On June 29, 2018, I joined a tour organized by the National Capital Chapter of the BMW Car Club of America. Our destination was the NB Center for American Automotive Heritage, which houses a big portion of the Nicola Bulgari Car Collection.

Located in downtown Allentown, Pennsylvania, the NB Center sits on a 27-acre campus with 14 buildings, a 1.3 mile road course, a half-mile tri-oval, a skid pad and a working vintage gas station. It employs a permanent staff of mechanics and restorers, led by curator and chief restorer Keith Flickinger. They look after 158 of Bulgari's 350 classic cars (as of June 2018). The rest are in Upstate New York, the South of France and Rome. The automobiles are almost entirely made up of American classics, predominantly from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, along with a sprinkling of cars from the 1920s, 1960s and 1970s.

This is the first of five Bulgari Car Collection photo galleries that I have posted here. All five feature photos that I took during my June 29 visit to the NB Center, which is not open to the public.

I had photographed some of Bulgari's cars in past years, in various car shows and car museums. Here is a link to photos from a museum exhibit held in July 2009: https://pbase.com/noyphoto/bulgaricarsatamericaonwheels20090711 .

Nicola Bulgari is vice chairman of the Bulgari luxury goods and jewelry business, which his family sold in 2011 for US$5.2 billion in cash and stock to luxury goods conglomerate LVMH. Forbes estimates his personal net worth at $1.8 billion (as of Aug. 2, 2018).

All the photos here have been resized for online viewing. Note that the images and other content here are protected by copyright laws. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use, copying, printing or direct linking is prohibited.

>>> CLICK ON A THUMBNAIL PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT, AFTER WHICH YOU CAN MANUALLY GO FORWARD OR BACKWARD TO THE OTHER IMAGES IN THIS GALLERY. THE PICTURES HERE CAN ALSO BE VIEWED AS A SELF-ADVANCING SLIDESHOW, BUT MINUS THE TECHNICAL AND OTHER DETAILS. SEE THE UPPER RIGHT CORNER OF THIS WINDOW. HAPPY VIEWING! <<<