The Crime Museum periodically lends out artifacts and exhibits to tour both locally and nationally. Visit this page frequently to see what artifacts are making their way around the country.
Artifacts currently traveling:
John Dillinger's 1933 Essex Terraplane: The car was previously on display in BWI Airport and the Richmond Convention Center. It can currently be seen at the Indianapolis Airport in Indiana.
It is well known historical fact that John Dillinger's car of choice was the fast 1933 Essex Terraplane 8 (T8).
Dillinger's criminal career lasted for 14 months, but this T8 was only involved in eight exciting days of that time.
The Essex's history began when Dillinger purchased this car in March 1934 from the Potthoff Brothers Motor Company in St. Paul, Minnesota. Dillinger used it until April 7, 1934, when he and his brother, Hubert, crashed the car in a farm field.
On March 31, 1934 at Lincoln Court Apartments in St. Paul, Dillinger and his girlfriend Evelyn Frechette escape a shoot out with the police in this T8. Dillinger took a bullet in his left leg, and there are still two slugs (.32 or .38 caliber fired from a service revolver) in the front cowl panel, from this shoot out.
On April 8, 1934, after the historic Dillinger family "Picnic," John signed the T8's title over to his brother Hubert. Hubert had it towed from the farm field to his garage in Indianapolis where he replaced the fender and had the axle straightened. This is still evident on the car today.
It's unknown how long the Dillinger family kept John's T8, but the car stayed in the Indianapolis area for the next 30 some years, eventually ending up in storage at a salvage yard.
Over the next 40 years the T8 traveled from Indianapolis, to Connecticut, to Oklahoma, to the Antique Car Museum in Rolla, Missouri, to the Glad Tidings Assembly of God Church and Antique Cars Inc. in Decatur, Illinois, to the John Dillinger Historical Society and Outlaw Museum in Fort Collins, Colorado and in 2008 to the National Museum of Crime and Punishment in Washington, DC.
If you would be interested in displaying this or another artifact at your facility, please email artifacts@crimemuseum.org.
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