When it comes to museums, there are a lot to choose from in San Diego County. But far away from the city, there’s one you might not have heard of, even though it’s been around for 45 years.
Nestled in the foothills of northern Escondido right next to the Lawrence Welk Resort on Champagne Boulevard, you'll find The Deer Park Winery and Auto Museum — 15 acres of grapes, cars and a vast collection of memorabilia; Americana viewed through many different lenses.
“It started back many decades ago," Clark Knapp said. His dad and uncle founded the place in 1979.
The experience begins in the first building visitors encounter after parking. It’s where you get your first taste of the magnificent car collection and wine.
How did such seemingly disparate things as displaying classic cars and making wine end up in the same place?
Knapp said it happened when his dad brought his love for cars together with his uncle’s love for wine. The Deer Park Winery and Auto Museum was born.
“One was in the collecting automobile end, and generations of family were in the farming end of it — growing grapes," Knapp said.
Growing up in Mission Beach, Knapp’s father had an auto restoration and livery business. He began to grow his auto collection in the '60s. Back then, Knapp said he parked the cars on Mission Beach streets until that became impractical.
“So he found a property here and tied it together with the other branch of the family to put in a vineyard, so it complemented both aspects of the families," he said.
Both aspects are brought together on the wine bottles. The labels feature cars from the collection.
When visiting this place, allow several hours as the collection is spread across three buildings.
From the get-go, there’s much more to experience here than classic cars and wine. Other unique items, like a 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz convertible, are found throughout.
There's also a Victrola, which still has a 78rpm record on it from that era.
On an indoor patio, there's a homage to Coca-Cola and more.
“We’re thinking about maybe renaming our foreign car wing 'cause we do have our few foreign cars, that are mostly here, as well as paying homage to Coca-Cola — an American icon," Knapp said.
Next, moving outside with a walk through the vineyard, Knapp, along the way, was pointing out one of the challenges of managing a vineyard.
"We frame in (the vineyard) in roses," he said. "If you get the heritage roses, they also serve a purpose at the vineyard where they’ll be the first indicator of powdery mildew, which is one of the few things we have to worry about in the vineyard out here,"
Knapp said San Diego County was the first county in California to grow wine grapes.
“So we have a Petite Syrah and a Sangiovese … This will be the first harvest that we’re doing off of this vineyard," he said, strolling through the vineyard.
Knapp said they’re going to produce a rosé-style wine and that it might be available as soon as the end of this year.
On the other side of the vineyard, there's an old gas station that used to be from Old Town.
“We brought what parts were still salvageable and reconstructed it," he said, explaining how they got the station up to Deer Park.
Around the corner from the gas station, there's the second building on the tour. It has a whimsical sign that says "Knapp's Garage."
Inside, it’s a convertible lover's dream. Knapp said Deer Park’s collection is one of, if not the largest, collection of ragtops in the world.
“And we also have various homages to a lot of the orphan cars," he said.
Orphan cars are cars that were made by companies that no longer exist, like a 1961 Rambler American convertible and an odd-looking little car called a Crosley Hotshot.
Crosley also made radios, televisions and various appliances. Alongside the cars, there's a dizzying representation of all of those — a collection that transports visitors back in time. There are no smart devices or computers, just example after example of American ingenuity.
The last stop on the tour is a building at the top of the property. Visitors can drive up or walk.
Here, visitors are greeted with a dazzling array of neon signs from just about every car brand there was in the '40s, '50s and '60s. Some of them have special stories, like one light grey mid-50s Nash convertible.
“This car drove Marilyn Monroe in a parade," Knapp said. "We have a little clipping of it there."
Knapp still finds joy in solitary walks around the property.
"This property is so fun to be at … very peaceful out here," he said.
Before leaving the “new” car showroom, there's something unexpected in the corner. Like just about everything else here, it's iconic.
It’s a small, pink room with glass cases featuring many examples of America’s number one doll — Barbie!
Looking over the sizable collection of dolls and Barbie toys, one wonders if the movie had a little bump with Barbie's interest.
“We did have people asking about the Barbie dolls, not always do we get people coming here to see them," he replied.
From Crosleys to Cadillacs — rosés to radios, Buicks to Barbies … there’s really nothing like the Deer Park Winery and Auto Museum.
