LeMay, America's Car Museum

[ls1mike]

Took my son to LeMay today. Awesome museum. My understanding is the LeMay family owns 3000 cars.
They rotate the cars often.
They also have a pretty neat driving simulator. 8 bucks a turn. Was worth it. So with admission and two simulator tickets it was 40 bucks. Well worth it IMO.
Plus the kid and I got to bond. He had a blast. So did dad.

Just some photos.

First picture is the boy and I in a 1923 Buick Limo. They email a picture for free that makes you look like you are moving, hence the green screen.

 

[ls1mike]

Photo taken by the Museum.

The shape of the building is supposed to be a fender.

 

[oil_film_movies]

Nice! Try Pioneer Village next:

"ANTIQUE CARS

This bldg., 22,400 sq. ft., two stories, featuring antique Buicks, Cadillacs, Dodges, Chryslers, Oldsmobiles, etc., 100 cars in their order of development. Also an early house trailer and motor home.

CHEVROLETS AND OTHER CARS

Antique auto bldg. Two stories, 265 feet long. Featuring over 50 Chevrolets on first floor, including first Corvette and extinct cars on 2nd floor.

FORDS, STUDEBAKERS, MOTORCYCLES, SNOWMOBILES AND BICYCLES

Two stories, 265 feet long, housing over 50 Fords, Lincolns, Mercurys and Edsels on first floor. On second floor is the finest collection of antique motorcycles, bicycles, snowmobiles anywhere."

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: oil_film_movies
Nice! Try Pioneer Village next:

"ANTIQUE CARS

This bldg., 22,400 sq. ft., two stories, featuring antique Buicks, Cadillacs, Dodges, Chryslers, Oldsmobiles, etc., 100 cars in their order of development. Also an early house trailer and motor home.

CHEVROLETS AND OTHER CARS

Antique auto bldg. Two stories, 265 feet long. Featuring over 50 Chevrolets on first floor, including first Corvette and extinct cars on 2nd floor.

FORDS, STUDEBAKERS, MOTORCYCLES, SNOWMOBILES AND BICYCLES

Two stories, 265 feet long, housing over 50 Fords, Lincolns, Mercurys and Edsels on first floor. On second floor is the finest collection of antique motorcycles, bicycles, snowmobiles anywhere."

I have been there 3 times. I like, they have a lot of neat stuff, but Lemay? I couldn't believe it.

 

[oil_film_movies]

Lemay does look cool. Much cleaner than Pioneer, thats for sure.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

I just took my Grandkid to the Lemay in July they loved it. Of course I just went because they wanted me to come along.

 

[oil_film_movies]

What is the real king of car museums in the U.S.? I have a feeling the ones I've seen (Petersen, Forney, Pioneer Village) might barely make the top ten.

 

[PimTac]

LeMay is a great place to take your kids. Nothing better than to get your son involved in car care. That knowledge will last more than a lifetime.


Great looking kid there Mike.

 

[ABursell]

LeMay did in fact start the museum and donated a bunch of vehicles to get it going. They do feature other people's vehicles as well, I'm not sure how many of each. HOWEVER, from what I remember, LeMay was voted off of the board and no longer has anything to do with the museum. But the LeMay family does maintain the collection of some 3000-5000 cars that are stored in 25+ warehouses around the state and a rotating collection is available to view. Check out https://www.lemaymarymount.org/ for info. I enjoyed Marymount much more that the ACM. Interesting guy and family. Not everything in the collection is exotic or restored - some is just because it looked interesting or didn't have one. They also maintain a collection of Model T's that they do driving classes on once in a while. I'd like to do one!

Adam

 

[PimTac]

Harold LeMay passed away in the year 2000.

 

[oil_film_movies]

What is most fascinating about these old cars is NOT just looking at them from the outside.
I like to learn about their internal technology acheivements. Some weirdness and surprises in old cars.
One example: Some people are surprised to see some cars in the 40's and 50's had an "air conditioner" which was just a tube attached to the A-pillar, with water on a sponge inside, doing evaporative cooling! Very cool, pun intended.

LeMay is great, no doubt, but I really love a decent car show (even Concours) event with owners there who know what's unusual and/or historical about their iron.

 

[eljefino]

Packard hood ornaments were always good for spearing bystanders in accidents.

 

[Papa Bear]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Packard hood ornaments were always good for spearing bystanders in accidents.

So were '56 Chevy ....

Before the '58 Impala there was the '56 Impale ya