GILLETTE — Wake up immersed in retro Americana and long gone classic kitsch at the Frontier Auto Museum’s latest attraction.
It’s a vintage Airbnb that’s like staying in a museum, featuring two classic cars, a jukebox in your room, rows of lighted gas pumps, and a ceiling ringed by glowing neon signs.
The cars are staged at the front of the Airbnb behind glass garage doors, so they are always on display.
Guests can close a set of blackout curtains when they want a little privacy at the push of a button, but if no one has booked the room, the curtains are kept open.
This new overnight destination has already become a selfie magnet for visitors, senior prom parties and weddings. And that’s A-OK with its owner, Jeff Wandler.
The Airbnb has been decorated with a retro neon vibe, featuring bright red décor in the kitchen and a jukebox in the bedroom.
Instead of plunking a coin in the machine for a song, guests can simply stream the music they want to hear to the device over Bluetooth.
The vibe on every wall and hanging from the ceiling echoes that of a gas station that’s just perfect for the true vintage car enthusiast.
Like Wandler is.
He’s the owner and founder of the Frontier Auto Museum in Gillette, which is a time capsule of Americana, stuffed full of vintage cars and all the memorabilia that goes with the early and golden eras of automobiles.
A comfy couch is all set up for listening to tunes streamed to the old-fashioned juke box, which has been retrofitted with Bluetooth technology. The scene is part of a vintage automobile-themed Airbnb recently completed by Jeff Wandler, who owns Frontier Auto Museum in Gillette. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
A vintage neon sign that's nearing completion and will be erected in a park behind the recently completed vintage automobile-themed Airbnb completed by Jeff Wandler, who owns the Frontier Automobile Museum in Gillette. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
More clocks have been added to the wall inside one of the many shops inside the Frontier Auto Museum in Gillette. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
It's not all about cars for Frontier Auto Museum owner Jeff Wandler. He also displays a number of other antiques, including the Winchester rifles. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
The scene inside the Frontier Auto Museum is a dizzying array of vintage automobile memorabilia, including the cars themselves, and all the accessories. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
She companies still make vintage candies, to the surprise and delight of the Fronter Auto Museum's guests. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
Old bikes made Into unique tables are among the decor at a vintage-themed cafe in the Frontier Auto Museum in Gillette. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
Ultimate Man Cave
Wandler’s new Airbnb is a little bit of his own fantasy.
First, it’s the kind of place he’d be excited to stay in himself. Secondly, it also gives him a little more space, where he had no space before, to showcase two more exceptional cars.
“This one is a survivor car,” Wandler said, gesturing to a turquoise 1947 DeSoto. “It’s from Guernsey, Wyoming, and I bought it from the man who owned it, and it’s never been restored.
"I like that it’s a Wyoming car, what we would call a survivor, meaning it’s all original. It’s never had any restoration.”
Such cars are unicorns, Wandler explained. They’re hard to find in such exceptional condition. He so far has three of them: the DeSoto, a Hudson and a Packard.
Wandler even kept the tiny parking lot ding on the back end of the DeSoto car. Wandler wasn’t sure what caused that ding, but it looks a bit like the sort of thing that would happen if the driver in a nearby car, too close for comfort, backed out anyway.
Meanwhile, the interior of this survivor car looks almost as new as the outside, ready for a Sunday drive.
“It’s all original upholstery and everything,” Wandler said. “That’s pretty special, too.”
The other vintage car Wandler has on display in his new Airbnb is a 1949 Chevy, restored by the late Steve Gaspers, who died recently.
His wife, Lou Gaspers, wanted to see her husband’s car in Wandler’s museum. It’s on loan for now, but Wandler plans to buy it for permanent display.
“It’s the nicest ’49 Chevy I’ve ever seen,” Wandler said “It’s very over-restored, so a really professional restoration.”
A Collector At Heart
Wandler didn’t set out to create a vintage car enthusiast’s dream Airbnb.
It’s just an outgrowth of his love for collecting things, something he’s been doing for as long as he can remember.
As a young boy, Wandler collected the things you’d expect. Fossils and bits of interesting rocks from pastures, bottles and old silverware from a nearby homestead.
It felt as natural as breathing to pick up interesting things, and it’s something he credits to his father, Leon, who was a collector himself of old Hudson cars and antique guns, such as Winchesters.
Even as a child, though, Wandler didn’t just pick up old and quirky stuff to stash in his pockets or throw around his bedroom. He would arrange all of his finds neatly on shelves to show off to friends. He even did that with his comic books and toys.
“I’ve always just had things around me that I liked,” he said. “I like to just think that naturally, I am a collector at heart.”
Wandler went through a rebellious phase as an adolescent, one in which he partied a lot and drew away from his family.
But, after he turned 30, he stopped doing that and decided to put his energy into something more lasting. Something he could share with his dad.
“That’s when I started getting gas pumps and signs and this type of Americana stuff,” he said. “I just kind of went crazy with it. Then my dad and I moved an old gas station and fixed it up out on our ranch.”
Jeff Wandler couldn't be more pleased with a vintage automobile-themed Airbnb he recently completed to augment the experience at his Frontier Auto Museum in Gillette. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
The bed and the couch are perfectly positioned to either watch television, or take in the entirety of a vintage automobile-themed Airbnb recently completed by Jeff Wandler, who owns Frontier Auto Museum in Gillette. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
Bright red appliances finish out a vintage automobile-themed Airbnb recently completed by Jeff Wandler, who owns Frontier Auto Museum in Gillette. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
Always be improving, that's the motto for Frontier Auto Museum owner Jeff Wandler. A new vintage automobile-themed cafe has become part of the scene, offering sandwiches and coffee, as well as vintage candy and soda. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
The interior of the DeSoto is just as perfect as the exterior at a vintage automobile-themed Airbnb recently completed by Jeff Wandler, who owns Frontier Auto Museum in Gillette. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
The bedside table at a vintage automobile-themed Airbnb recently completed by Jeff Wandler, who owns Frontier Auto Museum in Gillette. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
A Time Capsule Of Vintage America
Wandler has never stopped collecting old gas station memorabilia and cars ever since, and he’s filled up a lot of space with his interesting finds.
His museum is a time capsule of America’s old-time automobile age, with vintage cars from every era, alongside shops that channel all the things you might have found during those decades.
Wandler has continued adding objects to the museum, filling in lots of blanks. There are new clocks on the wall, new vintage bottles in the shops, and new signs everywhere.
Before he bought the old Ford dealership in Gillette to create his museum, he filled up a room at the family’s business, L&H Industrial in Gillette, with gas station lights and signs. Those are what now decorate the vintage Airbnb that he and Frontier Auto Museum Manager Ryan Swanson have just finished.
Building an Airbnb turned out to be much more complicated than either one of them imagined, Swanson said.
“Jeff and I were just like, what we need a permit for what? What kind of permit?” Swanson said. “So, we kind of learned about all that the hard way.”
Ultimately, he and Wandler ended up having to pursue some variances for the location, because their plans for a neon sign park with Airbnb campers and an Airbnb that looks like a gas station didn’t really fit into the city’s existing zoning.
“Nobody had ever done this, so there was nothing on the books to just give us a permit to do all this,” Wandler said. “So, they made some variances for us to be able to do this by copying some stuff in California and Oregon that had already been done and adding it to things you can do in Gillette.”
The process overall took an entire year, Wandler said, which left them with a big mud hole to deal with all winter.
The frontside of the vintage DeSoto, a survivor car that has never been restored. It's one of two vintage cars inside a vintage automobile-themed Airbnb recently completed by Frontier Auto Museum. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
This 1949 Chevy is one of two vintage automobiles on display inside a vintage automobile-themed Airbnb recently completed by Frontier Auto Museum. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
The other side of a vintage automobile-themed Airbnb in Gillette also has gas pumps and lighted neon globes as well as signs. The Airbnb was recently completed by Jeff Wandler who owns Frontier Auto Museum in Gillette. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
Signs hang down from the ceiling at a vintage automobile-themed Airbnb recently completed by Frontier Auto Museum in Gillette. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
Just look at all the signs and memorabilia here — and that's just one side of the vintage automobile-themed Airbnb recently completed by Frontier Auto Museum in Gillette. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
Gasoline signs and gas pumps line each of the walls inside a vintage autombile-themed Airbnb recently completed by the Frontier Auto Museum. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
Neon Park Nearing Completion
Wandler didn’t really intend to build a new Airbnb from the ground up, though he’d long been interested in buying some of the properties across the street from his vintage auto museum, particularly the abandoned, burned-out home that was in danger of becoming an eyesore.
He talked about it for a couple of years but had resisted pulling the trigger. Until, that is, three or four vintage signs landed in his lap, and he realized that to save them he was going to need more room. A lot more room.
“This started out with just being a little house remodel and a few signs,” Wandler said, shaking his head a little as he spoke. “But then it grew into the (neon sign) park, the campers, and the new gas station (Airbnb) and all of that.”
Things just started to snowball during the business plan stage, Wandler said. That’s when they discovered the little house couldn’t be saved after all. It was too far gone and had to be demolished.
That prompted a fresh look at their business plans, and some adjustments, including shifting their gas station idea into an actual Airbnb.
“I love it, because it turned out killer,” Wandler said. “But it was painful to get this done, cost-wise.”
Wandler believes the Airbnb, along with the five, vintage camper Airbnbs he’s working on now, will add to the Frontier Auto Museum’s viability. These new Airbnbs bring his total to 10 units where guests can stay right across from the car museum.
The neon sign park that he’s working on, meanwhile, which ultimately inspired his new auto-themed Airbnb, will be finished next spring, — though some of the restored signs are going up in just a few weeks, ahead of winter.
Next spring, Wandler hopes to have the entire park ready for guests, with vintage campers bathed in a neon glow that will last until 10 p.m. each night.
Wandler is going to market his museum to the world as a one-of-a-kind place to stay, right across from his one-of-a-kind museum in Wyoming.
“We’ve got to help put Gillette on the tourism map,” Wandler said. “And we are. We’re getting more and more foreigners and more just U.S. travelers. But we need literally twice as many as we have for this place to be viable.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
