On Saturday September 17, 2016, the Springfield Museums will celebrate their first-ever “Smithsonian Week in Springfield,” which is supported by the MassMutual Foundation. The week will feature appearances by experts and scholars from the Smithsonian, most notably a talk on September 17 titled “Driving Around Mars” by John Grant, planetary scientist and member of the Mars Rover Team (12 noon, D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts). Each museum and all of the day’s events are free and open to the public.

The “driving” theme of Grant’s talk is appropriate, since September 17 is also the date of the Museums’ annual “History on the Move” Car Show, which will be taking place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Quadrangle green. A wide array of vintage early automobiles will be on display, including many pre-1950 cars and vintage automobiles manufactured in Springfield. Ongoing activities that day will include driving demonstrations of a working replica of the original Duryea, the first successful gasoline-powered car, which was built in Springfield in 1893 (10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., Quadrangle Green). Docent Jerre Hoffman will also provide a look “under the hoods” of the two Rolls-Royces in the museum’s collection, a rare opportunity to see the inner workings of these handsome cars (1 p.m., Wood Museum).

The Springfield Museums are the home of the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History, which was recently honored by Yankee Magazine in their “Best of New England” issue for the best car and motorcycle museum in Massachusetts. The museum’s exhibits include two Springfield-built Rolls-Royces, a 1899 three-wheeled Knox and a 1903 Stevens-Duryea, the oldest surviving model of its kind, all made in Springfield. The Car Show will also include an awards ceremony for Best in Show and People’s Choice. Lunches and snacks will be available in the Blake House Café, and music will also be provided by a DJ.

This year’s Car Show and admission to all four Springfield Museums are free through funding from the MassMutual Foundation; the History on the Move Car Show is sponsored by AAA Pioneer Valley.