTube videos of this anniversary celebration.
The Red Ball Express display features restored large military logistics vehicles used to support General Patton’s late 1944 march to the Battle of the Bulge.
Woodland Auto Display—the jewel in the crown
The jewel in the crown at the museum is the Woodland Auto Display. Be prepared to be amazed at the 20,000 square-foot display hall featuring a range of vehicles from the 1886 Benz Motorwagen to a 2005 Ford GT 550, and everything in between. Autos on display include American, European, and Japanese classics, all in showroom condition. Steve McQueen’s Indian motorcycle and sidecar are on display as well as an accurate recreation of an Indy 500 workshop with actual garage doors from the famed Brickyard. The auto display’s collection of race cars cannot be matched and includes midget, sprint, Silver Crown, modified NASCAR, and Indy racers. The auto memorabilia that line the display hall walls is well worth the visit.
An open invitation
The museum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The admission fee helps ensure that the museum continues to honor those who flew, drove, and worked on the planes and vehicles at the museum, and helps future generations understand that the American way of life does not come without sacrifice.
Estrella Warbirds Museum and Woodland Auto Display, located at 4251 Dry Creek Road, Paso Robles, are open Thursday-Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm, and Mondays for Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, and Veterans Day. For tickets or more information, visit www.ewarbirds.org or call (805) 238-9317.
