Estrella Warbird and Auto Museum, Paso Robles
If you're in Paso Robles and you don't care about wine-tasting, Estrella Warbird Museum and Woodland Auto Display (same location) saves the day! It is a winner, and its name doesn't describe how many interesting exhibits it has. For airplane lovers, it has mostly jet fighters, not warbirds, and they are beauties. Inside, it has an excellent exhibit hall with items from World War I and II. It is so interesting to read about the people who owned the items, and to see things such as nurse uniforms, bomber jackets decorated with patches, cockpit instruments, trench art (metal art made on leftover artillery), and all manner of personal items like compasses, cigarette packets, ration tickets, family mementos. In another building were transport vehicles like jeeps and tanks decorated with designs, one of Snoopy! Another hall had bombs, missiles, and hand grenades of all kinds, plus communications equipment. Lastly, there was a huge hall full of automobiles from the earliest at the turn of the century, to race cars. These were beautiful and colorful, and the docents were eager to talk about them if you're a car lover. The gift shop has lots of fun stuff for kids, so check it out too.
After, eat a burrito or bowl at Finca, a counter-service Mexican restaurant in a historic house with a wonderful patio decorated with pleasing, modern decor. The wooden patio has tables and chairs of pale wood, in the shade. The outdoor area has orange chairs in the sun, surrounded by lavendar bushes and flowers. Next door is the Paso Market Walk, a public market with a great coffee shop, gelato, a cheese shop, and more. After, walk Oak Street and Vine Street, and check out the pretty Victorian houses and gardens. You can walk twelve minutes to Paso Robles City Park which has a good playground and gorgeous trees. This area is wonderful at Christmastime.
U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps recruitment poster.
1942 photo of a P-40 and Hell's Angels squadron.
Honolulu Star-Bulletin front page on December 7, 1941.
The World War II exhibits area is interesting.
Various instruments and mannequin of a soldier.
Mannequins of nurses.
Tuskegee Airmen coin.
A scene with mines.
Street names, Makin St and Leyte St, from Manila.
US Navy F-14 Tomcat.
Grunman F9F Cougar.
US Navy Northrop F-5A Freedom Fighter from 1963.
USS Lexington TW-3 plane in front of the museum.
Marine Corps jeep in front of the museum.
Bomber jackets for kids in the gift shop.
Walter Botts, the original Uncle Sam, 1938.
Snoopy design on a tank!
Munitions display building.
Field artillery in the munitions display building.
Falcon rocket.
Air Force plane.
Huey helicopter from the Vietnam era. Minutemen helicopter.
Sikorsky helicopter and armored personnel transport vehicle.
You can watch planes fly in formation from the runway behind the museum.
It's fun to watch planes flying from the nearby runway behind the museum.
Replica of 1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen.
Engine inside a 1951 Jaguar.
Cars and mural in the Woodland Auto Display building of the museum.
1948 Lincoln Continental Cabriolet.
1930 Packard Model 733.
1962 Pink Lady racecar.
Pink Lady racecar.
Buick Century Convertible, and Crosley Pick-Up, with neon lights behind.
Reo Speed Wagon, one of the first campervans.
Interior of Reo Speed Wagon, a motor home from 1929.
Engines were so simple back then! Babcock Model B.
Babcock Model B. "Not a cheap car, but a good one, suitable for town, country, business, or pleasure."
Nine Roadster, built by Singer Motors in England in 1957. Here, Marilyn Monroe poses in front of one.
BMW Isetta 300, built 1957. I like the suitcase on the back! BMW wanted to save their struggling company with this economy car, licensed from an Italian manufacturer.
I like the mural behind the cars, of Wilsons Car Service. The green car is a Ford Victoria, built in 1932. The red car is a Ford Phaeton, also of 1932.
A single door BMW Isetta 300, built 1957. Elvis Presley and Cary Grant owned one.
C-Cab Bicycle Truck from the 70s, in the Woodland Auto Display building of the museum.
Estrella Warbird Museum and Woodland Auto Display (same location) are located at 4251 Dry Creek Rd, Paso Robles, CA 93446. There is a free parking lot. Open Thurs-Sun 10-4. Entrance is $18 for adults, $15 for seniors, $12 for military veterans, $10 for students, $8 for students aged 6-12, and free for younger kids.
Last Updated: Wed, 27 Aug 2025 15:35:30 GMT
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