Pioneer Auto Show Articles by SD Magazine

Most Expensive Wheels - March / April 2010

There aren’t many ways to link Tom Mix and Elvis Presley. Maybe there aren’t any – other than the Pioneer Auto Museum, of course.

Dave Geisler and his family have gathered 275 automobiles, 60 tractors, 60 motorcycles and an assortment of additives from music boxes to rocks at their one-of-a-kind museum in Murdo. The cars range from a 1902 jewel to a 1981 Trabant, a product of the late and unlamented East German auto industry. There’s also a Flanders, a Hupmobile, and a 1959 Cadillac El Dorado with tail fins as big as those on a F-14. As for Mix and Presley: Tom’s 1931 Packard convertible is just on building over from a 1976 Harley once owned by The King himself.

We were too polite to ask what the collection is worth, but when we visited Pioneer Auto Museum some years ago we crossed paths with a visitor form Utah who claimed there were a couple cars that could fetch $750,000 apiece at auction. He may have been exaggerating or just plan full of baloney, but we feel safe saying that the most expensive wheels in South Dakota can be found in Murdo.

A Showman for Motor Heads - Jan / Feb 2010

You’ve heard of the Model A and Model T, but have you ever seen a Model N? Or a ’31 Pierce Arrow, ran entire shop full of Mustangs?

Dave Geisler’s Pioneer Auto Show in Murdo has all that and more in 40 buildings stuffed with nostalgia. He also collects railroad memorabilia, rocks and minerals, farm machinery (including the world’s fastest manure spreader), and hours worth o other things to see in one of the world’s biggest private auto collections.

As we browsed a few years ago, a visitor said he saw two cars there worth $750,00 or more. Dave walked away with a big grin and said, “I get to meet more motor heads!’

He loves to entertain. He pops nickels in antique jukeboxes and starts a player piano that plunks honky-tonk tunes. He might have made a fortune in a traveling carnival. But his heritage is cars, and you can’t truck hundreds of them from town to town, so people come to him.

Courrier Magazine - January 2010

Guest easily can spend a day and evening at Murdo-based Pioneer Auto and Antique Town, which encompasses more than 40 buildings over several acres. Hundreds of antique cars, tractors and motorcycles, as well as vintage toys and other nostalgia, are just a portion of what’s available at his unique attraction. The facility also is home to the National Rockhound Hall of Fame and Lapidary, where rare rocks, gems and fossils are displayed.

A classic diner ensures case of planning for those who want to stay through lunch or dinner. “We’re open until 9:30 p.m. through the summer, and we’re happy to work with tour operators to plan special evening programs for group’s” said David Geisler, owner of Pioneer Auto and Antique Town. An antique car parade or rides in a vintage automobile are tow activates that can be arranged through Geisler.