Henry Austin Clark Jr

Henry Austin Clark, Jr. was born in 1917 and from an early age showed a near-obsession for
automobiles. While attending Harvard in the late-1930s, Clark purchased his first classic
automobile starting a collection that would, by the late 1970s total over 200 vintage and classic “brass-era” automobiles, trucks and fire trucks. After naval service during World War II and marriage, Clark and his wife Waleta (“Wally”) settled in Southampton, NY into a life of
collecting, rallies and tours and raising a family. Clark’s collection of cars outgrew the sheds and garages on the estate leading him to open the Long Island Automotive Museum (LIAM) in 1948, in large part to house his collection. Over the next thirty years, Clark bought, sold, and traded cars, parts, accessories, and entertained visitors and fellow enthusiasts at the museum and at vintage car club events and tours. By the late-1970s however, the museum’s operating losses forced Clark to begin selling many of his precious automobiles. In 1979, over two hundred automobiles were auctioned and a year later, the museum was shuttered. Throughout his life, Clark also collected hundreds of thousands photographs, slides, negatives, magazines, advertisements, clippings, and programs related to the history of the automobile. Henry Austin Clark, Jr. passed away on December 15, 1991 the day after his precious collection of automotive history moved to the Benson Ford Research Center at The Henry Ford.

Subject ID: 45190

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Henry Austin Clark, Jr. was born in 1917 and from an early age showed a near-obsession for
automobiles. While attending Harvard in the late-1930s, Clark purchased his first classic
automobile starting a collection that would, by the late 1970s total over 200 vintage and classic “brass-era” automobiles, trucks and fire trucks. After naval service during World War II and marriage, Clark and his wife Waleta (“Wally”) settled in Southampton, NY into a life of
collecting, rallies and tours and raising a family. Clark’s collection of cars outgrew the sheds and garages on the estate leading him to open the Long Island Automotive Museum (LIAM) in 1948, in large part to house his collection. Over the next thirty years, Clark bought, sold, and traded cars, parts, accessories, and entertained visitors and fellow enthusiasts at the museum and at vintage car club events and tours. By the late-1970s however, the museum’s operating losses forced Clark to begin selling many of his precious automobiles. In 1979, over two hundred automobiles were auctioned and a year later, the museum was shuttered. Throughout his life, Clark also collected hundreds of thousands photographs, slides, negatives, magazines, advertisements, clippings, and programs related to the history of the automobile. Henry Austin Clark, Jr. passed away on December 15, 1991 the day after his precious collection of automotive history moved to the Benson Ford Research Center at The Henry Ford.

Subject ID: 45190

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