SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- In the rich manufacturing history of New York, there are many products associated with the Empire State but the automobile is not typically one of them. 

"We kind of refer to this as the "Great Gatsby car" here at the museum,” said Dennis Kipp, the Saratoga Automobile Museum docent.

In the 1920s and 1930s, there were few status symbols more highbrow than driving a Pierce Arrow.

"A lot of people would consider that Rolls-Royce was the Pierce Arrow of England, for example --  if you owned a Pierce Arrow, you had arrived,” Kipp said.

Costing the equivalent of $300,000 in today's money, the finely tuned chariots were built right here in New York state.

"They were built in Buffalo and the factory building is still there, it is on the register of national historic sites,” said Kipp.

The Pierce Arrow is a symbol of a forgotten age when automobile manufacturing was king all across the Empire State.

"Our records indicate there were approximately 100 manufacturers of cars in New York, ranging from Plattsburgh to Buffalo, down to Long Island,” said Kipp.

On the second floor of the Saratoga Automobile Museum, that period during the 19th and 20th centuries is showcased in the "East of Detroit" exhibit.

"It was obviously before our time, if you will, and after the Great Depression all of that manufacturing moved to Detroit,” said Saratoga Automobile Museum Art Director Brandon Salls.

"Franklin was one of the earliest manufacturers of cars in New York,” said Kipp.

Built in Syracuse in 1929, this Franklin sedan was owned by the famous aviator Charles Lindbergh.

"Franklin Motor Company gave the car to Lindbergh after his flight across the Atlantic and Lindbergh kept the car until about 1940 or so,” Kipp said.

Built 20 years before the Franklin, this Patterson model wasn't quite equipped with the same technology worthy of a trans-Atlantic hero.

"It was built as a horse drawn buggy. There was 200 of these built and that was when the Model T was picking up steam in 1909,” Salls said.

Of course, not all things are meant to last and the Great Depression brought an end to much of the state's automobile industry.

"Sales of Franklin and Pierce arrow just plummeted and they didn't have the economic capital like General Motors or Chrysler or Ford to really survive,” said Salls.

Fast or slow, luxurious or conservative, each prized model ushers car enthusiasts back to a golden age when you could do no better than be seen driving a model "Made In New York."

"It's really a nice way to bring your family to experiencing something that's unique to this area,” Salls said.