California might be the best place in the world to drive, but the Midwest is nirvana when it comes to historic car sites and museums.

As a California kid, the big-time car building business has always been a bit of a mystery. We never made it up to the plants in Los Angeles when they were in operation (the last, a GM factory, closed in the early 1990s). And I haven't been able to take the tour at the NUMMI assembly facility in Fremont, about 500 miles from home.

So, I headed to Indiana, Ohio and Michigan to visit cars new and old. This isn’t a daily blog but just a few highlights. I’ll add as I have time, so drop back again for an update.

• Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum
  
• Drive to South Bend
  
• Studebaker National Museum
  
• Auburn-Cord-Deusenberg Museum/National Automobile Museum
• Drive to Bowling Green, Ohio — Lockport Covered Bridge
• Snook's Dream Cars, Bowling Green, Ohio
• Toledo and the old Willys/Jeep plant
• Detroit and Environs: AMC’s Last Headquarters
• Ypsilanti — World's Last Hudson Dealer, Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Museum, Preston Tucker’s house, the historic Willow Run factory.
• Ford Rouge Factory Tour
• Henry Ford Museum
• Walter P. Chrysler Museum
• Former glory: the Packard factory
• Automotive Hall of Fame
• Greenfield Village
• Grounds Tour, Indianapolis Motor Speedway
• Bush Field, Indianapolis