Plans are on the table for a major expansion of the Trafalgar Holden Museum and Baw Baw Shire Council has been asked to assist.
Museum founder Neil Joiner presented a submission to council's recent special meeting to consider budget requests from community members.
Mr Joiner said the museum had plans to expand with the creation of a Holden Heritage Centre to house a permanent exhibition of more than 70 vehicles at the museum.
He said the project was expected to cost more than $550,000 and they were seeking $30,000 from council to assist with the construction.
"I know it's a substantial amount of money but it would be a massive tourism boost to this area. A lot of people come to our museum and say we didn't know Gippsland was so beautiful," he said.
The museum also has sought funding through the Regional Tourism Investment Fund. Mr Joiner said council's $30,000 contribution would help the museum to come up with the one to four funding ratio needed to secure the RTIF grant.
Mr Joiner said 65 volunteers supported the museum. Before COVID, he said the museum was on track to up to 15,000 visitors and year and the past three months indicated they were back on that track.
"Our mission is to display the history of Holden from 1859 to its sudden demise. Our collection has been assessed as having national significance and we want to grow that even further," he said.
Mr Joiner said the heritage centre project would give them room to expand the current collection. He said the blue house adjacent to the museum would be demolished and the new centre would be built onto the existing building.